Clinton History

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REAR
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Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2007 10:19 am

Clinton History

Post by REAR » Tue Mar 03, 2020 6:41 am

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R.E.A.R.

ted johnson
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Re: Clinton History

Post by ted johnson » Tue Mar 03, 2020 8:24 am

Hey, Bob. My Pop attended the Clinton Engines Technician School in Maquoketa in 1957. Sis still has a couple pix of Pop standing out in front of the main building, now the only Clinton building standing, on East Maple St. Somewhere in my stuff here are pix I took of the building when I went over to Maquoketa in my Amerock Hardware days in Rockford, IL. in the mid nineties. Neat little town. This pic is off the museum web page. Ted
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Dick Teal
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Vintage Karting items owned: 1959 Mak-Kart, 1960Fox 60L, 1961 Fox (2), 1962 Fox, 1963 Fox, 1964 Fox, Margay New Breed
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Re: Clinton History

Post by Dick Teal » Tue Mar 03, 2020 10:37 am

This is what the factory looked like back in the day. I took the picture when we visited the museum during the 2010 VKA event.
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ted johnson
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Re: Clinton History

Post by ted johnson » Tue Mar 03, 2020 8:08 pm

When my Pop was at Clinton in '57, they had an older gentleman on the line who was legally blind. He was the main man who adjusted the valve lash on the cast iron 900 series engines. Pop said he never missed. We sold literally hundreds of high-wheeled mowers with the 900 series horizontal shaft Clintons. I certainly don't remember one that didn't run perfectly right out of the box. Pop was very proud of his certificate as a master Clinton mechanic. They were probably tied for best 2-1/2 to 6 HP cast iron engines with the Kohler line. The vintage photo of the plant that Dick posted is a great reminder of America's greatness. When I was there in the nineties, there were still employees machining pistons for several tractor manufacturers. Kids had broken out most of the windows in the admin building. It's good to see the city has refurbished the nice old place. I went over to Maquoleta several times while I was at Amerock. Ted

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