At the field full of vintage machines is a steam boiler off an M Rumely 25. I'm guessing the 25 refers to horse power. The owner and a couple other guys were cleaning it out looking to see if any parts were in the fire box. In about 10 days they are bringing out another steam tractor to restore that has a bad boiler. The boiler they were working on is in good shape. A working steam tractor would be a real treat to see up close. Being an M Rumely and not an Advance Rumely could date it before 1915. Too bad I didn't have a serial number. There is a list of all the Rumely serial numbers and years they were made.
1 more.
I found a couple video's of a similar looking Rumely's. I think the first 2 are the same tractor and it's a 1914. The last video is a 20 HP but looks similar and is also a 1914. The 25 HP models seem to be pretty rare. They have to be pretty precise building the boilers so all the holes line up for the rivets. It must have took a long time to roll the ends of the tubes over to seal them. Pretty cool.
That's neat. It's amazing that a 100 year old boiler still looks so good
I would have never thought the boiler sitting there was any more than a cool conversation piece.