Steam traction engine D430

The steam-powered traction engine D430 from Wilesco

At the turn of the 20th century, steam engines were primarily used in agriculture. They were used for plowing and threshing. At that time, steam engines could be mobile or stationary. They differed from automobiles in that they were often pulled to their destination by horses. However, they could also drive themselves and travel at speeds of 3-4 km/h. The details of the steam engine model D430 correspond to a common steam engine of the time. The brass boiler is 55 mm wide in diameter. It also has a separate smoke chamber for the condensate. This produces real steam from the chimney, which can also be tilted in the middle using a hinge. A special feature is that the cylinder is double-acting and equipped with two flywheels and a double drive pulley.

For your initial vaping pleasure, the D430 comes pre-loaded with two of our Witabs dry fuel. For longer vaping pleasure, please be sure to order sufficient dry fuel!

The exciting history of the Lokomobile

Locomobiles were primarily used by hired threshers. These could be thought of as a kind of agricultural day laborer. They traveled from farm to farm during harvest time, offering their services.

At that time, their traction engines could be mounted either in a mobile or stationary configuration. The difference from automobiles was that they were often pulled to their destination by horses. They could also drive themselves and travel at speeds of 3-4 km/h. Operation and power generation, however, were only possible while stationary.

Conveniently, even lower-quality fuel could be used to heat the steam engines. The firebox was even partially heated with straw or inexpensive wood. The steam engine built up a constant pressure and converted the heat into mechanical energy. A key advantage here was its low noise level. Internal combustion engines at the time caused considerable noise pollution, as their energy was generated through a series of explosions.

For heavy stationary work, traction engines were even used until the 1960s, primarily to power stone crushers or wood chippers. After that, they were largely replaced by tractors. These offered a more efficient cost-benefit ratio and were easier to operate.