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Is steam too old???

bordercollie

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Joined
Aug 10, 2007
Messages
67
Location
Michigan
Occupation
Dealer service tech with 20 yrs experience,
I know some of you may be dis-pleased with me, thinking this belongs on a farm web page or a agricultural web page, but alot of these machines helped build roads still in use today.

This is a pic of my fathers pride and joy. I hope you all like looking at this type of machinery as much as I like being around it and learning about it.

This was from this years show in the western part of the Upper Peninsula of MI

steam.jpg
 

bordercollie

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Aug 10, 2007
Messages
67
Location
Michigan
Occupation
Dealer service tech with 20 yrs experience,
I do, it will take me a few to re-size them, stay tuned
 

RocksnRoses

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2008
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770
Location
South Australia
Occupation
Owner operater crushing & contracting business
Keep 'em coming, bordercollie, those old steamers opened up agricultural land and worked on farms all around the world.

Rn'R.
 

atgreene

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2005
Messages
508
Location
Sebago, Maine
Nice! I Always wanted a steam engine. The laws are so strict now that running one at a Show in Maine is almost a federal crime. Too many explosions from riveted boilers.

We have a collection of gas engines, but no steam.

Thanks for the pics.
 

bordercollie

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Joined
Aug 10, 2007
Messages
67
Location
Michigan
Occupation
Dealer service tech with 20 yrs experience,
So true on the regulations. This one was inspected this spring and everything was good.
It is certified for 150 psi operating pressure.
 

digger242j

Administrator
Joined
Oct 31, 2003
Messages
6,648
Location
Southwestern PA
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Self employed excavator
I do, it will take me a few to re-size them, stay tuned

The board now has an automatic re-sizer, which makes posting pics a lot easier.

Great pics, by the way... :)
 

Ron Light

Active Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2008
Messages
38
Location
Austin Texas
Is Steam too old??

I think steam is one of our better options for cleaner energy to power transportation, the pressure vessels that can be made today with more advanced materials that do not deteriorate like steel, might be a little more expensive, but would last longer and be more dependable in the long run.

Most of our major power is still produced with steam, but of course it is not moving on roadways at 50 To 100 MPH.

I'm currently working on a design for a tool trailer power station, that might involve some steam application.

Ron
 

Iron Horse

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2008
Messages
761
Location
,
This is a coin commemorating 200 years since my ancestor Richard Trevithick invented the first rail locomotive. He started the industrial revolution when he invented the first high pressure steam engine which powered many new machines , ships , tractors , water pumps , threshing machines etc . He is best known for being the father of the first rail locomotive in 1804 . They say his steam engines were the greatest step in miniaturisation not seen again untill the advent of the Silicone chip . A Google of his name will tell the full and amazing story of his career .
 

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bordercollie

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Michigan
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Dealer service tech with 20 yrs experience,
a couple a more for everyone.
 

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bordercollie

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Aug 10, 2007
Messages
67
Location
Michigan
Occupation
Dealer service tech with 20 yrs experience,
hey digger what was they hitched to? I see a yoke on em....
 

digger242j

Administrator
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Oct 31, 2003
Messages
6,648
Location
Southwestern PA
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Self employed excavator
At the time, they weren't hitched to anything except each other. I don't know whether they were hitched to anything earlier or later in the day, but if they were, I missed it. I have been told though that some of the older grader type implements were actually drawn by them for construction purposes. They're not strictly an agricultural powerplant.
 

Rick Rowlands

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2008
Messages
126
Location
Youngstown, Ohio
Steam is never too old. This is completely OT but if you like steam traction then you must also like stationary steam. Here is North America's largest stationary steam engine. 4000 HP at 75 rpm, 34" and 68" dia. cylinders, 60" stroke. It drove a rolling mill at a steel plant. Over the past decade I dismantled, moved and reassembled it at a new site. Weighs over 270 tons. some of you may have seen pictures of it on the net. This is the Tod Engine.

 

micbare

Active Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2009
Messages
32
Location
Martinez, Georgia
Occupation
maintance man for a medical group
Steam may come back around

I had read once that railroads were looking at steam again. With the following setup Propane or CNG firing a boiler turning a turbine connected to a electric
generator. They were looking at this because of emissions regulations
 
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