# Whosawhatchamajigger



## SkinsFan36 (Jun 28, 2012)

I have been looking at this thing everyday for months and have no clue what it is. Sometimes it looks like a toy truck, sometimes it looks like a wall mounted something. It is wooden and is some type of wind up device. There is a lever, kinda looks like a gear shift, on the face/top of the device that works a lever underneath. There is a latch that looks like it would mount it to a wall near the notched out portions on the bottom/back. I really have zero clue. I was wondering if by chance somebody would know what this thing is/was.


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## SkinsFan36 (Jun 28, 2012)

Profile


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## SkinsFan36 (Jun 28, 2012)

Back


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## SkinsFan36 (Jun 28, 2012)

Gears


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## SkinsFan36 (Jun 28, 2012)

Wind up


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## SkinsFan36 (Jun 28, 2012)

Sometimes it looks like a toy truck


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## SkinsFan36 (Jun 28, 2012)

Oops


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## SkinsFan36 (Jun 28, 2012)

Base


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## SkinsFan36 (Jun 28, 2012)

The only writing I can find on the whole thing is on that little thimble looking piece in the bottom right of the second pic. It says REMOVE.


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## BillinMo (Jun 28, 2012)

Well, hey, this is the internet, so wild guesses count, right? []

 The little lever reminded me of a bell striker.  I'm thinking there was a brass bell mounted on the round part.  Maybe the timer was used for, say, boxing rounds or something similar.  Wind it up, at the end of the mechanical cycle the striker would hit the bell.  Eliminates the referee needing to time the rounds. 

 Here's an idea of what I'm talking about.  Not quite the same as yours, but along the same lines.


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## BillinMo (Jun 28, 2012)

... and then again, I could just have an over-active imagination.  I'm curious to see if anyone else has any ideas.


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## epackage (Jun 28, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  BillinMo
> 
> Well, hey, this is the internet, so wild guesses count, right? []
> 
> ...


 I thought the same thing Bill but didn't want people to think I was crazy, glad it was you that said it first...[]


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## cyberdigger (Jun 28, 2012)

This is the coolest whatsit we've had for quite some time! 

 ..I'm working on it........


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## OsiaBoyce (Jun 28, 2012)

Bulldozer.


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## ironmountain (Jun 28, 2012)

my first thought was bell too.. like an old fire alarm wind up bell. Or a ringside bell.


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## surfaceone (Jun 28, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  SkinsFan36
> 
> Oops


 
 Hey Steve, is there gonna come a time when you tell us the size of this? Can you tell the original color?



> It is wooden...


 
 So how'd you come upon it? Backstory & mo' bettah photos please.






 "Lot 266

 Animate (USA) large tinplate clockwork Tractor - one of the earliest tinplate toy tractors known to collectors with patent stamp to baseplate dated 1916, lacks rubber tracks but still with large wind-up handle to rear and on-off lever near drivers seat, the plated finish has faded through age - otherwise Good, 21cm." From.

 Wooden?






 From a gentleman down Pat's way.


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## cyberdigger (Jun 28, 2012)

I get it now... the "bell" is a seat for the tractor driver... splendid! []


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## OsiaBoyce (Jun 29, 2012)

Baler teeth and bulldozer.........that's two for me.[]

 Bell? Where the hell did that come from?

 Esp. w/ headlights, radiator, exhaust and two angled holes to hold a blade.


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## andy volkerts (Jun 29, 2012)

Fire alarm


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## logueb (Jun 29, 2012)

That's a great piece.  And being a Volunteer Fire Chief, I agree with Andy that the fire alarm seems possible. After all, it is painted in the fire engine red.  Is the mechanism in working order?  It appears that the wire piece in the back would fit into the the thimble marked remove. Once the mechanism was wound, the trip wire would keep it from going off until needed.  (You would not have time to wind it up during a fire). So you would trip the wire during a fire to set the bell off.  Just my thoughts.  I've been wrong many times before.  Buster


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## SkinsFan36 (Jun 29, 2012)

Sorry forgot the dimensions guys. It is 8 1/2 inches long by 3 inches deep at the thickest part and a little over 2 inches wide. The original color as far as I can tell is just a primer grey that was painted over red. The thickest part and the base have aluminum wrapped over them and nailed down.

 That wire part in the back wouldn't be able to reach the thimble. It sits right over the gears. I am thinking bell as well after reading these. Both of those notches that kind of look like wheel wells have swing arms that would mount it to something. I am guessing some sort of wall mount.

 Yes the wind up is in working order. Wind it up and you can see the gears working. Whatever connected the gears to that arm on the bell striker/gearshift has to be missing.

 Sorry it took me a bit to get back to this. Had a busy night. Thanks for all the interest!


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## SkinsFan36 (Jun 29, 2012)

Damn. I totally see the tractor angle too. There is a missing thimble/headlight from the other side, I can see the nail holes. 

 A piece she has from the later era of toys


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