Weiler

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car frame and Buick engine were sold for scrap metal during World War II. The rest of the mill sat hidden underneath straw in the barn’s hay mow from 1945 until 1983. This is the same barn on the farm where John and Ruth Weiler currently reside in the town of Bern outside of Athens.

Lawrence and his son, Dick Weiler, surprised Tony and Peter Weiler by bringing The Weiler Shingle Mill out of the hay mow in time to saw shingles at the 1983 Weiler Centennial Celebration at the farm. The shingle mill was powered by a belt connected to an old McCormick-Deering 10/20 tractor.

Rob Weiler, who figures he was only five years old in 1983, said there is an old VHS tape somewhere of Lawrence and Dick operating the shingle mill at the Weiler Centennial Celebration. Rob grew up on the farm across the road from where John and Ruth Weiler reside. Rob’s mother, Sylvia, still lives on that farm.

In 1992, Frank Weiler, brother of Tony, Peter and Lawrence Weiler, placed the shingle mill on a 1956 Ford frame. Frank built a governor to power a Ford Pinto engine that ran the shingle mill. Rob Weiler is amazed by his great uncle Frank’s engineering work.

“Frank didn’t have much past a sixth-grade education yet he was a smart as a whip,” he said. “Today we run the shingle mill pretty gingerly because all the owner’s manuals have passed away. We need to pay attention to how the shingle mill is running so that we know how to fix it when it breaks down. We need to be creative on making repairs to it.”

Rob Weiler received The Weiler Shingle mill 1937 sales card and a stack of photos when his great uncle Frank Weiler passed away. Rob, Drew and other their other relatives demonstrated The Weiler Shingle Mill at the Weiler Family Reunion on Aug. 5 at John and Ruth Weiler’s farm.

“Tony’s grandson was there and he was in awe of seeing the shingle mill,” Rob Weiler said.

THEN AND NOW - Left: Pictured, from left to right, are Art Hendricks, Dick Weiler and Ed Schultz of Athens operating The Weiler Shingle Mill in the late 1990s at the Edgar Steam Show. Right: Pictured right, Rob Weiler sends a log through the mill during the Edgar Steam Show. The Weilers demonstrated how the shingles were milled during the event.

A FAMILY’S WORK - Frank Weiler, who re-engineered The Weiler Shingle Mill in 1992, is pictured.