Shown
in the first photograph, from left to right: Bob Woodward, Kimya Morris,
Nathan Hurt, John March, Dave Harrington, Paul Plotkowski, Mel Helmich, and
Bill De Fotis.
The ASME International has officially designated four Cooper Agricultural Steam Engines as a Mechanical Engineering Heritage Collection. The collection is housed at the Knox County Museum in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, where the Designation Ceremony was held Thursday, September 17, 1998.
Shown
in the first photograph, from left to right: Bob Woodward, Kimya Morris,
Nathan Hurt, John March, Dave Harrington, Paul Plotkowski, Mel Helmich, and
Bill De Fotis.
Shown
in the second photograph, from left to right: Bill De Fotis, Mark Ramser,
Nathan Hurt, and Mel Helmich.
The engines were built by Cooper & Co. of Mt. Vernon and are among the oldest surviving agricultural steam engines. They show the evolution from the portable skid mounted engine (circa 1860), to the horse drawn engine (1875), through the self-propelled, self-steered traction engine (1883). Such engines powered the conversion to mechanized farming. Cooper built over 5,000 engines between 1853 and 1890. Also, other companies built thousands more based on the pioneering Cooper designs.
Click here to see the self-propelled, self-steered traction engine in operation.
Click here to see photographs of the steam engines on display at the Knox County Museum.
Click here to see more photographs.
You should visit the Knox County Museum to see these engines for yourself. Contact Mel Helmich at (740) 397-5323 or melhel1234@aol.com for more information about the collection.