Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Non-Petro Discussions Non-petro Discussion and Showcase Very old Fairbanks Scale

I have some friends that do old grain elevator demolition in a 4 state area, and a couple years back, I got with them and told them to bring me the old round pillars from grain elevator scales when they destroy one of the old buildings. I have purchased 3 or 4 sets from them, and sold them to other old gassers to use however they want. Some are short and rectangular while others are tall and round or short and round. It seemed to depend on who made the scale, as to how it was constructed.
Last night I received a call from these guys and they had just finished a job, and had rescued the complete scale this time and were wondering if I wanted it? I saw the pictures and made an appointment with them to look at it the next morning to inspect it a little.
I got a call at 6:45 this morning, as they had gotten up early, and would be coming by in a few minutes! I hurried up and got dressed and out the door to go and meet them.
When I got there, I was a bit concerned as this thing had gotten a ride strapped to the back of a semi drop deck, as they were on the way to pick up some machinery. It liked OK though, and just appeared to be severely dirty from a lot of years in a very dusty environment. We loaded it into the back of my pickup, and I headed home for breakfast.
I had several things to do before I could get to cleaning it up a little, but I finally got to it this afternoon, and these pictures show the results! You couldn't produce a better patina on the wood surface if you tried! The markings on the fluted columns are in great shape, and everything appears to be tight and in very good shape!
What a glorious piece of American history, and these things are disappearing fast. With the increase in the size of farms and the equipment that they use, these old elevators have fallen into complete non use, and often sit for years until someone finally tears them down. Sad! Glad I was able to rescue this fabulous piece of North Dakota history!

Here are the pictures of it all cleaned up!

That is really cool

Wow what a difference the pressure washing made. Nice piece Kevin.

That is very Cool! Thanks for sharing some pictures.
May our lives glorify God,
Michael

very cool kevin. I always like seeing them.

That is very nice!!

Very unique!

That thing probably hasn't been that clean since it was new

If you go to the website "save ross elevator.com"-and look at the home page you will see an old porcelain sign--fairbanks scales--been there as many years as i can remember.

Kevin you and your buddies are lucky they still have elevators to work on. As a prairie boy I have seen many a "skyscraper" of the plains disappear. Most of them are lost in fires due to mysterious reasons, other are demolished and precious few are saved as monuments of a simpler time. The picture of the wooden grain elevators in a vibrant prairie town are all we have left now in most cases. The scene speaks so much to me I have two paintings that feature grain elevators.
Thanks for the story and pictures of the scale.

Fred--You're right, its very sad that these old buildings are destined for destruction. Very few of them ever get fixed up and reused in the private sector. The cost of such an endeavor is huge!
There are fewer and fewer of them every year, and the day will come when there are no more. I'm sure glad we were able to rescue this scale assembly from the destruction. They all weren't as nice as this one but they all had some sort of scale system in them.

Great rescue and great looking scale!

Are the columns cast iron? or is it all wood.

Fluted Columns and scale parts are cast iron. The balance beam is brass.
The only wood parts are the base, middle brace and the Deco top!