Old Cars Used as Engines?

[JoeCB]

The guys were talking about the ingenuity of the old time farmer using the old family automobile as a portable engine. Any body have photos of an old Model T or model A belt driving a shelled, buzz saw, fan or the like?

Joe B

[Oldtech]

Unfortunately I don't have a picture but my father used to have a Chalmers car engine mounted on a trailer to run the threshing machine. It was a small Case 22 inch. He said it ran it fine. He made a governor arrangement and kept the transmssion. Used a larger pulley and ran it in second gear.

[uglyblue66]

I have a 21 inch demount-able Model T wheel that has a belt pulley clamped to 4 of the wooden spokes. You just drove the car to the saw, jacked up the rear wheels and put a belt on the pulley.Go to church on sunday,take the pulley off.

[typak]

Some local pics of a car pumping water, also a video of a T and sawbench at work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U31vL8s-uE

[Charlie1925]

I have seen this setup many a time. When I was a lot younger, ( 1940/1950 ) a neighbor of ours used a car to do lots of things on the 2 acre farm he had. He would saw wood, fill silo, grind cow and chicken feed, even used a bare wheel to pull hay up in the barn, He had some wheels with lugs or cross bars welded on them to use like a tractor to work the ground up. This car was a old Chev ? with half the body cut off and a home made truck bed installed. He had a newer car that had suiside doors and that was not all that uncomom back then. No pictures but lots of memorys.

[typak]

A few more from the archives, Oldsmobile cutting chaff, T hauling a saw bench, note the PTO on the front, next with a pulley on the wheel not exactly sure of the make? last a conversion for mulching up prickly pear cactus.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LMv_Y4axYw

[Andrew Mackey]

My grandpa had a 1950s buick in his back yard. The body was pretty well shot, and the front was smashed. The rear end of the car frame was welded to a frame that held a big saw, about 30" in diameter. The saw was driven by a flat belt, mounted to one of the rear wheels. The other had a hand type emergency brake band mounted around the drum. Grand pa had rigged a manual throttle to the engine and would set it at a fast idle. He would put the car in drive, and He would then go to the saw, apply the hand brake, and the saw would turn. The saw would turn faster as the band locked up the one side of the rear end. Grand pa cut and split up to 12" logs, and sold the wood to make extra money during lean times. When I was a kid, he let me 'drive' the car while he cut logs He did get mad though when I used the throttle - sure made that old saw blade sing! The old rig finally quit in the early 1970s, the engine finally gave out with over 500000 miles on it. (grandpa kept a milage track ledger to figure oil changes (every 3000 miles)

[David Hughes]

I have a pully with a 6-bolt (Chevy) lug nut pattern. Drive up, jack up the Chevy, take off wheel, bolt pully on and good to go. There was one shown in one of the "Predator" movies with Arnold in it

David Hughes

[Tim Litzenberger]

This is the display I set up at our local Ford Model "A" show. Sears sold an after market pulley to use in place of the rear tire. You could than belt it to anything drive by a flat belt.. I use my 1930 PU belted to a speed reducer and than a corn sheller. The people really enjoy it!!!

[JoeCB]

Thanks very much guys, sure shows the ingenuity of these fellows. Typac, I especially enjoyed the videos of the T powered buzz saw and the proud gentleman that put it together... ( your father?) . The first pic of the car pumping water was a sure a "trick" set- up. At first I didn't recognize what was going on there... a crank and tree limb connecting rods working a reciprocal pump
Let's see what else shows up ...

Joe B

PS, and I especially like the fan powered governor on the buzz saw rig, very creative and apparently effective.