What is it? Set 407

[Rob H.]

I've shown this to a lot of people and a number of them have guessed that the tubes hold fuel and the wicks are burned for heat for one purpose or another, the main problem with this idea is that the wicks are riveted to the tubes and can't be replaced, and they are hanging with the wicks down instead of up. The small hole with the sliding door is the only opening in the big container, so it wouldn't have enough oxygen to burn anything inside for very long.

This item belongs to a 70 year old man who got it from his father who was a farmer and beekeeper, I've shown it to some beekeepers and none of them recognized it, although some have guessed it's for catching a swarm of bees with the tubes holding some kind of attractant that is dispersed through the wicks. This is the best guess that I've heard for it yet.

Rob

[Paul Hovnanian P.E.]

entering in the bottom). The can is sealed and pressurized with dry nitrogen which makes its way inside the underground cables and forces any water out through the inevitable pin hole.

2358: Two links from a tank or caterpillar track.

[Paul Hovnanian P.E.]

That's 'MAX'.

[J Burns]

2355 By the spade points, I'd call it a chisel plow. It looks too big and deep for human power, but not as big or deep as one drawn by a tractor.

A piece is broken off. It looks as if it was hitched with no "hinge" to allow turning. Steering the towing vehicle would put a lot of stress on the plow.

I wonder if it was for a two-wheeled garden tractor. The rigid hitch would help keep the tractor straight if one wheel lost traction. To turn, you would raise the plow by tipping the tractor forward.

[dpb]

On 9/22/2011 7:57 PM, J Burns wrote: ...

It does have a chisel-type point.

I don't see anything broken; it's missing at least the matching section (or several sections).

It was in all likelihood from the hitch initially horse/mule-pulled. There's a set of holes; I'm guessing there would have been connection to the lift mechanism.

This is fairly old; cast tool shanks didn't last long--they were too brittle.

It's also pretty small; would have been a specialty crop or garden rather than large-scale cultivation use.

Is unique; I've not seen anything much like it and couldn't decipher anything useful from the casting marks, unfortunately.

--

[WayneJ]

Well, I think correct answers have been posted for all but 2353 and 2357. Since I have no clue for 2357, I'll guess on 2353.

I can't see a means of driving the disk, but if there is one, it could be a nut cracker or sheller. I've seen smaller versions very similar to this device that were hand cranked nut crackers or shellers.

WayneJ

[Steve]

I need some help with the unusual metal box in this week's set:

Thursday, September 22, 2011 Set 407

For first time visitors I recommend this archive for some of my best posts.

2353. Approximately 30" diameter, take a look at Neatorama for more guesses and a chance to win a T-shirt.

Larger image

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2354. This pressurized canister was shot on a country road next to some railroad tracks:

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2355 looks like a recording barometer, But I could be wrong.

Steve R.

2356

[Gerald Miller]

From RCM. A horse drawn potato scuffler to work up the soil between the hills, offset to work close to the plants while the horse stayed in the center of the row. it was guided by the operator walking behind by means of handles similar to a plow fastened to the raised potions toward the front. each row got two passes then the pattern was rotated

90 degrees so that each hill was worked on four sides. See: :-)} London, Canada

[J Burns]

The arm extending to the right on the far side would be way off center. It looks as if an arm on the near side broke off. If it were connected by the two arms and links to the two holes farther to the left, that could make a rigid connection to whatever was pulling it.

Gerry's link shows drawings of mule-drawn cultivators. They use a one-point hitch and a wheel to control the depth.

In my experience with a couple of tillers, I needed to use the handles to control the depth because the mechanical controller could sink into the soft soil. Using the handles to control depth required a rigid connection between the tiller part and the tractor part.

In the 1950s my best friend's family used a walking tractor to grow vegetables on several acres. It was decades later that I saw my first rototiller. I think theirs had a chisel plow, which would have been cheaper.

Here's a walking tractor with six tines on the rear and four on the front.

's one plowing. The possibilities depend on the weight.

[Rob H.]

I saw this when I was driving in the country a few weeks ago, I never see them in the city, maybe there they are all underground.

No verifiable answer yet for the metal box but the rest of the answers have all been posted:

[J Burns]

Here's a Planet Jr tractor that doesn't look as if it would fit that attachment. For that matter, the piece with 6 tines and 2 disks doesn't appear to be attached.

[DoN. Nichols]

Likely.

2353) This means that you did not show the back side, but two shots of the front side, while I thought that you were walking all the way around it taking photos from all angles, thus my comment about there being no obvious way to drive it. 2357) You could likely determine what was in the tanks by unscrewing a cap and sniffing. Even after that much time, if it had been gasoline or kerosene, you should have been ablet to tell by smell.

And if it was some kind of attractant, you could tell by that too. But if it had an attractant, I don't see the need for the door. That would give neither the access needed for relocating a swam into a new beehive, nor for smoking them to make them docile.

Enjoy, DoN.

[Sonny]

2357 - Rather than an attractant device, it may be a repellant device. Fruit tree growers, long ago, here, would fill small bottles with kerosene, put a cloth wick in the top and hang them in their trees to keep bugs from the fruit, especially plum and peach trees, where the plum curculio (insect) would ruin the fruit before it ripened. The odor would repell the insects. Maybe this box device had a similar repellant purpose.

Sonny

[Robin Halligan]

I was thinking it could be ab alarm box to A sensor connected to the cable if the pressur drops past a certen point it would send a signal to the exchange that that cable has developed a leak or has been damages an a crew is sent out to check and fix, easy if the damage is obvious a pain in the But if not (been their done that)

[Rob H.]

I don't know what model it went with, on the top of it were the words Planet Jr though I shopped them out before posting the image. The company has been around quite a long time so I'm sure they've had a lot of different models.

[Rob H.]

I sent the owner an email about five days ago asking to check the small tanks for any type of odor but haven't heard back from him. I'm not 100% behind the swarm catcher theory, but I haven't heard any better ideas for it. I've shown it to a lot of farmers but none of them recognized it.

[Rob H.]

I'll add this to my list of possible answers, though I'm not sure how the large container fits in with this idea.

[Leon Fisk]

There is an old Planet Jr catalog at Archive.com. See:

closely at the picture on page 8 (real page 4) in the document at the accessory pieces laid out. I studied the whole catalog earlier this morning before looking at the answers and thought that these were pretty close but not exact...

[DoN. Nichols]

[ ... ]

O.K. That makes sense. Out of curiosity -- how do you drain the pressure prior to opening it? I did not see a bleeder valve obvious. Granted, if there were a major leak between the tank and the alarm box, that would not be a problem -- but if you need to replace the sensor (or recalibrate it) in the absence of a significant leak, that could be a pain -- you would have to send someone else to the upstream and downstream tanks to shut off the valves -- and presumably to operate bleed valves there, too.

Enjoy, DoN.

[Martin Eastburn]

We had one like that way back in time. I think Dad bought it for the tobacco rows and vegge garden in Winston-Salem in '46 or 7.

I remember when he finally decided it was to big for a normal house. Sadly he sold it - but found a home for it.

Mart>