I love when someone is ballsy enough to put these historical treasures under load! They were not built for putzing through the show grounds, built to work! Just... don't break it unless you can fix it.

this engine was not designed for pulling it was only 15-25hp at best this model was designed for belt work. it was self propelled only for maneuvering into position. my grandpa was a steam engine mechanic and i have his repair books. he was the mechanic for the threshing crew in my hometown area until the 30s when combines were introduced into the area. i have the picture taken with the crew posing in front of the engine and threshing machine for the last time sept 1939

Looks like Frank from American Pickers trying to get his new toy to the van.

Great old tractor! Thumbs up!

It's not about horsepower, it's about torque.

She didnt make it, but all that steam puffing is so beautiful. The Frick got the job done but this Peerless puffing is so much nice... Great videos!

you cant make me , you cant make me .

He must not be doing something right. There are videos of steam traction engines doing things that require FAR more torque than it should require to get that tractor up a mildly sloping section of hill.

two feet forward..ten feet back lol

He's operating it properly. It depends on how much steam pressure the boiler is inspected for.an engine that size only ran on 120 lbs of steam from new.

Odd. I’ve seen these things pull like crazy. Needs more fire maybe?

Pissing away his steam. That's not good.

I get the impression this is much steeper than the video makes it look. The front wheels lifting gave it away.

Wish I'd been there, that looks like brilliant fun!!!!

The grandfather off all tractors ..off ours days...poor of hem..smoke and fart ;)

There must be something wrong with the valve timing I think or maybe he was using 100% gear, maybe a little less and he might have made it.

Most times on engines this old when the boilers were designed for 125-100 psi pressure when new, because the iron is so old they run them at only 75-80 psi and adjust the pressure relief valve accordingly for extra safety. Ordinarily these old engines would climb any steep grade effortlessly because they were built for pulling plows through heavy soil.

They have to keep the water low in the boiler due to the level of the hill. That is why it’s venting steam

awesome video

Reversing traction engines up steep inclines is the way the old-timers used to do it.

it was wise to give up and go back

I am afraid the driver should have noticed that he chose to climb the steepest point against gravity. All he needed to do is to move to his right all the way and use the right side of the road which has less steep angles to climb. The shortest way was in fact the steepest at the corner. the longer way on the outside of the curve was much less steep..

Was this at Steam-O-Rama in Windsor, PA?

nothin like the sound of steam

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.🤧

This looks like it was taken at the Steamorama in Windsor Pa, if so that hill is a lot steeper than this video makes it look. I've got some old video of two tractors going up back to back about 10feet apart. Unfortunately it's on VHS and I don't have a way to convert.

I think there is mineral scale buildup inside the boiler walls that is causing loss of power .

@Fox Harbor Archers You can go up a hill backwards, it is as I said in another reply, dependent on how much water is in the boiler, granted this may be harder to do with this boiler as it is not a tapered boiler, but it is still possible.

Just not enough oomph.

You can't fool me, this is a 1908 Hoyt-Clagwell

@marty264 True, I know little about boilers/steam. I do know about when they blow up. July 29, 2001, Medena County Fair Grounds, Ohio. There is no one left in the State of Ohio who knows anything about traction's engines. When a Case 110 blew up, the core of the State's hobbyist were huddled around it. It's three operators and six others were simply blown to bits. Investigators had to be brought in from surrounding States to determine cause. They're rolling shrapnel bombs when things go wrong.

His fire box was not stocked enough to perform this task. Notice the engine can go really fast then it stops when pressure subsides.

Geiser Peerless and Frick were made in my home town...Waynesboro Pa....personally, I'd take a Geiser any day over a Frick.

Dramatic and exciting video.

That looks like Greg Bechtold operating... at Steam-O-rama…?

Boiler inspection certificate?

By the looks of the road... not too many made it all the way. I'm thinking that the grade is steeper than the camera makes it look.

Its not being operated right. The exhaust steam should vent through the chimney. Instead it exiting through the cylinder drain cocks. He needs to close the cocks and operate is normally. The pressure is not being used to the full.

Looks like the front wheel is gonna drop right off there

the boiler was a bit full for that all the water in the back and the front end comes up

It had full pressure that's why the pop valve was going off.

He needs to get a Case 150 to pull him.

so much for making the climb

@MrKmoconne. If you had enough water in the boiler this would not happen, adequate water level would prevent the crown sheet from being uncovered, locomotives At Cass Scenic Railroad are run backwards up hill every day without a problem.

He might have it running at lower pressure due to age / or boiler and pressure vessel code restrictions

@Polybun You know it was the crown sheet that failed at The Madena Fair Grounds 110 Case Explosion. Crown sheet completely exposed. Surely you would agree, they shouldn't be raced across the fair grounds or in pull offs. Hill climbing probably isn't such a great idea either. These are antiques. I think we have to step away and think about some of the reasons we replaced this technology in the first place.

Good to know. Thanks!

well it looks like it was gonna wheelie!

Will somebody tell this guy to try the outside of the turn where it might be a little less steep. Might help yes?

Ah but steam can be made by any heat source. Tractors are normally powerd by wood witch pollutes a lot less that coal.

That would cause the water in the boiler to uncover the crown sheet over the firebox and could cause an explosion.

@IFlick @IFlick There are tons of steam hobbyists in Ohio, they have one of the largest steam shows every year. It wasn't the core of the Ohio hobby around the Medina 110 either, the 5 victims were the owner, his son, and three friends. Incompetence is the only danger with a steam engine. The crown sheet certainly isn't going to be exposed during a hill climb. The reason steam engines were replaced was economy. It is much cheaper to run gasoline/diesel tractors.

Your little hippie Prius makes more pollutants than the tractor in the video.

@IFlick There are tons of steam hobbyists in Ohio, they have one of the largest steam shows every year. It wasn't the core of the Ohio hobby around the Medina 110 either, the 5 victims were the owner, his son, and three friends. Incompetence is the only danger with a steam engine. The crown sheet certainly isn't going to be exposed during a hill climb. The reason steam engines were replaced was economy. It is much cheaper to run gasoline/diesel tractors.

i guess, it is because it does not have tires made out of rubber. but who knows ? :)

Come on peerless where's the Torque. Nice vid!

Why does it have so much trouble going up?

In one century we have come so far.

Maquinaria tão pesada que sua potência deveria ser medidas em elefantes ao invés de hp.

So did he make it later on or did he stay down there?

so this is a steam engine and not internal combustion?

Maybe turn it and reverse up the hill?

nice

steam cars for the future.

And i waited for this crap to overcome the hill..

He has to be doing something wrong! That machine should crawl up the hill with no problem at all!

When she stops on the incline and vents steam, is that through a automatic pressure release valve? When I was a kid, a friend of ours in South Jersey had one of these. He also had a Stanley Steamer too. Hell with Al Gore - Steam rules!

I think he needs to give it more gas.....lol..

built in my back yard

do u use coal or wood

Not pulling that engine, that's for sure.

Does it have a steam leak? At 0:49, it looks like steam is chuffing out of openings on the boiler.

Peerless going down a hill

wheres your low gear ?

didnt they have gearboxes?

Well that was incredibly painful to watch.

Plenty of steam Think not enough experience

How much can this thing really pull if it can't climb itself up a small incline?

i don't understand why this is not just running up the hill i have seen traction engines do massive pulls

It's not a piece of crap its only got 1 cylinder a 1 cylinder gas engine wouldn't even move on flat ground at the weight of this tractor.

At 0:57 I lost control of my body functions

hes stuck in mud when he stops

Think that machines like this were used in Tuscany to pull road trains charged with marble!

This is yet another task this machine wasn't designed for. Had the boiler exploded during this demonstration, the driver, the men women and children standing in the background would have been eviscerated. There are purpose built bombs that are not as effective as a boiler explosion. This machine is nearly 150 years old. How much do you think it can take?

Мощи у старика не хватает.Возраст даёт себя знать.

that steep incline can't be safe for the boiler with all that steam pressure inside

He should have switched to Geico.

Nice try. We're hoping it'll make the hill. Interesting to watch. Thank you. Try it again.

without peers my foot!!

Hahaha, that tractor is cheap. But certainly does resemble a freight train climbing a hill.

His problem is he's leaking steam.

hes not using the right pressure to go up that hill. hes using to much volume and not enough pressure. my family had a 1890s steam engines and it was at 40 hp we got it climb hills much steeper than that its all in knowing ur equipment. and yes we used it quite alot we even pull the neighbors semi out with it once.

The operator hopes the Good Lord will do the rest, but it never works.

I think I can I think I can I can I think I can

same hill with a frick on here......he gets up first shot. :)

No way eh to pooped to pop.

new it wouldn't get up there, not without a good run up

It's actually sad this man is asking a relic to do something like this.

Keep going till ya break something

I though only Case could climb hills.