Russell & Company
(Page 3 of 3)
Fall 2006
By Bill Vossler
Russell & Co. joined with Griscom-Spencer Co. of Jersey City, N.J., in 1912 to form the Griscom-Russell Co. It entered its final years in decline due to the rise of International Harvester, which had snatched away the market of the once-famous Russell threshing machine. The company limped on until 1942, 100 years after it had started, when its assets were sold in a sheriff’s sale.
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A Russell catalog says, “The Russell brothers made it the paramount principle of their business that Russell machinery should be to the utmost degree durable, efficient and economical. Through succeeding generations … their successors have absolutely lived up to these principles and today, as always, the name Russell stands for everything that is best in the machinery line.”
Contact Bill Vossler at e-mail: bvossler@juno.com
Russell Steam Traction Engines
Russell steam traction engines ranged from sizes of 6 HP to 150 HP. The 6 HP Russell offered in 1887 had self-adjusting piston rings, which would not require attention if properly lubricated. The 10 HP built the same year had patented features like a friction clutch, reverse gear, equilibrium valve and boiler.
The 10, 13 and 16 HP Russells of 1891 had the throttle lever, brake lever, reverse lever, steam chest, cylinder cocks and rod operating the blower all within reach from the footboard.
The 1907 Russells of simple single-cylinder type were built in cylinder sizes of 6-by-8-inch, 7-1/2-by-10-inch, 8-by-10-inch, 8-1/4-by-12-inch, 9-by-13-inch and 10-by-13-inch. Some Russells burned coal or wood.
Other sizes includes 8, 10 “old-style improved,” 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 25, 30 and 150. It’s unclear whether there were sizes inbetween the 30 and 150.
The Russell steam roller was built starting about 1910, as a combination of a road roller and a hauling engine. Rear wheel cleats could be detached for rolling work use.
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