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Hello Everyone, It has been an year since I did a Newsletter, but I've been busy. I have completed two major projects, not that they will ever be finished. My book The Rototiller in America is complete. I have worked on this project since 1997, when I first uploaded my Website. Larry Kinney of Phoenix, Arizona, proofread and edited the material. I've heard of dotting the i's and crossing the t's, but no one ever said anything about commas and semi-colons. It is amazing, you can read something a hundred times and never see that a word is missing or a comma is needed. I check with a few cover designers but decided I would come up with a cover myself. After making the needed changes and some of the suggested changes, I sent the files on a CD to Infinity Publishing.Com of Haverford, PA. Infinity Publishing is a POD or Print on Demand publisher. This way I did not need to invest $20K-$25K to get the book published. My rejection letters from publishing houses all said it was too narrow of a niche to warrant a publishing contract, so unlike Hillary, I did not get a $8-million advance. The draw back is that POD books are only printed in black and white with greyscale pictures, at this time. Color versions of the pictures will be on my Website. Infinity is doing the graphic work on the cover using the sample I sent them, the base fee covered some of the time the work required. Here is were you get the old show business line, Don't call us, we will call you if needed. So 6-8 weeks after sending the CD and fees, I will get a proof copy to read and note corrections and returned to them. I also get a second copy to be sent with the completed U.S. Copyright application. After the corrections are made, the book is ready to be put on the market at their Website www.buybooksontheweb.com. I will have copies printed to sell myself on my Website and at tractor and engine shows. The suggested list price(SLP) is based on the number of pages and size of the book, my book is 293 pages as I sent it in and will be 8-1/2 by 11 inches, paperback perfect bound. The SLP will be $20.95 plus shipping and handling. There are several, actually many people who contributed material whether it was stories, old printed literature, and/or photographs. In no particular order they are Charlie Zuck, Michiel Hooijberg, Charlie R. Moore, Alain Charles, Lars Larson, Robert & Dave Antram, Frank DeWitt, Doug Cadman, Peter Witycyak, Jack Mueller, S. Cummings, Mark Bookout, John Wilhelm, Damien Clement, Kyle Rife, M. Panchaud, Bernard Gautheron, Carl Trumuller, Russell McIntyre, M. Edel & Co., Erica Pysher, John Blake, Alain Coldre, Joseph Bolt family, Daniel Ariens, and Terry Dean. Also there was reference material I used and footnoted in my book. The authors or publishers who owned the Copyrights were contacted about permission to use the material. They included C.H. Wendel, R.B. Gray, A.S.A.E., Intertec, Ariens Corp., MTD Products Inc., Michael Partridge, Norm Swinford, Roger Griffith, Sam Moore, Jack Mueller, Donald J. Norton, Alex N. Klose, Alan C. King, Dave Baas, Barreto Mfg., Brian Bell, Howard Int., Edmond Massip, John R. Fiero, Jeffrey I. Godshall, Michael E. Keller, Beverly Rae Kimes, Richard M. Langworth, Lee Saur, Robert Sobel, H.P. Smith, and William Chapman White. Magazines and newspaper articules and advertisement came from Implement & Tractor(Intertec), Country Gentleman, Gas Power, Farm Journal(Countryside Press), Time, Antique Power, The Troy Record, The York Dispatch, Successful Farming, Popular Gardening, Flower Grower, L'Official Jardin Motoculture, Annuaire De La Machine Agricole, Scienitic American, La Revue de Paris, Automobile Quarterly, Newsweek, Farm Implement News, and Popular Science. And of course the number one source of material purchased was ebay.com. 
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The second project I finished was the Fordson. The engine serial number is 310446 which makes this a 1923 model. This was a 9-1/2 year project, working off and on over those years. 2003 is Ford's 100th Anniverary and I was hoping to have it ready for the annual tractor show for the club I'm a member of, the Buxs-Mont Two-Cylinder Club. But atlast I was not able to get it to run more then a few pops and bangs and missed the show. After adjusting, testing, readjusting everything, including the carburetor, timing, sparkplugs, wires, and the magneto; I pieced together another magneto and it fired right off. The engine has SAE 50 weight mineral oil in it, and the transmission has 600W oil in it. The engine is lubricated by a splash system with the connecting rod having scuppers that scoop the oil to force feed the crankshaft journals. So this makes starting a cold engine fun. Then when you do get it started the thick cold transmission oil keeps the gears from spinning on the various shafts and you have to force or grind the transmission into gear. It's the same as the clutch not fully releasing until it is warmed up; to stop, you to have to take the transmission out of gear. My understanding when it is really cold the tractor will drive off in neutral. You have to preheat the transmission before starting the engine. Sounds like the helicopters I work on, only we break oil pumps and gearshafts if we don't. I did take the Fordson to a show the first weekend of October. I off loaded it Friday night. It rained hard and turned cold overnight. It took me an hour to start it after the sun finally came out. The Fordson was covered with a tarp but the moisture level was very high and the oil was thick. 
The summer is over and it is time to put the machines away. So don't forget to drain the water in any radiators you have. And now for the fuel, put a fuel stabilizer in the gas tank, start the engine, shut the fuel off and let the engine run the carb dry. If your carb has a drain plug you can drain it dry instead, but then this is your chance to play with it one more time before you have to start the snowblower for real. The good part about winter is you can start working on that next project or make those needed repairs. My project this year will be to paint one of my running SIMAR's C-2's. Also since I did not get to play with all of my toys this year, I what to bring every thing into the shop and start them. I haven't started some of these machines in several years. But if we get snow this year like last year that will hard to do. I hope everyone had a safe and fun summer show season. God Bless our troops around the world and President Bush. Remember to keep the faith in thy God, and live your faith. And Don't Forget To Keep in Touch |