Stop using cream separators as planters!

[Heritagefarm]

This is a message from an antique cream separator connoisseur. I'm asking that anyone who has a cream separator on their lawn with dirt in it, kindly take out the dirt and store it inside, no matter how rusty. It's amazing how much can be done to them. Now, I can partially understand leaving a solid rusted base out there, but I've seen cream separators with dirt thrown in them with all their stainless steel parts still shining and intact. I tell you, that irks many bones in my body. These antiques are usually still highly functional after much, much abuse, and it is simply amazing how well they can hold up. Even after having holes rusted through it, a supply can can be welded together; even after having the chrome come solid off, it can be rechromed, even after having the handle rusted up in the air, having a gear cog fall off, and the spider skewed, there is still hope for it. So I kindly ask, again, that whatever else you do with it, at the very least, help preserve an integral part of our national history by taking the dirt out and storing it inside.
Thank-you for taking the time to read this important message,
~Ted
CSGIS Admin

[geo in mi]

I took an old electric range to the scrap yard Saturday, and there was a separate pile for stainless steel(and a pretty big pile at that)............ Regular scrap steel was bringing .12/lb, unsorted. Wonder how much an old cream separator would bring??????

geo

[nehimama]

Aw, Geo in MI, that was unkind!

[Two Cents Worth]

Originally Posted by geo in mi

there was a separate pile for stainless steel Wonder how much an old cream separator would bring

While some cream separators would use stainless steel many have tinned parts instead.

The last I read re-tinning cost between $200 and $300.

I think that often unused separators have parts lost during the time they go into storage and when someone wishes to use them again and the end result is that they then become yard art.

While I would never discard a good separator to the lawn I do understand why others become such. Sorry if I sound callous but it is reality.

[duckidaho]

I'm restoring an antique cream separator and an antique chicken plucker this week. Yay! Both have been modified over the years, so I don't think they have any great value as antiques, but I'm excited to have both in working order for my personal use.

[geo in mi]

Originally Posted by nehimama

Aw, Geo in MI, that was unkind!

Just pullin' his chain a little.....Hmmm, wonder how much an old chain would bring? (But don't you touch my 9N!....)

geo

[Heritagefarm]

Originally Posted by geo in mi

I took an old electric range to the scrap yard Saturday, and there was a separate pile for stainless steel(and a pretty big pile at that)............ Regular scrap steel was bringing .12/lb, unsorted. Wonder how much an old cream separator would bring??????

geo

At .12/lb, about $6 for the whole thing. Way less then what I'm giving, anyways.

[lemonthyme7]

I have an old cream separator in one of my outbuilding where it is kept clean and dry. It was given to me by a former neighbour when he was getting rid of some stuff. It seems to be in good shape and probably wouldn't take much to restore it. I don't think it's missing much as far as parts go. Of course I'm not sure what I would do with it once I got it restored - guess I'd need to get a cow so I could use it! LOL!

[Pelenaka]

Woodsrunner & I feel the same way about cider presses, wash tubs, wringers, and wash tub stands. Add in automatic wringer washers.

~~ pelenaka ~~

[FarmboyBill]

i know where there are 2 wagons setting outside for yard art. I tried to buy one. Guy said it was his wifes ancestors and she wouldnt part for it, but shell see it rot out in the elements. Here its fancyful to tqake wheels of old stuff and weld them into gates, and gate corners.

[Joshie]

Originally Posted by Heritagefarm

At .12/lb, about $6 for the whole thing. Way less then what I'm giving, anyways.

How much? I've got a cool one. It's in the barn right now but I'm thinking of bringing it back on the porch. At our other house, we had flowers in it on a porch. If it makes you feel any better the flowers were in a pot and not planted directly in the big bowl thingie. It appears to be intact and has a bowl and even some small things that look vaguely like funnels. It does need to be rewired but it's pretty cool.

I've also got a really cool green enamel gas double oven range from the 20s or 30s. I love it but hubby does not.

[olivehill]

Every "antique" needn't be saved in order to "preserve national history". Should we stop allowing people to use "antique" farm implements as decor, too? There are antique farm implement collectors, after all. What about antique crocks? Can those not be used as decor, too? My mom collects those. What about antique signage? Lots of collectors of that. Should we ban the use of those as decoration too?

[MOgal]

Add manure spreaders to the list. Ours is a 1950 IH. A neighbor has an even older one near her driveway. We use ours, she doesn't.

I bought a brand new cream separator from a neighbor years ago for $20. He'd bought it at auction when a hardware store in Glasgow MO went out of business. The separator owners' manual was with it as well as a quart of the oil it required. I later sold the separator to a lady for $150 because she had enough goats to run it. The thing would separate 60 gal. of milk per hr. if memory serves. I never heard from her to know if it worked. Also add huge cast iron wash kettles, too. My MIL bought one at Arrow Rock MO once when they were visiting us. I nearly had two fits when she said she was going to drill holes in it for flowers. Eventually she gave it to me and it's in our shop now. It even has the support ring with it. And NO holes.

I am guilty of using old iron wheels. DH found an old rake on our place in AR that had been in the same spot long enough for some good size trees to grow between the tines. One wheel was badly bent but he removed the other for me. It's in a flower bed with a clematis growing on it. Sorry.

[Joshie]

Originally Posted by olivehill

Every "antique" needn't be saved in order to "preserve national history". Should we stop allowing people to use "antique" farm implements as decor, too?

The OP wasn't saying people shouldn't be allowed to do this; he's saying it grinds his gizzard.

[nobrabbit]

I've had a cream separator sitting on my front porch for almost 15 years. Quite the conversation piece.

[Heritagefarm]

Originally Posted by Joshie

How much? I've got a cool one. It's in the barn right now but I'm thinking of bringing it back on the porch. At our other house, we had flowers in it on a porch. If it makes you feel any better the flowers were in a pot and not planted directly in the big bowl thingie. It appears to be intact and has a bowl and even some small things that look vaguely like funnels. It does need to be rewired but it's pretty cool.

I've also got a really cool green enamel gas double oven range from the 20s or 30s. I love it but hubby does not.

I don't care if it's in a pot in the separator. It won't harm it. (unless it leaks) How much? Well, what is it?

Originally Posted by olivehill

Every "antique" needn't be saved in order to "preserve national history". Should we stop allowing people to use "antique" farm implements as decor, too? There are antique farm implement collectors, after all. What about antique crocks? Can those not be used as decor, too? My mom collects those. What about antique signage? Lots of collectors of that. Should we ban the use of those as decoration too?

Well, I don't really like it when farm implements get used, either. After all, a cream separator is a farm implement. Antique crocks, well, that's a different picture. They are still made, after all. And, antique signs serve no purpose, I couldn't care less what happens to them. Of course, who am I to say? We have our tractor out in the rain, after all. But there's no option for that; nowhere to store it. But, using a perfectly good or restorable separator simply irks me. And, I am not a collector.

[olivehill]

Originally Posted by Heritagefarm

Well, I don't really like it when farm implements get used, either. After all, a cream separator is a farm implement. Antique crocks, well, that's a different picture. They are still made, after all. And, antique signs serve no purpose, I couldn't care less what happens to them. Of course, who am I to say? We have our tractor out in the rain, after all. But there's no option for that; nowhere to store it. But, using a perfectly good or restorable separator simply irks me. And, I am not a collector.

So you only care about "preserving national heritage" if the object in question serves a purpose (in your opinion) and is no longer manufactured?

[Heritagefarm]

Originally Posted by olivehill

So you only care about "preserving national heritage" if the object in question serves a purpose (in your opinion) and is no longer manufactured?

I believe antiques should be given better attention since they can be utilized by people, e.g., cream separators which can be used by homesteaders or farmers. Now, separators are still made, of course, but they are crap. The antiques still beat the modern ones for functionality and longevity, despite being decades old.
I like antiques of all types, and waste of any kind is bad. Now, of course, it may only be my opinion that cream separators should be taken care of. Maybe the neighbor is severely irked by the plow sitting in the lawn, who knows. But to see a separator that was once restoreable, now sitting outside with minerals and water eating away something that will never be made again, that is painful. We will soon have far less separators in the world if they continue to sit outside and rot.
I hope this answers your question?

[oregon woodsmok]

Nice old antique take up valuable space if you aren't using them. I've got a 200 plus year old spinning wheel that is a real booger to dust and it renders an entire corner of a room useless.

I can't get rid of it because it is family history, and I can't get anybody else in the family to take it because it takes up too much space and isn't good for anything.

[BetsyK in Mich]

See, that's what bothers me and believe me I have the same thing going on. People want to save something because it is a family "heirloom" and I'm like you, I've ended up being the keeper of the family "treasures" and yet, I'll bet there is someone out there who could make that spinning wheel work and would enjoy it instead of collecting dust. I have that problem here, can't get rid of that old loom or whatever (I live on the family farm in the family museum), it was mom's and "you" should keep it. Someday I plan to have a place that has only my fingerprints on it.

Oh, by the way, there are two complete cream separators out in the old milk house. Both are complete and other than the electric motor on one, would work if anyone knew how to put the cones together correctly. I just walk around them when I want to use what is now my potting shed.