Heebner Tread Power

After years of searching, WHS and the Montgomery County Museum Curator have reached an agreement to lend the Society a Heebner Direct-Geared, One-Horsepower, Tread Power. It was built in 1896 by the Worcester family, David Heebner and Sons, in their Lansdale factory. The Tread Power was one of many modern agricultural improvements in the post-Civil War Period patented by Heebner which included threshers, saws, grain crackers, etc. The Tread Power allowed horses to run farm machinery. The machine is now in the “Bill Bourne Farm Museum” at the Farmers Union Hall in Center Point. We thank the county for this addition “Courtesy of the Peter Wentz Farmstead, County of Montgomery.”

To make room for this addition we needed to find a home for our existing Tread Power, manufactured by J. Robinson & Sons in Curwensville, Pa. in 1880. We are pleased to announce that the Curwensville Historical Society has been searching for this exact piece for many years. The Tread Power has now been donated and relocated to their museum in Clearfield County.