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No: 939 Contributor: Bernie Punte Year: 2003 Manufacturer: Ahrens-Fox Country: United States of America
1939 Ahrens-Fox, ex Munster, Indiana pumper
Ahrens-Fox Serial Number 9071, Model VC pumping at the Pennsylvania Pump Primers Muster in July 2003. The pumper served in Mumster, Indiana from 1939 until 1973. The truck in much original condition with a new paint job. After minor repairs the truck was once again able to draft and pump. She can draw water at draft in about 30 seconds. She was last pumped on May 20, 2006.
Ahrens-Fox Serial Number 9071, Model VC pumping at the Pennsylvania Pump Primers Muster in July 2003. The pumper served in Mumster, Indiana from 1939 until 1973. The truck in much original condition with a new paint job. After minor repairs the truck was once again able to draft and pump. She can draw water at draft in about 30 seconds. She was last pumped on May 20, 2006.
The old girl looks good.I was the last fireman in Munster to drive the FOX.Took her to the service station to put air in her tires the day they openned the bids.I believe it went for $1200.00 to a Dentist from Crown Point, Ind.
Added by Capt. Ken Keilman M.F.D. on 16 March 2007.
Added by Capt. Ken Keilman M.F.D. on 16 March 2007.
I am a member of the Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee volunteer Fire Department, we are located adjacent to Chattanooga, Tennessee. We have a 1950 4 door ahrens Fox pumper. It was originally owned by Friendship/Royersford Penn. fire district. It was restored in the 70's and has made several trips including one back home to the 100th anniversary of the friendship fire company.
Added by Allen Branum on 27 October 2007.
Added by Allen Branum on 27 October 2007.
I am a member at Highland Hose VFD in Tarentum Pa norh east of Pittsburgh, we are the proud owners of a 1931 fox model unt4 its been with us since it was new and she still is ready for action.
Added by Ed schuster on 20 February 2008.
Added by Ed schuster on 20 February 2008.
I fell in love with Ahrens-Fox apparatus in 1966, when I visited the Fairview Fire District in Greenburgh, NY, northwest of NY City. Their #2 house had a 1928 Ahrens-Fox Model N-S-4 piston pumper #3321, which they sold in 1968 and bought back 2 or 3 years ago.
But the rig I fell in love with that June day in 1966 was in Fairview's #1 firehouse: a one-of-ak-ind 1939 Ahrens-Fox quint. Picture this: a 1250 GPM 6-cylinder piston pump. An 1197 cubic inch, 6 cylinder (straight 6), overhead-valve Ahrens-Fox "Big Bertha" motor. An electrically-raised 70-foot aerial ladder (took a dozen 6-volt batteries and two electric motors to raise and lower). A 150-gallon booster tank. Nearly 300 feet of wood ground ladders. A hosebed carrying 1000 feet of 2-1/2" hose. And all on a TWO-axle (!) chassis, on a 43-foot long chassis frame (and that doesn't count the ladder overhang at the back), the whole rig weighing in at over 19, 000 pounds--without hose, water, or men aboard!
They let me climb aboard this 1939 Ahrens-Fox Model BJQ-70 quint (quintuple combination) and drove me around the block on it. They then set the outriggers, raised the 70-foot aerial to the firehouse window (a Rube Goldberg conglameration of whirring electric motors, gears, electric switches and contact, sand dive chains), and one of the firemen climbed up the aerial ladder as the massive chrome ball on the front-mounted pump gleamed in the June sun. I was hooked!
In 1970 (at age 15), I was one of 6 founders of the Ahrens-Fox Fire Buffs' Association (AFFBA)--only two of us still alive now--and I became editor and published of their quarterly Silver Sphere magazine for the next 20 years, and I still run their web site. At one point we had 500 subscribers all over the US and in several other countries.
In 1975, I attended the public auction of that same 1939 quint at the Fairview firehouse. It is now privately owned and undergoing restoration.
In 1979, I finally bought my own Ahrens-Fox pumper, a 1953 Model EC #9160, 750-GPM, with Hale midship centrifugal pump, It originally served Engine 1 in new Milford, NJ, then was sold to a group of firefighters in Glen Ridge, NJ, who used it as a parade truck from 1974 to 1976; I bought it from them in 1979, after it had sat out through five New Jersey winters. After I moved from New Jersey to California in 1981 (driving this pumper cross-country with all my belongings on it, ala the Beverly Hillbillies), I began restoring it in 1982, and completed the restoration in 1992; I still own it. It is the last fire enigne built by Ahrens-Fox personnel in their own factory in Cincinnat; 25 more fire engines would be built with the Ahrens-Fox brand name between 1954 and 1958, but all were built in the Beck Bus factory at Sidney, Ohio. Mine, although the last built in Cincinnati, was painted and gold-leafed at Sidney, all the equipment (ladders, hoses, extinguishers, etc.) was mounted at Sidney, and my pumper was driven from there when delivered. So I own a very historic fire engine.
By the way, the design of the pump compartment area and hose bed on my 1953 is very similar to the Munster 1939 pumper above.
The 1939 Fox in the above photo, I saw it twice, once about 1974 when Mel Clark had it (and 16 other Ahrens-Foxes) in his warehouse in North Hampton, NH, and again in 1979 when Al Wait had it and two other Foxes--all bought from Mel Clark--in his big barn at Contoocok, NH. To the best of my knowledge, Munster's is the only Fox of that style to be built with the extra-wide hosebed (wider than the pump-panel area).
The chassis, grille, etc., on the Munster 1939 are entirely of Ahrens-Fox's own design and manufacture, even though many Ahrens-Foxes of that era were on Schacht commercial truck chassis. This chasis design was in production from 1935 to 1939, and only one other of this Ahrens-Fox chassis design (#9073 for Greenfield, Ohio--which they still own) would be built after Munster's.
Added by Ed Hass on 09 February 2009.
But the rig I fell in love with that June day in 1966 was in Fairview's #1 firehouse: a one-of-ak-ind 1939 Ahrens-Fox quint. Picture this: a 1250 GPM 6-cylinder piston pump. An 1197 cubic inch, 6 cylinder (straight 6), overhead-valve Ahrens-Fox "Big Bertha" motor. An electrically-raised 70-foot aerial ladder (took a dozen 6-volt batteries and two electric motors to raise and lower). A 150-gallon booster tank. Nearly 300 feet of wood ground ladders. A hosebed carrying 1000 feet of 2-1/2" hose. And all on a TWO-axle (!) chassis, on a 43-foot long chassis frame (and that doesn't count the ladder overhang at the back), the whole rig weighing in at over 19, 000 pounds--without hose, water, or men aboard!
They let me climb aboard this 1939 Ahrens-Fox Model BJQ-70 quint (quintuple combination) and drove me around the block on it. They then set the outriggers, raised the 70-foot aerial to the firehouse window (a Rube Goldberg conglameration of whirring electric motors, gears, electric switches and contact, sand dive chains), and one of the firemen climbed up the aerial ladder as the massive chrome ball on the front-mounted pump gleamed in the June sun. I was hooked!
In 1970 (at age 15), I was one of 6 founders of the Ahrens-Fox Fire Buffs' Association (AFFBA)--only two of us still alive now--and I became editor and published of their quarterly Silver Sphere magazine for the next 20 years, and I still run their web site. At one point we had 500 subscribers all over the US and in several other countries.
In 1975, I attended the public auction of that same 1939 quint at the Fairview firehouse. It is now privately owned and undergoing restoration.
In 1979, I finally bought my own Ahrens-Fox pumper, a 1953 Model EC #9160, 750-GPM, with Hale midship centrifugal pump, It originally served Engine 1 in new Milford, NJ, then was sold to a group of firefighters in Glen Ridge, NJ, who used it as a parade truck from 1974 to 1976; I bought it from them in 1979, after it had sat out through five New Jersey winters. After I moved from New Jersey to California in 1981 (driving this pumper cross-country with all my belongings on it, ala the Beverly Hillbillies), I began restoring it in 1982, and completed the restoration in 1992; I still own it. It is the last fire enigne built by Ahrens-Fox personnel in their own factory in Cincinnat; 25 more fire engines would be built with the Ahrens-Fox brand name between 1954 and 1958, but all were built in the Beck Bus factory at Sidney, Ohio. Mine, although the last built in Cincinnati, was painted and gold-leafed at Sidney, all the equipment (ladders, hoses, extinguishers, etc.) was mounted at Sidney, and my pumper was driven from there when delivered. So I own a very historic fire engine.
By the way, the design of the pump compartment area and hose bed on my 1953 is very similar to the Munster 1939 pumper above.
The 1939 Fox in the above photo, I saw it twice, once about 1974 when Mel Clark had it (and 16 other Ahrens-Foxes) in his warehouse in North Hampton, NH, and again in 1979 when Al Wait had it and two other Foxes--all bought from Mel Clark--in his big barn at Contoocok, NH. To the best of my knowledge, Munster's is the only Fox of that style to be built with the extra-wide hosebed (wider than the pump-panel area).
The chassis, grille, etc., on the Munster 1939 are entirely of Ahrens-Fox's own design and manufacture, even though many Ahrens-Foxes of that era were on Schacht commercial truck chassis. This chasis design was in production from 1935 to 1939, and only one other of this Ahrens-Fox chassis design (#9073 for Greenfield, Ohio--which they still own) would be built after Munster's.
Added by Ed Hass on 09 February 2009.
Hello Ed. Every time i see your name appear, I am compelled to read your information and learn something new every time.In 1969 i saw my first FOX in Ocean City N.J. at station #1.It was a 1929.I have loved and revered them ever since.They also had a 1949 PIRCH< But sitting in the drivers seat of that FOX was the best memory that i have of being a 10 year year old kid at the beach.I spent more time at the station then getting wet in the ocean. Thank,s for bringing back great memories of my child hood.
Added by George Frankenfield on 10 December 2009.
Added by George Frankenfield on 10 December 2009.
Hello Ed,
My father was one of the first paid guys on the Fairview F.D. He was there when the '39 Fox was delivered. I saw her about five years ago she was in really bad shape, but was finally in a dry, heated shop in Haverstraw, NY.
Added by Bill McG on 02 July 2010.
My father was one of the first paid guys on the Fairview F.D. He was there when the '39 Fox was delivered. I saw her about five years ago she was in really bad shape, but was finally in a dry, heated shop in Haverstraw, NY.
Added by Bill McG on 02 July 2010.
Ed,
I remembering seeing piston pumper Foxes in Baltimore firehouses back in the '50s and into the '60s. My dad was part of the Baltimore "Auxiliary". He volunteered at Engine company 41, Truck company 20, and Chemical 1. In reserve in that house was a second line engine an early '20s Fox and a second line chemical rig an early '20s bulldog Mack. I remember being fascinated by the big chrome ball on the Fox pumper. Several years ago I had the opportunity to drive a '23 Fox. I had been waiting all my life to drive one of the Fox piston pumpers. I have now owned the '39 Fox above for 10 years, time flies. She still runs and pumps well, despite dripping oil from many places. To my good fortune the motor was rebuilt sometime after 1952. One of the heads has that casting date. There is virtually no wear in the cylinders either from the head down view or the crankcase up view. Also there was no engine sludge, but I did find a pieces of tie wire (used to keep the nuts from backing off on the rod and main caps) in the oil pan. Apparently the engine blew a rod or something.
She did not draft very well the first try. While rebuilding the transfer case I discovered there was no front pump packing in place. Some body had worked on the packing nut with braize. I put new packing in and cleaned up the packing nut so it would tighten up. She now drafts very quickly with the 50 gps rotary gear prime/reel pump. The automatic pressure relif valve is frozen in place. This may have caused the packing to blow out. I did find a hunk of packing in the bowl under the front packing location buried in the grease and gunk collected there. Judging from the location of the grease fitting for the pressure relief valve. Judging from the location and rust on the fitting, it had been many years since there was any grease put in that fitting. It can only be found with the front seat and frame removed. It then requires climbing into the seat area to actually see the fitting.
Added by Bernie Punte on 17 July 2010.
I remembering seeing piston pumper Foxes in Baltimore firehouses back in the '50s and into the '60s. My dad was part of the Baltimore "Auxiliary". He volunteered at Engine company 41, Truck company 20, and Chemical 1. In reserve in that house was a second line engine an early '20s Fox and a second line chemical rig an early '20s bulldog Mack. I remember being fascinated by the big chrome ball on the Fox pumper. Several years ago I had the opportunity to drive a '23 Fox. I had been waiting all my life to drive one of the Fox piston pumpers. I have now owned the '39 Fox above for 10 years, time flies. She still runs and pumps well, despite dripping oil from many places. To my good fortune the motor was rebuilt sometime after 1952. One of the heads has that casting date. There is virtually no wear in the cylinders either from the head down view or the crankcase up view. Also there was no engine sludge, but I did find a pieces of tie wire (used to keep the nuts from backing off on the rod and main caps) in the oil pan. Apparently the engine blew a rod or something.
She did not draft very well the first try. While rebuilding the transfer case I discovered there was no front pump packing in place. Some body had worked on the packing nut with braize. I put new packing in and cleaned up the packing nut so it would tighten up. She now drafts very quickly with the 50 gps rotary gear prime/reel pump. The automatic pressure relif valve is frozen in place. This may have caused the packing to blow out. I did find a hunk of packing in the bowl under the front packing location buried in the grease and gunk collected there. Judging from the location of the grease fitting for the pressure relief valve. Judging from the location and rust on the fitting, it had been many years since there was any grease put in that fitting. It can only be found with the front seat and frame removed. It then requires climbing into the seat area to actually see the fitting.
Added by Bernie Punte on 17 July 2010.
Ed: we have completed the restoration of A-F 881 this summer and pumped it at 880 GPM (pito) for four hours. Bob Fuson
Added by Robert Fuson on 03 October 2010.
Added by Robert Fuson on 03 October 2010.
hi Ed like all of u I love that Ahrens-fox quint. First time seeing it was in the may-june 2017 fire apparatus journal. I work with 1:50 scale corgi diecast transforming into boston engines and trucks. I would like to build this quint.would you have or know someone that has all around pictures of this truck.
Thanks. Steve.
Added by Steve on 21 June 2017.
Thanks. Steve.
Added by Steve on 21 June 2017.
Ahrens-Fox
AK7 or KB7 Simerlier to the photo above
This truck is in our local museum and is running
Added by Colin Toone on 30 November 2006.