David Hummell of Nashville, Mich., built his very own miniature Waterloo Boy. This retired tool builder-turned collision and repair business owner brought his latest creation to this year’s Florida Flywheelers.

It took six months to create the 1/2-scale machine that David fittingly called “Half Pint.” The Waterloo Boy model David represented was John Deere’s entrance into the tractor market, from when Deere bought Waterloo Boy in the 1920s and entered the business.

While many tractor enthusiasts know of the Waterloo Boy as one of the first, the business originally began as an engine production company. The Waterloo History Pages, created by Jimmy Priestley McMinnville, Tenn., shares, “The Waterloo Gasoline Co. began business in 1893 and started engine production in 1895. In 1906, the company began production of its ‘Waterloo Boy’ hopper-cooled open crank engine that characterized its well-known line for the next 15 years.

“During this time, Waterloo became one of the ‘big four’ manufacturers along with Fairbanks-Morse, Hercules and International Harvester. From 1906-18, Waterloo engines were sold by at least 64 companies with each having their own ID tag attached. The Majestic, Eaton, John Smyth, Jackson, Sandow and Waterloo Boy are some of the more common Waterloo engines.”
In March 1918, the company was sold to Deere and Co. and that is when the Waterloo engine was used in the production of the new H gasoline model and K kerosene model. What characterized these engines, Waterloo History explains, was that the H gasoline and K kerosene models had a drip-oiler relocated to hopper top and other mechanical changes.

As a man who loves to build things that move and to adjust engines, the Waterloo Boy was a perfect choice for David. The one he created began with a DeLaval antique milking machine engine he said was probably built in the ‘20s or ‘30s. The engine was originally made to drive a vacuum pump to milk cows.

“I bought the engine at Portland Tri State Tractor Show about three years ago. I overhauled it with new Timken main bearings, the rod journal was in very good shape, so a little polish with some 600-grit emery cloth was all it needed,” he said.

David said he then removed a layer or two of laminated shim from each side of the rod and put a thin coating of bluing on the crank. Once complete, it had 0.002 inches of clearance. This was only the beginning of the specifics he went through to create his “Half Pint.”
What made David upgrade the engine into a little tractor, he said, was the engine sound. “The engine has a unique sound, something like a two-cylinder John Deere, due to the heavy fly wheel and low RPM. The sound prompted me to build the tractor.”

This scratch-built model has steel spoke wheels and all the brass components. David made the radiator out of industrial oil cooler and he cut the frame out of a 12-inch H beam, making a Masonite template and cutting around it with a torch.

“I used the front axle and rear trans-axle from a John Deere 110 lawn and garden tractor,” he explained.

While David did all the bodywork, he credits his son, Brett – who took over the collision and repair business – with painting this beautiful model.

This is only one of David’s creations, and when asked how he got into this hobby, he simply shrugged and replied, “I am a gear head” – as if that said it all.

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.