Steam Engines: The Why and How

Fred Reckelberg's 1923 65 HP Case steam traction engine, Serial #35645, has a ten inch bore and an eleven inch stroke, and a butt strap boiler. It has a canopy and contractor's coal bunkers, which were optional equipment when the engine was originally ordered from the J.I. Case Company. Case engines were the most popular sold in this area because of Wisconsin manufacture, and because of an excellent repair parts service. Each engine purchaser was provided with a catalog showing a code word identifying each part. Railroad depots in those early days had telegraph service, so when a repair part was needed, it was a simple matter to telegraph the correct code word to the Case Company in Racine. Often the part would be delivered by train the next day! J.I. Case also had a very lenient easy-credit system, delivering engines and threshing machines to farmers for minimum down payments, with the next payment due after threshing season. Poor credit risks often resulted in repossessed machines, some being returned and resold as many as four or more times.

Fred's engine is in excellent condition and is used to power his Meadows portable sawmill to demonstrate lumber making from saw logs each year at our show.