Antique owners show their collections

COLUMBUS - Small billows of smoke arose as the stationary engine revved up, releasing a series of sputters.

Joe Moore stood back, watching the machine which he got a few months back. With a little bit of work, the Columbus man got the engine, dated to be from the late 1800s, back in working form.

Moore was one of many people putting their items from their personal collection on display at the 16th annual Antique Tractor and Gas Engines Show at Pawnee Park.

Dozens of vintage farming equipment like tractors and gas engines are shown at the event which started Saturday and runs from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. today.

The people who bring their antiques to the show are mostly from the Columbus and surrounding area, said Diane Sliva, who with her husband, Bob Sliva, are members of the Antique Tractor and Gas Engine Show Inc., the organization that coordinates the event.

One of those was David Martensen of Leigh. He has been coming to the show for 10 years and brought with him this year a two-horse Gade air cooled engine that is about 90 years old. Martensen said he got started collecting antique engines about 15 years ago.

“I was always going to get into old cars, but when I was looking for parts I saw (an antique engine) in a group of weeds and I caught the bug,” Martensen said.

Moore said collecting and fixing antique engines can become a habit.

“It's an addiction. The only cure is going to an auction and buying another one,” he said.

Moore also brought with him a shingle mill that was made in the 1880s. Most of his antiques come from estate auctions. Even though Moore said he grew up on a farm, most of the work he did didn't involve any of the equipment he now collects.

“I'm from the old farm country and we never had one,” he said pointing to the engine. “They weren't cheap. They sold for $30-$40, and you just didn't have that kind of money.”

While he may not have gotten to use the equipment growing up, Moore said many people who come to the show have and they stop by and talk to him.

“So many people reminisce. You get some of the elderly guys who will tell you stories that they had an engine like that or their father's did,” Moore said.