40th Steam-O-Rama Featured
York-Built Equipment
JOYCE BUPP
York Co. Correspondent
WINDSOR (York Co.) —Early
American tractor buffs from the
York area recently celebrated a
40th anniversary and honored their
own.
The annual Steam-O-Rama
show was hosted by the Early
American Steam Engine Society at
its Windsor meeting and show
grounds, Oct 2-5. Focus of the
anniversary celebration was York
and York-area built machinery and
related equipment.
“York was a ‘hot’ area of farm
equipment manufacturing through
the 19th and early 20th century and
was really quite an industrial cen
ter in that time,” said Floyd Miller,
York antique equipment collector
chairing the Yoik-made portion of
Floyd Miller's SD-1 tractor was little more than a motor
ized frame when he purchased it several years ago.
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the show. “A lot of the manufac
turing boom came after the Civil
War era and up in the early 1900 s.”
He noted that York-manufactured
equipment is featured by the
Stcam-O-Rama every fifth year.
An added draw to this year’s
steam event was the 60th anniver
sary of Sheppard diesels. The R.H.
Sheppard Company, originally
known for shoe manufacturing,
became an early developer of
diesel engines. Those early
engines went into use as genera
tors, marine-equipment motors,
and a source of power for the mili
tary during World War 11. After the
war, Sheppard turned to experi
menting with its diesel engine is a
farm tractor model. At first, the
company is reported to have
repowered a Farmall M, one of the
early popular gasoline farm trac
tors, with their own diesel engine.
According to farm equipment
history sources, the first Sheppard-
Diesel tractor was introduced in
1949. It was dubbed the SD-1
Model, a 5.4 horsepower, single
cylinder, air-cooled diesel tractor,
sized primarily for lawn-garden
type use. Largo' and additional
models of tractors from the Shep
pard firm continued to be manu
factured until the early 19505.
Floyd Miller has restored one of
the three known remaining SD-1
models and polished it to gleaming
for display at the Steam-O-ftama.
The other two are owned by the
Sheppard firm, which manufac
tures power steering systems for
large trucks and construction
equipment.
Miller, an avowed Sheppard
diesel enthusiast and equipment
collector for 40 years, joked that he
spends his kids’ inheritance on his
antique farm equipment pursuits.
“I had the 2-, 3- and 4-cylinder
models and needed the one
cylinder to complete the set,” said
this walking encyclopedia of anti
que tractor lore. Miller tracked his
prize down to a distant airplane
hangar where it had been stored by
the owner, a former employee of
the Sheppard firm, and had been
used primarily in its later years for
mowing. He spent uncounted
hours restoring to like-new the
basic frame and motor that
remained of the machine that,
when new, had sold for $1,065.
Rick’s Gradall
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Pond Building
Pond Cleaning
Stone Reventment
Stream Restoration
Demolition
coll Scott or Bruce
*t 10-35 H-7686 poqcr <tlo-339-8991
J FIRST TOBACCO SALE: J
% December 1, 1997 jt
jT Sale Every Mon., Wed. & Fri. J
«, Until January 17 - 4
Tt» Last Sale for 609 Tobacco y
/ and Type 41. J
S? Last year Type 609 tobacco %
JT started out at $1.65 per pound and J
ended at $1.92 as long as auction
was open. y
J We at Paradise make the farmer
& money. Don’t get scared and sign
7* a contract from bull stories. J
t Farmer, you will hear a lot from A*
V county buyers in the field such as y
J our tobacco goes overseas, and so J
% forth. With Contracts signed in the %
1* country it's hard for Paradise to J
i raise prices* Ak
*L P.S. We have a strong demand y
j for Type 41 tobacco at Paradise. J
& Make Paradise your Type 41
'r marketplace. We Need 41 /
I and 609. A*
We Will Be On Your Farm Soon y
/ With Top Quality, Rocky Mountain J
& Cotton Twine - Not Sefconds.
V Remember, There Is A Difference. /
PARADISE TOBACCO %
I vf SALES $
L ' Mitch White-Sale Mgr. ' .
Mitch Aehby-Auct AU0002616-R J
I. i
Lineal* rtMig, «MuUy. 'OdUm fir
Though Yoik-area-built farm
equipment was widely known in
its heyday, the Sheppard diesel
was the only tractor ever manufac
tured in the county. As local farms
were relatively small and their
owners often conservative about
switching from the familiar gas
powered tractor to the then-little
known diesel technology, histo
rians note that the Sheppard’s j
diesel did not generate widespread
purchase by locals. In addition, the
firm required that the full price for
one its tractors be paid up front, a
formidable financial barrier for
many family farms.
In addition to the estimated 35 to
40 lovingly-restored Sheppard
diesels on hand at the Windsor
steam show, exhibitors displayed
Market Lamb
Zimmerman
Young Flock; 1. Jenniffer Zimmerman
Champion Southdown Ram: Jay
Zimmerman
Reserve Champion Southdown Ram:
Jen Zimmerman
Champion Southdown Ewa; Jenniffer
Zimmerman
Reserve Champion Southdown Ewa:
Jen Zimmerman
SUFFOLK
Ram Lamb: 1. Adam Zurm
Ewe Lamb: 1. Andrew Gerhart, 2 Adam
Zurm, 3. Adam Zunn
Yearling: 1. Andrew Gerhart, 2 Keith Bol
linger, 3. Andrew Gerhart
Aged Ewe: 1. Andrew Gerhart, 2 Keith
Bollinger
Pair of Breading: 1. Andrew Gerhart, 2
Adam Zurm, 3. Keith Bollinger
Young Flock: 1. Adam Zunn
Champion Suffolk Ram: Adam Zunn
Champion Suffolk Ewa: Andrew Gerhart
Reserve Ewe: Andrew Gerhart
LINCOLN
Ewa Yearling: 1. Gabriel Bowman
an array of literature on the Shep
pards and numerous other antique
machines. He noted that factory
manuals that went with new trac
tors, as well as a variety of other
original literature, are eagerly
sought by collectors of such histor
ical data.
Other York-produced
equipment names once common
around rural America included the
Farquhar Company, Pullman, the
United Engine Works, and Flin
chbaugh Manufacturing Com
pany. The Acme Wagon Works, an
Emigsville establishment original
ly known as the the American
Tube and Axle Company, was also
familiar on farmsteads for pro
ducts such as feed grinders and
watering troughs.
(Continued from Page A 24)
Champion Lincoln Ewa; Gabriel
Bowman
POLYPAY
Ram Lamb: 1. Oallatia Bowman
Ewa Lamb: 1. Oallasta Bowman, 2. Dal
lassa Bowman
Agad Ewa; 1. Oallassa Bowman
Pair: 1. Dallaasa Bowman, 2. Dallassa
Bowman
Young Hock: 1. Oallassa Bowman
Champion Polypay Ram: Oallassa
Bowman
Champion Polypay Ewa: Oallassa
Bowman
Rassrva Champion Polypay Ewa: Dal
lassa Bowman
Champion Ram; Radell Peters
Reserve Champion Ram: Jay
Zimmerman
Champion Ewa: Jen Zimmerman
Rassrva Champion Ewa: Travis
Redmond
Grand Champion Breading Shaap: Jen
Zimmerman
Reserve Champion Breeding Sheep:
Radell Peters
Halloween at
Sheerlund
Forests
Free Hayrides Halloween
to Pumpkin// / fa (k \\\ Decorations
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Spook Walk VOvX*!r /JJ for Christmas
Free Cider and Cookies
3 Miles South of Reading on Route 625
(New Holland Road)
(61 0) 777-9351
Hours: Weekends 9:00-5:00
www.sheerlund.com