Cool old Thor engine, looks like a very early piece. A lot of these engines were set up as farm engines to use as a drive motor for whatever work needed to be done. I remember my Grandfather doing similar things when I was a kid. He was an old school farmer in North Dakota and pretty much made whatever he needed at the time. They were a different breed than the people you see anymore. He was honest and hard working. He paid cash for everything and made it through the Great Depression supporting not only his own family but took in strays that needed help. They lived off what he raised himself or occasionally bought with his own money. No subsidies !
Compare the Thor engine to the 1904 Indian motor, Thor actually produced most of these engines and they have a lot of different names on them such as Indian, Thor-bred, Reading Standard, Merkle, Apache, Raycycle, Manson and in years later Sears and Torpedo.
