What is it?

[jlckmj]

My son just bought an old 100 yr. old house and in the basement there was this item. I hope you can tell from the pictures, but it looks like some type of old pump.
Any idea's ? Thanks, jim

 

[spotco2]

So the axles are geared and drive the wheels inside. What do those wheels do when they turn?

How big is it?

 

[Pumpman1968]

Speed reducing gearbox of some type. There used to be more to it. Not part of a pump.......at least for water........that I have seen.

 

[jlckmj]

Sorry for the lack of dimensions, I should have known better.

The whole thing is about 40 inches high, the box itself is about 12 inches square, and the big wheel on the outside is about 15 inches. I will look closer, but I sure thought that there was a piston of some type that went up and down inside the unit as the big wheel outside was turned.

thanks, Jim

 

[zkling]

Can you take a up close or side view picture of what ever is inside the shell that is being driven? That is an interesting gear drive setup. Maybe a shaker? Pressured bladder tank of some sort?

 

[youngridge]

Something that was run off an old stationary engine, I wouldn't rule out a water pump, or anything else that would require a mechanical action, what setting is the house? Farm house, rural, city, etc? Im willing to bet that there are more pieces to it than a person can imagine.

 

[wrenchguy]

part of a pump jack, windmill or engine.

 

[jlckmj]

I was able to clean up the name tag it reads:

Kewanee
Private Utilities

Written on the tag. Seems to be some type of early 20th century pump that was driven off a belt of an old tractor?

thanks, jim

 

[sparky5982]

Neat! No idea though!

Googling around it seems like Kewannee Private Utilities made air, water, oil, etc. They had a particular self-lubricating sealed pump according to this page here, around WWII. Perhaps you have the gear portion there, which would be filled with gear oil, and the pump section sat on top? Would the cylindrical portion in the middle spin if you moved the flywheel? It looks belt driven, and if the gears can move forward and back to engage/disengage it was a two speed gearbox. Perhaps the pump crapped out and some long-ago farmer ripped it apart. When he couldn't fix it, he threw it into the basement, and there it sat until the crotchety old cuss died, much to the chagrin of his plump farm wife. That's what I would like to think anyway.

 

[jeremy v]

Well I don't know what your item is, but I did find some more interesting info that might help someone figure it out. The link provided tells a lot about the Kewanee Public Utilities company. It appears that they were called the Kewanee Water Supply Company until 1914 when they changed to Kewanee Public Utilities Co., so your part would be post 1914. The link also indicates that almost everything that they sold was supplied by and/or made by someone else. The article refers to a book that might have more info and it also names several brands of pumps that Kewanee essentially re-branded.

NOTE- the link has 6 pages to it, not just the one I directly linked to.

http://www.gasenginemagazine.com/gas-engines/kewanee-engines.aspx?PageId=1#axzz2pTdrxOdL