SteamTraction Engine
A closer look at a rare piece of our agricultural heritage
About the Engine- This 25 horsepower traction engine is reported to be the last one built by the 20th Century Mfg Co. It was classified in the company literature as their model G haulage engine. It has twin 7-1/2 x 10 inch simple cylinders with balanced valves, a 42" flywheel, and a Miller patent Boiler. This engine has some variations from standard, perhaps because it was built from what pieces that the company had left in stock. Some unusual features of this engine include a the 3"diameter crankshaft (from the company's 35 HP engine),and the single flywheel. The pictures taken in the 30's also seem to indicate it was built with only one small water tank and contrary to usual company practice, was probably never equipped with a boiler jacket.
The engine was purchased new by a Mr. Monroe Yoder who used it for threshing. Sometime in the late 20's it was purchased by Mr.Harry Bowser (pictured), who used it for threshing until sometime in the mid 30's. The engine was then placed in service on Mr. Bowser's sawmill near Keysers Ridge Md.
At the outbreak of World War II the engine was still working. Mr. Bowser was only partially successful in keeping the engine from the scrapper's torch. He was allowed to keep the boiler and engine to run his sawmill; however, the wheels, gearing and most of the undercarriage was taken for the war effort. The sawmill fell into disuse after the war and the engine was left derelict.
In or about 1960 it was purchased by Mr. Cleman Folk,(above) who mounted what remained of the engine on a 1956 Ford dump truck chassis from his stone business. .
We purchased the engine from it's 4th owner in the summer of 1997, and transported it to it's new home a few weeks later. It can be seen in operation at NW Pa Steam Engine and Old Equipment Assn held at Portersville, Pa. in Butler County.
A brief history of the company - The 20th Century Manufacturing Co.was founded by Rev. D. Miller, a Mennonite minister and inventor, just after the beginning of the twentieth century itself. Originally called The Improved Traction Engine Company, the firm quickly outgrew it's first factory located in Elk Lick Twp., Somerset County, in southern Pennsylvania. The company changed it's name, and moved to a new site in a little town called Boynton, Pa just north of the Maryland line, to have better access to the railroad.
The 20th Century Engines, unlike other Pennsylvania built engines (in fact most traction engines), was a twin cylinder machine with the engines mounted under the boiler on a steel frame. The company claimed that it made for a stronger, better balanced engine. The engine also used a unique boiler design, patented by Rev. Miller, that had the fire tubes passing over top of a low, arched crown sheet, resulting in a long firebox, with long tubes in a short boiler; effectively giving the Miller Patent Boiler the heating surface of a much larger standard design.
By 1914 the company had become a successful, if regional, manufacturer of steam portable and traction engines. That year the company purchased the well-known Champion Thresher Company of Orville, Ohio to supplement their engine line. Yet 3 short years later, everything changed. In April of 1917, President Woodrow Wilson signed the bill declaring war on Germany. Our boys were going overseas with Gen. 'Blackjack' Pershing to fight 'The Huns', singing George M. Cohan's "Over There", and an anti-German hysteria gripped the country. Congress passed a law that provided for a fine of $20,000 and/or 20 years imprisonment for advocating a reduced production of wartime necessities, or for saying anything "disloyal, profane,scurrilous, or abusive" about any aspect of the government, or war effort. And poor Rev. Miller, whose Mennonite faith did not allow him to contribute to the taking of human life, was faced with an order from the U. S. government to turn his shop over to the production of cannon barrels and other armaments. The good Reverend refused, and the government prohibited the 20th Century Mfg.Company from buying strategic materials including iron, steel and brass. The company was forced into bankruptcy, and by 1918 was gone.
The factory building still stands in Boynton, Pa. and is currently home to a pipe fitting manufacturer
Today, there are only four known 20th Century engines remaining in operating condition. This one, two complete, restored engines, a 1916 model 16 HP located in Andover, Ohio and a 1911 20 HP located in New Centerville, Pa. And a 1907 16HP refitted with a Frick boiler also at New Centerville, Pa.
1916 16HP Model EX
1907 16HP
Vintage photos of other 20th Century engines
All of these are presumed scrapped
Information wanted: If you know of any existing 20th Century Mfg Co. steam traction engines, portables, or road rollers, either running or derelict, parts or whole, please contact us.
Also, we would like to talk to former owners of 20th Century engines.
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