The Bryan tractor is a steam tractor unlike anything many of the spectators who flocked to the Half Century of Progress show in August had ever seen. Justin Click, a professional tractor restorer from Hobart, Ind., has a business called J.C. Tractor Restoration and shared a bit about the rare Bryan tractor. “Nobody knows how many were made; we think 100 or less,” he began. It was built in Peru Ind., by the George Bryan Co. The company is still in business today and makes Bryan Boilers using the same flexible water tube George invented for stationary boilers. “They have half-inch tubes that flex,” Justin explained. “It has a water tube boiler. It has an Allen gearless differential and it condenses and recycles steam.” His tractor came from Illinois and was owned by Faye Orr. Although the George Bryan Co. was a small firm, Justin said “they promoted the heck out of it.” Company history states that in 1916, a locomotive engineer and steam power enthusiast named George Bryan founded the Bryan Harvester Co., a small manufacturer that produced cars and steam-powered tractors. The rising popularity of the gasoline engine forced him to abandon those concepts in 1922, but it was not forgotten. The bent water tube boiler that powered these vehicles was extremely rugged, impervious to thermal shock, compact and easy to service, making it ideal for other applications. Bryan Harvester became Bryan Steam LLC and began refining and marketing the original boiler for an array of uses. Today, Bryan Boilers continues to incorporate many of the features found in the original. Justin said he’s had his Bryan tractor for seven or eight years. “It was a mess; I had to restore it,” he noted. Which wasn’t so bad, since, as he pointed out, “I have four guys working for me.” While the tractor needed restored, Justin said nothing on it was worn out. The tractor is the ultimate in power that is generated by steam; however, he said the power limitation is the rear end. “On a Dyno it has 63 to 64 horses. It generates 600 pounds of pressure in 16 minutes. I’ve redone the boiler; it had been restored about 15 years ago.” This rare steam tractor was based on the Stanley Steam car system. “They were out of business by 1926,” he said. “The whole thing is complicated; you had to be weird to buy it. It is good that some of the machines survived, the survival rate is amazing – but then, weird people save things,” he joked. “There are about seven of these left.” Justin said each one is a bit different because when Bryan built them, it used car components and whatever builders had. “I had five at my house one time and they were all a little different. The fender design is a little different. “I’ve got another that’s rough, and I have a Stanley car along with a Holt tractor that’s also at the show,” he said at the Rantoul, Ill., Half Century of Progress. To get an idea what color he should use to paint the machine, Justin went to the Henry Ford Museum to see the tractor there on display. George Bryan had given Henry Ford one, and people can see the rare tractor when visiting. Justin has has been at this for a long time. “I’ve been doing this since I was a kid; I started working for George Schaaf 13 years ago,” he said. Schaaf has many of the rarest Prairie tractors and older tractors around. He is known for his quality machines – restored by a quality guy like Justin! Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication. Learn more of Cindy’s finds and travel in her blog, “Traveling Adventures of a Farm Girl,” at http://travelingadventuresofafarmgirl.com |
