“Built From Junk” Mini Steam Engine
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This built-from-scratch steam engine is unique because the man who made it, Kenny Durant, Bristol, Quebec, built it entirely from “junk” parts, including everything from a coffee percolator to an old patio fire pit. It’s painted red, green, and black.
“I built it as a lawn ornament. It looks good but doesn’t have power, so it'll never run,” says Durant, who belongs to a local steam engine club. “I got the idea because I like to use stuff other people throw away. Around here, they call me Sanford and Sons, after the TV show about a father and son who operated a junkyard business. I didn’t spend any money, not even for paint, because I found almost everything at a junkyard or dump.”
“The steam engine stands alongside a road, so a lot of people have seen it,” says Durant. He has also displayed it at a couple of local farm shows.
“It looks so real that many people who come by ask me when I’m going to fire it up,” says Durant. “Just for fun, once in a while, I remove the boiler’s cleanout door on front, place an old leather coat inside, and set fire to it. The coat will smolder for days and cause smoke to come out of the exhaust stack, making it look like the tractor is actually running.”
The steam engine’s 6-ft. long, 2-ft. dia. boiler came from an apartment building. A square 100-gal. oil tank on the back of the boiler serves as the firebox, which has a big stove door bolted on the back of it. The firebox contains a water gauge that came off a coffee percolator. The flywheel is off an IH 1 1/2-hp. hit-and-miss engine.
The front wheels are off an old cement mixer, and the rear drive wheels from an IH binder. The front axle is off a hay loader.
The machine’s steering wheel was originally part of a hand-operated commercial bread slicer used by a bakery, and the steering rod is from a 1979 Ford pickup. “The steering rod is connected to a big roller off an “alligator boat” which was used to skid trees in from the woods up to a mile away. A pair of chains wrap around the roller and are connected to the front axle so that as I turn the steering wheel, the axle turns left or right,” says Durant.
He made the machine's smoke stack using an old patio fire pit made by the Canadian Tire Corporation and bolted it onto a 7-in. dia. stove pipe.
Behind the smoke stack are six different steam engine whistles donated by neighbors. “Some of the whistles are worth $300 to $400, so I’m fortunate to have such generous neighbors,” says Durant. “The whistles don’t make noise yet, but I plan to change that by adding an air tank and a small compressor.”
The boiler’s brass piston is off a Boyles Bros. water pump, and there’s a brass eagle door knocker on the front of the boiler. “When I see anything that’s brass, my eyes glaze over with happiness,” says Durant. “I found the brass eagle at a dump but didn’t know what it was because it was tarnished completely green. When I got it home and started polishing it, I found it was all brass.”
A pair of hand levers from an old Deering seed drill are on the back of the machine. One lever controls forward and reverse, and the other is a brake. Also on the back are two steel boxes that store wood. “I built the boxes by taking a big twine box off a Massey Ferguson baler and cutting it in half,” notes Durant.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kenny Durant, 34 Cemetary Rd., Bristol, Quebec Canada J0X 1G0 (ph 819-647-1929 or 819-647-1929; cloutiar@hotmail.com).
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“Built From Junk” Mini Steam Engine AG WORLD What makes this built-from-scratch steam engine unique is that the man who made it Kenny Durant Bristol Quebec built it entirely from “junk” parts including everything from a coffee percolator to an old patio fire pit It’s painted red green and black “I built it as a lawn ornament It looks good but it doesn’t have power so it will never run ” says Durant who belongs to a local steam engine club “I got the idea because I like to make use of stuff that other people throw away Around here they call me Sanford and Sons after the TV show about a father and son who operated a junk yard business I didn’t spend any money not even for paint because I found almost everything at a junkyard or dump ” “The steam engine stands alongside a road so a lot of people have seen it ” says Durant He has also displayed it at a couple of local farm shows “It looks so real that many people who come by ask me when I’m going to fire it up ” says Durant “Just for fun once in a while I remove the boiler’s cleanout door on front and place an old leather coat inside and set fire to it The coat will smolder for days and cause smoke to come out of the exhaust stack which makes it look like the tractor is actually running ” The steam engine’s 6-ft long 2-ft dia boiler came out of an apartment building A square 100-gal oil tank on back of the boiler serves as the firebox and has a big stove door bolted on back of it The firebox contains a water gauge that came off a coffee percolator The flywheel is off an IH 1 1/2 hp hit and miss engine The front wheels are off an old cement mixer and the rear drive wheels from an IH binder The front axle is off a hay loader The machine’s steering wheel was originally part of a hand-operated commercial bread slicer used by a bakery and the steering rod is from a 1979 Ford pickup “The steering rod is connected to a big roller off an “alligator boat” which was used to skid trees in from the woods up to a mile away A pair of chains wrap around the roller and are connected to the front axle so that as I turn the steering wheel the axle turns left or right ” says Durant He used an old patio fire pit made by the Canadian Tire Corporation to make the machine’s smoke stack and bolted it onto a 7-in dia stove pipe Behind the smoke stack are 6 different steam engine whistles donated by neighbors “Some of the whistles are worth $300 to $400 so I’m fortunate to have such generous neighbors ” says Durant “The whistles don’t make noise yet but I plan to change that by adding an air tank and a small compressor ” The boiler’s brass piston is off a Boyles Bros water pump and there’s a brass eagle door knocker on front of the boiler “When I see anything that’s brass my eyes glaze over with happiness ” says Durant “I found the brass eagle at a dump but didn’t know what it was because it was tarnished completely green When I got it home and started polishing it I found that it was all brass ” On back of the machine is a pair of hand levers off an old Deering seed drill One lever controls forward and reverse and the other is a brake Also on back are 2 steel boxes that store wood “I built the boxes by taking a big twine box off a Massey Ferguson baler and cutting it in half ” notes Durant Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Kenny Durant 34 Cemetary Rd Bristol Quebec Canada J0X 1G0 ph 819 647-1929; 819 647-1929; cloutiar@hotmail com
