This miniature belt-driven cement mixer was designed and built by Rudy Kouhoupt. It’s based on a full-size, one man cement mixer that was restored by Rudy’s neighbor, Walter Yetman. This small project provides a nice tool for a steam engine to drive. At about 1/7 scale, the cement mixer is suitable for many of the model engines Rudy has built and published plans for over the years. Another one of our featured craftsmen, Birk Petersen, built the same cement mixer using Rudy’s plans and design, but added a miniature wheelbarrow.
One of the first large donations to the Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum was the collection of famed model engine builder Rudy Kouhoupt. Rudy’s niece, Susan Alvaro, was kind enough to donate his entire lifetime engine collection for display at the grand opening of the museum in 2006. After retiring as a chemist, Rudy had a second career building engines and writing magazine articles documenting the process. Many people have built his models, but we have the honor of displaying all of his original prototypes. Rudy’s collection includes scale model engines, locomotives, tractors and more. Additionally, thirteen of Rudy’s model steam engines are hooked up to run on compressed air to demonstrate their function.
