By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

TRENTON, Ohio — The normally tranquil setting in rural Trenton was anything but quiet over Labor Day weekend. A clatter of old gas engines, antique tractors, blacksmithing, an old shingle mill, sawmill and live entertainment filled the air during Old Farm Days at the Chrisholm Historic Farmstead.

The annual event, now in its 27th season, is sponsored by the Butler County Antique Machinery Club.

Also on the agenda were horse-drawn wagon rides, wool spinning demonstrations, corn shelling, cider pressing and kiddie pedal tractor pulls. But the key attractions each year are the small steam engines – and there were many collectors roaming the grounds over the weekend.

Don Garrison of Ft. Wayne, Ind., owns a 1910 Fuller and Johnson pump jack, hit and miss engine, and was looking for collectors with the same interests.

“I’m into these types of engines,” he said, “but right now I need to replace a buzz coil timer connector and a push rod for the one I have. Replacement parts don’t come easy. That’s the hardest part. A small machine can cost from $200 to $1,000, and larger steam engines can cost a heck of a lot more.”

Daryl Francis of Corbin, Ky., owns an International Harvester 2-horsepower vertical hit and miss engine. His four-cycle engine operates on gasoline or alcohol.

“These machines go back nearly 100 years and if you want one nowadays, you better have some money, ‘cause they’re expensive,” said Francis, who owns 12 small antique engines. “At one time you could spot them in old barns or even in old fields, rusting away, but people are getting them out of the elements and restoring them.”

Ohioans John Mott of Dayton and his friend Don Schuler, of Okeana, have been tending to small antique machines for 12 years.

“I own four old machines and it’s never enough,” Mott said, referring to the need to have more to take care of. “This is simply a good hobby and keeps people attached to the past.”

“Taking up this hobby can be expensive nowadays,” Schuler added. “These were a lot less expensive 20 years ago.”