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| Auction of estate of Joe Suydam |
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andrew
Moderator
Username: andrew
Post Number: 946
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Friday, October 22, 2004 - 09:32 am: | 
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Elsewhere on this board we noted the passing of Joe Suydam of Chestertown, Maryland.
I got a mailing about the estate auction to be held Saturday November 6th, 2004. There wasn't a note with it, but I believe they wanted me to publish the information here. I don't think it has been well advertised in the conventional means... Gas Engine Magazine, etc. It seems that the auctioneer does not have a web site or email. He is listed as:
Col. Ross Rhodes, Church Hill, MD 410-556-6261
Sat Nov 6, 2004 (rain date Nov 13th) 9:30 AM
Location Kent County, MD, Approxiately 6 miles outside of Chestertown.
- Complete Machine Shop - Immaculate condition, all operated by line shaft gasoline engine or eletric motor.
- Antique Radio Equipment
- Antique Vehicles
- Marine Engines fully restored, 1910 Bridgeport 3.5HP, 1923 Lathrop 6hp, 1928 Greenport 6hp, Gaffe Marine, Lathrop 4hp, Palmer, various stationary engines, coils, magnetors, reverse gears
- Hot Air Engines
- Antique Carbon Light Bulbs
- Tools and Misc.
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larry_from_maryland
Senior Member
Username: larry_from_maryland
Post Number: 178
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Friday, October 22, 2004 - 09:51 pm: |
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Rhodes normally does farm and estate auctions and has ads in the delmarva farmer.They have been handing out flyers at auctions and shows in this area for some time.If someone trys to go they will need more detailed directions like are on the flyer.There is allso a fiberglass boat with a palmer engine on the sale. |
andrew
Moderator
Username: andrew
Post Number: 962
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, November 07, 2004 - 08:54 pm: |
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How was the auction???
Did anyone take pictures? Post them here if you did. |
richardday
Senior Member
Username: richardday
Post Number: 325
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Monday, November 08, 2004 - 09:33 am: |
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The auction was beyond the wildest dreams of antique tools, big machine shop items such as lathes, shapers, milling machines, precision centerless grinders, cutter grinders, Very large Wilton radial drill, drill presses of multiple shape and size, Bullard vertical turret lathe, large flat bed planer ca 1900, Most machines were flat belt drive from a Fuller and Johnson 5 hsp gasoline engine. It was a treat just to see this magnificent 1890-WWI era shop spotless as though time had stood still.
The Tuckahoe group bought the entire shop as it now stands and plan to move it to their show grounds in Easton, MD. They will build a new building to house it and re erect it in its original configuration so it will live on as a working shop for the show grounds. The building it is currently in will not be moved or sold as it remains with the new property owner.
Joe spent a lifetime making precision machinery for corporate America. All the large number of precision, machine tools such as deviding heads, rotary, tables, cutters, reamers, mandrels, you name it were auctioned separetly while other portions of the stuff such as carpenter/wood working tools out were being acutioned.
There were people who questioned whether Joe could turn out such precision work with all this "old junk". Corporate America knew he could deliver and they came to his door when they wanted a prototype new machine as he was a genius in working metal.
The auction had two auctioneers working simultainiously non stop from 9:30AM until about 6:00PM. I guess there must have been from 300-500 people at the auction. The one painful note if I can call it that was one Porto Potty with a very very long line. "Hey man" this was just a good old country auction on the Maryland Eastern Shore.
The radio equipment auction was running at the same time as the farm equipment and misc junk was being auctioned. Several dealers in antique radio equipment were paying thousands for all the good stuff and there was a lot of it. I tried to take photos before the radio auction started. Hope they show up the magnatude of the mostly 1920-1930 era radio equipment. Single rare new old stock, NOS radio tubes were sold for $250.00. Joe had 17 of that model. Crystal sets went for about a 1,000. Battery radios of the 1920s went for about 900 to 1,000 each. It was no place for any individual without deep pockets. I suspect a lot will turn up on E-bay.
The 23' fiberglass boat with the ZR-1 Palmer in it that Joe built back in the 1980s I managed to buy for $1800. Several individuals told me I would need to change that old engine for a modern engine. They thought I was nuts when I told them the engine is why I bought the boat. I also told them this boat is the last known boat on the Chesapeake Bay to operate with a Palmer ZR-1 in it. At one time there were 1,000s of ZR-1s in bay workboats. The ZR-1 without the luxury of a magneto or reverse gear in most cases was the "Cadilac" of the small workboat engines.
This boat has both mag and reverse gear. It is beautifully fitted out by Joe in the engine room with appropriate era lighting and trim. My wife wanted to know where the "head" was? I told her Joe only worried about the important details. I will have to work on that detail but I am looking forward to next spring chugging down Combs Creek for the first time. Enough about my prize!
The mint 1904 unrestored Curved Dash Oldsmobile in such remarkable condition that the new owner paid $36,000.00 for will not be "restored". He stated it will be kept in its current condition as it is probably one of the best unrestored of that remarkable early automobiles. It also has the earliest known NY leather license plate. Joe used it to run around his 300 acres until he could no longer crank it to start.
The three Hot Air engines went in the thousands. Don't know precisely. The restored Lathrop, Bridgport, and Gaffga one lungers went for about $1200 ea. They were in excellent conditon and Joe would bring them to the annual Tuckahoe shown and run them. A number of pallets of cast iron Palmer and other engine parts sold in the $100 range. Most of these parts were probably close to junk. I did not bid on any of it.
There were a large number of valuable coils, some NOS, igniters, valves, carburetors, dynamos etc. on a flat bed trailer about 8'W X 20" L. The most interesting item on this trailer was probably the earliest surviving Emerson electic motor. I beleive it sold for about $5,000. Joe had used it for years to drive a 9" X 30" South Bend lathe of about WWII vintage. There were three other similar early units that went in the thousands.
Unfortunately I had to spend from about 12PM until 9PM loading my boat on my flat bed and without the help of a lot of volenteers particularly Dave Reed of Otto Gas Engine Works my oldest son and I would still be there. We got home safely at about 2 AM Sunday morning. I won't do into the details as to why it took us so long. I will saw we were very tired when we got home. Thanks again Dave.
Andrew, I took a lot of pictures but don't have any way to get them down in number of bits for display on the page. Will try to get them burned on a CD edit them and then snail mail the CD to you. Any suggestions please let me know. Hope this gives you all a taste of the auction of a lifetime for those of us that were there. |
andrew
Moderator
Username: andrew
Post Number: 963
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Monday, November 08, 2004 - 10:51 am: |
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Dick,
Thanks for the great report!
That's great news that Tuckahoe engine club bought the shop. My hat's off to them for pulling it off!
Congradulations on buying the boat and engine!!! That is a wonderful package... one of the times I visited Joe I went through the boat. It looks like he did an excellent job with the engine installation.
I'm sure you will motor it over to Calvert next year.
You can send me a cd and I can post some of the pictures here. Or if you get time this winter you could experiment with one of the many photo editing programs and reduce the photos to under 40Kb so you could post them. |
andrew
Moderator
Username: andrew
Post Number: 965
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 08:41 am: |
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Dick Day sent in some "old" pictures of Joe Suydam... his boat and Palmer ZR1, and his Bridgeport at an engine show:
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miro
Senior Member
Username: miro
Post Number: 151
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 05:29 pm: |
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Had a similar experience in September - an auction on an island in Lake Rousseau, one of the Muskoka Lakes - anything that went out to the island stayed since about 50 years.
A v12 Cadillac marine engine went for $25 Canadian as did a number of marinized Fords and a couple of Buchanan 6's - there were no early marine engines - a vast collection of bronze propellers, and general tooling. The guy who bought the engines had spare warehouse space and he didn't want to see the engines melted down into rebar for China. I of course - did some bidding on a bunch of stuff and came away tired ,happy, but not much poorer.
The next day was moving day - just about sank my wooden boat with all that cast iron and steel.
miro |
Balwinder
Visitor
| | Posted on Thursday, December 02, 2004 - 03:51 am: |
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Ploease send me detail of vertical lath machine of 5 to 6mtr table dia. |
richardday
Senior Member
Username: richardday
Post Number: 334
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, December 02, 2004 - 07:59 pm: |
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Sorry I don't understand your question. Are you talking about the Bullard vertical turret lathe? |
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