Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

That's a great guess but not the right guess. Am going to post the answer now.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Nope. See my next post for answer.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Scroll down for answer:

I've never heard of hog oilers let alone the need for them. Just to be sure that this was legitimate, I googled hog oiler and they do exist and are even collectable. But they don't look like this. I assumed that they must come in a lot of different forms.

As part of my postings, I gave out some clues e.g. it was farm related, and I saw this item in a hardware store in Amish country in Ohio. Our hogger, Dustie actually did some research and found the hardware store, Lehman's, in Kidron, Ohio and got onto their website where a gentleman was explaining some of the rare antique items they have on display, this being one of them. He described it as something entirely different, having to do with resurfacing piston faces. That is also a very plausible explanation, maybe more plausible than hog oiler. I called the store today to try and find out is my posted hog oiler sign correct or the piston resurfacing device the right answer. The gentleman who can answer that question was not available but I left a message on his voice mail and explained why I wanted to know. Pointed out his store was getting some national publicity here.

That being said, I would have to say that Dustie is the winner here, if for no other reason that he did the most work to try and find out what it was. So his prize is: 1) a get-out-of-jail free card, 2) a box of outdated Kodak 100 film, 3) a future draft choice to be named later and 4) an atta-boy.

If I hear from the gentleman from Lehman's, I will post his answer here as well.

And as a final anus protectus; Who among you, if you were walking through this store and saw this display and knew that "What is this" is a popular game we play on General Chit Chat, would not have taken cellphone pictures and posted it like I did. Speak now or forever hold your peace.

When I looked at it, it struck me that the blades were different, some were flat and others had teeth. And when the hogs rubbed against this, by walking under it, they caused the device to turn and spread and comb the oil into the hog's back.

(Download)

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

So, why are there different sizes?

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Different size pigs??? Weanling piglets are separated from their mothers when kept in cages so they don't accidently roll over and squash them. Other than that??? or maybe it's not really a hog oiler but something else.

Lens Cap Loc: The Cold North Coast

Yeah, I'm sometimes gullible, but not this time. There is no way that machine is used on a hog unless it's to scrape and clean the hogs hide for tanning. I see nothing of the sort when searching.....It looks very automotive engine rebuild equipment "ish", but I have never seen anything like this.....Still looking

goofybruce

My guess is that these are interchangeable parts to a seed-sorting machine or seed planting machine. Grains are in different sizes from large corn kernels down to small grains.... The planter would have to be multi-use, so the sorting /planting channels would be sized for whatever crop is being planted.

goofybruce

My guess is that these are interchangeable parts to a seed-sorting machine or seed planting machine. Grains are in different sizes from large corn kernels down to small grains.... The planter would have to be multi-use, so the sorting /planting channels would be sized for whatever crop is being planted.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

I'm not questioning your interpretation, I'm just showing you what was presented at the store. I have questioned that myself and contacted the asset manager at the hardware store who knows for sure what the device is. If you read what I wrote, they have a video on their website that describes it as something entirely different. I believe he said it was used to resurface the tops of pistons (difficult to hear what was being said on the video) You may not be able to find anything like this because it is an antique, i.e. not currently used. But hog oilers are for real which also amazes me.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

At this point, until I hear otherwise from the store, we are just making up stories to fit the facts but that doesn't make them true. I'm pretty creative and I can make up a lot of stories of what these devices might be used for. Hopefully time will tell.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

I believe they are a one off set created by a master machinist in his spare time. They have no practical use and were only made to cause people like us to go quietly nuts.

bikinkawboy Loc: north central Missouri

I can say that those are not hog oilers. Those things would turn hogs into the chopped, sliced, pressed ham you find in the little packages at Walmart.

I’ll do my best to describe what a hog oiler looks like. Imagine a trough shaped affair approximately 2’ long and 1’ wide, with a pan on the inside which held used motor oil. In the center is an affair that reminds you of a Ferris wheel suspended over the oil pan with the lower portion submerged in the oil. The wheel has two halves, each shaped kind of like a round, tapered base wash pan, both full of holes and with the tops together. The whole affair is made of cast iron to prevent hogs from destroying it. The hog rubs its side and belly on the wheel, which spreads oil onto them. Another oiler, basically a large round oil soaked wick suspended above allows hogs to oil their back. This type is also used for cattle.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

It appears to be a lapping tool for dressing the faces of brass valve flanges so that they mate squarely. If they don't mate squarely, they will leak regardless of how tight they are bolted together. The pipe flanges and the valve flanges oftentimes are different or often reused from other piping. The item on the top is the jig that holds the facing tools centered in the flanges to be dressed.

The gearheads among us would think of it as the importance of the valve heads fitting squarely across the surface of the engine block. The slightest warp in the head becomes a problem.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

I googled them too and the most common one was called a watermellon oiler because that's what they looked like a watermellon with rotating parts.