953 nut 55,280 #1 Posted March 27 Vaughn Flex-Tred Elbert Vaughan was an enterprising young man who from 1901 until about 1908 experimented with drag saw equipment, gradually working out several improvements. He then began building his own steam powered drag saws with his first machines being built in job shops. Patent no. 1,165,298: Portable drag saw machine. Patent granted to Elbert Vaughan, Portland, Ore., Dec. 21, 1915. In 1913 he opened his own shop as Vaughan Motor Works, producing ice machines, drag saws of his own design and manufacturing parts as needed for other companies, he employed three to four people in the beginning. In 1922 the business expanded moving to a larger facility and additional equipment was installed, including an electric steel furnace for casting steel parts, now employing from 60 to 80 men. Besides drag saws, Vaughan Motor Works made gasoline engines which were incorporated into their drag saws as well as general jobbing, including gear and sprocket cutting. Vaughan Motor Works, Inc. became the “largest manufacturer of light-weight drag saws in the world.” As the sales drag saws declined Mr. Vaughan designed a small garden tractor under the trade-mark FLEX-TRED powered by his own engine in 1921. The Model “K” utilized a 5 hp, water-cooled Vaughan engine with an open flywheel and a hand crank starter. It had a simple forward and reverse transmission and manual tool lift. Front drive wheel extensions were advisable as the tractor seemed a bit top-heavy. The company began producing air-cooled models in 1932, with the letter designation “S.” The basic tractor was unchanged except for the Vaughn air cooled engine replacing the water-cooled engine. The WS went into production in 1936 having two clutch levers. Each track had its own forward and reverse clutch allowing the tractor to be maneuvered with little effort. In addition to forward and reverse the Model WS can drive one track forward and the other in reverse for tight turns. That should only be done at slow speed and on smooth ground to prevent tip over or operator injury, watch out for those handlebars! The Vaughn Flex-Track served as an inspiration for several manufacturers of very similar track driven garden tractors. 6 2 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SylvanLakeWH 25,594 #2 Posted March 27 Oh-MyOsha!!! That saw operator us about 1" away from losing numerous anatomically useful body parts... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rjg854 11,376 #3 Posted March 27 These posts have been so great to see, 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,552 #4 Posted March 27 5 hours ago, rjg854 said: These posts have been so great to see, 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 55,280 #5 Posted March 27 I do enjoy the way one post will lead me to something totally unexpected and occasionally better than what I wass search for in the first place. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
