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The Case engine as it appeared on April 16, 2002, one year into the restoration, it took determination to continue, with little to show for the ongoing effort.
When the Case is operating the chime whistle draws people from miles around to see it run.
Friend Marcus Rey, Gold Hill, Ore., helps with the task of heavy part removal.
The cylinder and rod worn out from decades of use, the heart of the Case engine required major work.
Applying heat to the flywheel; removing long-stuck parts required careful application of heat and force.
The Case clutch slide missed a factory recall in 1913.
Removing accumulated scale by scraping and vacuuming the boiler revealed problems with the flues, as well.
With help from field technician Craig Rutledge, Western Burner Co., Ashland, Ore., new flue tubes were installed in the Case.
The satisfaction of rebuilding a steam engine is only matched by operating it. An important step was learning how to safely operate the steamer at the Brooks (Oregon) Steam School.
Running the Case with a harrow.
A Firefighter’s Steamer
The Restoration of Case No. 26701
By Joseph Berto
It wasn’t that I didn’t work on the 1912 75 HP Case; in fact, it was just the opposite. From the day it arrived, it seemed that I was working on the engine. I quickly found there were many times that two or more people were required to disassemble something, and one of the real charms of these old pieces of iron surfaced – folks just loved to help.
Whether it was a neighbor who came by or the UPS man seeing me struggle with a heavy part, it seemed there was always a helping hand when it was needed. Along with the hand usually came a story and 10 minutes of work could easily become an hour, but that was part of the fun. Very little of the restoration would have happened were it not for the chance meeting of a true steamer’s friend.
When I purchased the Case I flew to Billings, Mont., and on my way from the airport we drove by the D&H Spring shop. I noticed a variety of steamers sitting outside and stopped to meet the owner, Corky Staudinger. How fortunate I chanced upon Corky, for he was the catalyst that sparked the whole restoration effort. I had never worked on a steam engine before. In fact, in southern Oregon they are a pretty rare item and I had seen only one or two actually under power before. Although I had worked on many pieces of farm equipment, I found this one a bit intimidating. Obviously all the running gear had to come off, but I had no idea where to start.
I called D&H and in no time Corky had me squared away. Bit by bit I disassembled it all, from flywheel to flues. In fact, I found out, unlike modern steel, if something was stuck I couldn’t just apply more force. When I tried that on the old Case, things simply bent or broke. Even bolts as thick as my thumb sheared off if I used a big enough cheater bar to make them move. So the steamer taught me the lesson that Corky had first spoken about – patience, and lots of it.
Over time, though, it slowly became a pile of parts and after a few months I had boxes of parts ready to send to Corky. You can probably imagine how anxious I was to get the parts back, but it took more patience (about a year’s worth) before all the pieces arrived. Corky had resleeved the cylinder, machined new surfaces on the valve box and balance valve, and rebuilt the governor. He rebuilt the cross slide and machined a new piston rod. He also calibrated the oiler and sent along a half dozen replacement spokes for the rear wheels. But the most important thing Corky did was share his experience and the right attitude to adopt when taking on a project like this, and I thank him for that.
Boiler and Fittings
While the engine and other parts were at Corky’s there were dozens of other things to do, but foremost in my mind was a careful inspection of the boiler and related steam fittings. A savvy buyer would have this kind of thing checked before the purchase, but George Miller, the previous owner, assured me everything was good, and I believed him. The boiler inspector, however, wanted more assurance and so it was onto the next step.
First a careful visual inspection, which had me removing the fire pan so the interior of the firebox could be checked. The fire pan literally fell apart when it was removed, so this was my first fabrication project. Removing the fire pan to get access to the firebox was important, because if there was any evidence of an overheated crown sheet it would show as a warped plate and possibly damaged stay bolts. George described how the engine was parked near a spring and how it always had a plentiful supply of water, so I wasn’t too worried.
I also removed all the hand hole covers so the stay bolts and water legs could be inspected. An interesting note is that the original fusible plug was still installed. I took this as a good sign, and other than a considerable build-up of scale the boiler and related parts visually checked out OK. I spent considerable time cleaning the scale deposits, and found a vacuum and a long pipe were pretty handy. Next was the more intensive ultrasonic inspection, which involves smoothing spots on the boiler so a device can be attached that measures the thickness of the steel.
Dozens of places were checked and compared to the factory drawings to determine any loss of thickness. Once again the water legs and crown sheet around the firebox were of major concern, but when it was all completed I was relieved that George had been correct: The boiler was fine. I was told to replace all the steam pipes and valves with modern schedule 80 fittings and was cautioned to replace a half dozen rivets where the flue sheet connected to the smokebox, as the heads had become badly corroded. This was to be my next project.
I contacted a suggested boiler repairman who specialized in this type of work and was astonished to get a price of more than $3,000 for this small job; something about “liability and old engines.” I felt this wasn’t the appropriate price or attitude and decided I would do it myself. I work as a helicopter pilot and have an airframe repairman license. I figured if I could rivet together an airplane safely, I could certainly perform this work on the Case. A quick call to Corky for the necessary tools, rivets and “how tos” and I began the work. I’m happy to report, it really is a pretty simple procedure, and in short order the needed rivets were removed, and the replacements were heated and set.
It was during this time I noticed issues with some of the flues. Some just didn’t feel right as I worked the flue brush in and out of them. I made an air pressure tool and found a number of the flues had holes. It seemed only right that I was going to get some hands-on experience at replacing flues as well. I figured modern boilers had flues, so a look in the Yellow Pages turned up a local shop that said they would take a look. When the repairman showed up he was all smiles, and said compared to swimming pool boilers and the like, this job looked like fun. With that kind of attitude, he was hired.
We had to measure and special order the correct flue tubing. This took a week or so and during that time I removed the old tubes. Since I didn’t have a tubing cutter, I carefully used a die grinder and removed the bead. I then slid the tubes out. Having some of them removed sure made it a lot easier to get to the remaining scale inside the boiler, so it was back to vacuuming.
Once the tubing arrived the repairman returned and in no time the new tubes were fixed in place. It was about then when the parts from D&H arrived and I was ready to begin the real heart of the restoration.
Rebuild
With so many of the parts coming back rebuilt by Corky, it would be easy to think that by installing them the job would be complete. Unfortunately, these parts were only a fraction of the total project. Some parts were simply missing, like the handles to the smokebox door. Others such as the step frames were broken and beyond repair. It was through Emanuel King at the Cattail Foundry that replacements were sourced. He cast perfect replicas for most of the small iron parts I needed, but there were other problems.
Fifty years of sitting outside had a predictable effect on bearings and axle shafts, so all of the rotating parts had to be removed and cleaned. When you consider that some of the parts aren’t supposed to come apart easily, such as the flywheel to crankshaft, trying to make them come apart was an exasperating experience. The parts are big and unwieldy. Too much force or heat would damage them irreparably. I spent hours and weeks trying to get them apart, sometimes measuring a day’s work in minute amounts of movement. But patience and perseverance prevailed, and eventually the rear wheels were off the axle, the countershaft and pinions gears were removed, the giant differential gear was on the floor, the flywheel and clutch assembly were removed, and the intermediate gear was set aside.
Removing the parts was only half the battle. Seeing all those parts and making them fit was sort of the low point in the restoration process. But it was winter and with plenty of long nights I reworked the pieces in my own shop. Over the next couple of months all the rebuilt parts were reinstalled.
With the help of eBay I was able to purchase a Case steam engine manual, original including grease stains. It is remarkable how complete the old manual was, and I found the page with the top view of the engine to be especially helpful in locating where all the parts belonged. I really enjoyed reading about timing the engine properly. This is the procedure where all the associated parts, namely the piston, slide valve, valve gear, eccentric, reverse head and many other parts work in harmony to introduce steam to the piston at just the right time. The manual pretty much takes you through step by step, from locating the index marks on the flywheel, to finding dead center and dividing the leads, and a bunch of other neat old terms. Everything just seemed to move like it was supposed to.
When I was actually able to grasp the flywheel for the first time and rotate it, I was thrilled to hear the air hissing out of the open cylinder cocks. The Case was almost breathing again! It was time to look at all the plumbing and associated valves, but before I got started there was one other big project to tackle.
When I purchased the engine from George it did not have any fuel bunkers attached. There had been bunkers at some point, but once it was parked in the woods they had become a nuisance, and were removed and discarded. George did have a really rusty set of bones I was able to pick through to get some original parts to begin the reconstruction of a new set.
I was just getting started on the restoration when I came across Duane Woods in Wallace, Neb. We got to talking and I realized Duane could supply me with a set of bunkers for about what it would cost to build them myself. So I sent my old parts to Nebraska, and a couple months later Duane’s bunkers showed up. Duane will send bunkers in any stage of completion and I got the semi-kit style with plenty of detail work still needed, because I wanted to use as much of the old bunker steel as possible. In some areas I actually removed Duane’s work so I could install old steel. In others, it was removing modern bolt fasteners and replacing them with rivets. In the end, between the two of us, I got a set of bunkers I was really happy with. After a week or so of painting I had them just where I wanted them – on the back of the steamer. Best of all, Duane supplied me with a wonderful water transfer factory scene and this completed the job.
Now that I could easily step up to the quadrant shelf, it was time to duplicate, fit and replace all the steam pipes I had removed earlier. Aside from dozens of trial fits and some really stubborn ends that fit into the boiler, this part was routine work. At one point I even hooked the engine to my air compressor and marveled at how, for a few short moments, the beautiful running gears would all silently move. After two years of work the Case was looking like it was ready to move with steam. But was I?
First Steam-Up
A recent boiler explosion at a state fair had really brought to light how an inexperienced hand could needlessly cause injury and harm to others. Since I had no experience to draw on, I was really torn. I was anxious to run my steamer, yet I wanted to do it in a safe manner. I was very fortunate to read about a steam school in Brooks, Ore., and when I called for information I found they would be holding their annual school in only two months. For that long I could be patient. In fact, it was during this time that my dad visited to see how the project looked.
As pleased as he was, he couldn’t help but notice that one of the front wheels was really crooked. This and other damage came from the engine’s first trip from Billings to Nye, Mont., in 1912. While crossing a stream the bridge collapsed, and the evidence from this accident was not yet repaired. Dad figured since he had trued up many bicycle wheels this one couldn’t be much harder. Lots of elbow grease and penetrating lubricant proved him right, and the wheel now looks much better. Dad also built me a custom 1912 Case step for the side of the steamer.
Two months passed in a flash, and the steam school was wonderful. There were about 20 of us attending and we learned about the safe operation of a steamer from front to back. Best of all it turned out they had nearly the identical twin to my engine – a 1911 Case 75 HP! By the second day we were all happily clanking around and blowing whistles, grinning from ear to ear. It was interesting to note that of all the people, none of them owned a steam engine. Most were there to be certified so that at the Great Oregon Steam-up, Brooks, they could operate Antique Powerland’s own rolling stock. So it felt pretty good to be driving home to my own freshly rebuilt engine.
To say I was excited just doesn’t begin to cover the accomplishment of rebuilding the Case. It took several years of perseverance, a commitment of funds and the enduring support of my wife, Dianne, to make this day happen. But when the next Sunday rolled around I was finally ready. Following the procedures I had learned at Brooks and in the Case manual, I precisely filled the boiler and water tank, lubed everything, carefully made a fire in the firebox and watched as a small tendril of smoke made its way out of the smokestack for the first time in more than 50 years. Such a joyful feeling.
As winter rain fell, bit by bit the boiler warmed, the fire grew and the pressure slowly built on the steam gauge. The unmistakable smell of wet steam and ash surrounded the engine with its sweet aroma. A turn of the blower knob and the steam hissed up the stack, a cloud of vapor to mark the occasion. Like the whole rebuilding process, the firing of the Case I named after George took patience. The metal sang, the fire popped and the pressure grew. And finally, after all, I blew the whistle, opened the cylinder cocks, set the reverse lever and opened the throttle. As silently and smoothly as you can possibly imagine, the piston moved and the flywheel turned. Just like that, the Case steam engine that sat frozen in time for five decades was alive again.
Epilogue
I have so enjoyed this Case steam engine. It is one of the most satisfying projects I have ever begun. I use the Case on our ranch several times a year and marvel at the power it displays as it pulls a 16-foot harrow across my fields. The sound the engine makes at full song is exquisite – the deep chuff of the stack and the soft whisper of the open cylinder cocks. I have tried many whistles on it, but the original three-tone chime is definitely my favorite, as it was to George. The sound attracts people who come from miles away to watch it work.
Running the engine at the ranch is completely different than at shows, where a bit of steam pressure seems to last all day. We fire the engine with wood, so it takes a careful engineer to keep the pressure up and not blow the relief valve. It certainly takes a lot of wood and a lot of water, but the result is pure steam power. Since we have horses, it is easy for me to make the comparison between the nostalgia of both on a farm. I can certainly see why the farmer embraced steam power so quickly and what a miracle it must have been when the first steam engines made their presence known.
As for me, it is a privilege to own and operate this engine. I am finding more interesting information about it all the time. For instance, it has been suggested to me that the Case has a very rare tapered clutch slide, a part that most engines had field replaced in 1913. Apparently, since this Case was already parked in the trees, no one thought to remove it. I’m also asked if I plan to paint the engine, something I just can’t bear to do since I like the fact that it still has the grease and grime on it from when George last ran it, not to mention his unique smokebox art.
I certainly encourage anyone who dreams of having their own engine to give it a try, for there are many knowledgeable people to help you. I only know there is something deeply satisfying about owning and operating a steam engine. It’s not like owning a Model T, which aside from its reliability is not much different from what you drive today. A steam engine somehow captures and delivers a timeless essence that few other pieces of machinery can, and it is the reason why men like George Miller keep and cherish them for their entire lives. This essence is why – when I fulfilled a promise made to once again make the engine run – when George’s wife played the video of the sounds of the Case operating, tears flowed from his nearly sightless eyes. So when all is said and done, I would do it all over again, because restoring a piece of mechanical history and making it yours is, in the end, priceless.
Contact steam engine enthusiast Joseph Berto by e-mail: managementc@hotmail.com
www.casesteamtractor.com
Case 75 HP Restoration Resources
| Corky Staudinger D&H Spring 3919 Montana Ave. Billings, MT 59101 (800) 382-3917 e-mail: dandhspring.com |
Emanuel King |
Duane Woods P.O. Box 115 Wallace, NE 69169 (308) 387-4366 e-mail: dewood@nebnet.net |
Rebuilding the Fuel BunkersThis Case engine was built in 1912. At that time an engine like this often had to travel from job to job to do the threshing on many farms. On the rear of the engine was a platform the driver and fireman could stand. Additionally, a set of contractors bunkers were mounted to carry enough fuel, usually coal or wood, and water to last at least an hour. This engine originally had bunkers, but when it was parked as a stationary power plant for a sawmill the narrow platform and step made it difficult to fire, so they were removed. When I purchased the engine there was a set of bunkers included, but they fit a 65 HP Case and were in such poor condition that they could only be used for patterns and small castings. The new bunkers were constructed by Duane Wood of Wallace, Neb. Duane built the coal tenders, and he did it quickly and at a reasonable cost. He integrated the new and old parts and made them look as original as possible. I took what he sent and reworked many of the new parts to include the parts from the older, original bunkers. This involved removing screws and bolts, and replacing them with hot set rivets wherever possible utilizing the original metal to make the toolboxes, coal doors and rounded corners. |
