TRACTOR TRIVIA and other interesting stuff 4/26/2024

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First Portable steam engine

 

 The Watertown Steam Engine Company was located in Watertown, New York and began in 1866 and owned by the Palmer Brothers.

The business employed 100 men, turned out 400 steam engines, saw mills, and agricultural engines. These were sold all over the US, Canada, Cuba and probably other parts of the world. Much of the cast iron they used was produced locally.

Having portable power allowed loggers to reduce the amount of hand labor that needed to be performed in the forest and farmers could now process crops more efficiently on site rather than having to take then to processing facilities with stationary steam or water-wheel powered equipment. This also expanded the market for smaller farmer-owned processing equipment.

It held patents on a portable steam engine with the cylinder and valve chest integral with the boiler steam dome, and a riding cut-off valve. The first patent was in 1871 for the "First Portable Steam Engine" made in the United States.

Many of the Watertown Steam Engine Company's portable steam engines exist today, in private collections or in museums. There is no indication of when the business shut down but there are some collectors who have Watertown Steam Engine Company steam engines manufactured as late as 1920.