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<i>...but then again, you won't get the best bang for the buck.</i>

har...har...har Actually, artillery wheels have a downside. As the wood dries out, they start to squeak. I heard a pre WWI Silver Ghost go by one day, low speed on grass, and the loudest sound it made was the wheels squeaking.

The correct fix is to periodically soak them in linseed oil. The cheapskate way is to drive the car into the creek and let it sit for a while. Of course, after soaking in a creek, the wood will soon dry out and squeak worse than ever.

Steve:

That reminds me of the old used-car saleman's trick of adding sawdust to an automatic transmission to "smooth" out the shifts and to hide any leaks.

Artillery wheels were frequently painted. I suppose the best way to deal with dried out wooden wheels would be to sand off the old paint (saving chips for the new paint), smoothing down the bare wood, gluing where necessary, then adding several coats of linseed oil (or perhaps tung oil) until wood is refreshed. After the linseed oil dries, the wheels can be repainted. This would take quite a while to accomplsh if carried out correctly; but the results would be far more satisfying thann a soak in a creek, which oculd also add the unpleasant side effect of warping the wheels.

I'm reminded of a a story I read many years ago of the cross-country trip taken in 1911 by 2 high school graduates.

I believe the car they drove was a Moline Dreadnought.

They had NO roads in some of the states they drove across, and of course the car was equipped with large wooden spoked wheels.

Artillery wheels were frequently painted.

Would linseed penetrate paint? I know water will. My Grandparents had wooden rowboats at their lake house. The boats were painted, knowing Grandfather, probably left over house paint. When we first put them in the water, they leaked like crazy. After a day or so, the hulls would seal up and be leak free all summer.

It seems as though they were, after about 1925 a comfy throwback kind of thing, like the ugly "Vinyl roofs" you see added by dealerships today on cars that really don't lend themselves to that. Certain customers have tastes that come from an earlier time, and are willing to pay for that anachronistic taste at such a price that the dealer can make $$$, so there it is!

Here is a photo from the 2014 Salado Meet showing the ex-Weiss family (early Packard principal) '36 One-Twenty with artillery wheels. You can just make out the one on the left front.

Per O_D's comments below, I believe the wheels would be called artillery-style.

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JW, thanks for that photo - a lovely looking junior Packard. The so-called "artillery wheels" on the juniors were of course not true wood spoke wheels but all steel embossed steel wheels in the style of a traditional artillery wheel, and I'll enclose another picture of one. They are uncommon and go for high prices to those who want them. I believe (someone will correct me if I'm wrong) that 1937 was the last year they were offered on the juniors; the last year for true wood artillery wheels on the senior cars was 1936.

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<a href="http://s671.photobucket.com/user/JamesRFrom/media/NCM_0189.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/vv72/JamesRFrom/NCM_0189.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo NCM_0189.jpg"/></a>

Instructions from can:For automobile, wagon and carriage wheels with wooden spokes. Remove all grease and mud. Have wheel clean and dry. For automobiles unscrew bolts at hubs and loosen flanges. Spokes that are worn at the joints should be wedged with soft wood before being treated.Apply where spokes join hub and felloe and on any un painted surfaces and cracks If spokes are very loose apply again in ten to fifteen minutes. Tighten hub bolts in about fifteen minutes after last application. Wheels that are riveted may be tightened by holding heavy hammers or iron on one end of rivet and riveting the other

Removing the paint I would not deem necessary in order to just tighten the spokes. Think of it like a wooden boat. It is made up of series of planks. Even though there is paint on each plank there are gaps due to expansion and contraction. Once the boat is put on the water the boat swells. The same principle applies when putting linseed oil between the spoke. But I will agree that you if you are doing a full wheel restoration to remove all paint and apply multiple coats of linseed oil. But be aware you may need to use oil based paint afterwards to ensure proper adhesion.
Paint itself is none porous. So the linseed oil would not penetrate the paint. If paint were porous you would have cars with a lot of rust under the paint.

Also here is an interesting link to patent a from 1881 WOOD-PRESERVING COMPOSITION for tightening wooden wheels.
https://www.google.com/patents/US259030?dq=%22linseed+oil%22+wood+wheels&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VpPGU6zMFKm_sQSH34D4Dg&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBA
Thanks
James

Thanks James for that, interesting! If one studies wooden artillery wheels you can often see very small and thin and tapered wooden shims inserted between the spokes at the hub; whether done by the original manufacturer or at a later date by a wheelright to correct looseness I don't know. And a bit off-topic but still on the topic of variations of senior Packard wheels in the early to mid 30s, one occasionally sees the "disteel" disc wheel, either painted or in chrome. These were considered the strongest wheels and found favor in exports to countries with rugged terrain. I don't know the last year they were offered, this photo is of a 1933 Super Eight with them. Another interesting wheel treatment offered thru the end of the 17 inch wire spoke wheel era (1936) was the "Ace"-type wheel shell cover to conceal the spokes, this illustration from Packard's 1935 Eight catalog and also shown on Judge Cassini's 34 1106 LeBaron.

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There was an episode of the old And Griffith show in which Barney gets snookered into buying a piece of junk car that has had sawdust "added" to the kaput transmission to make it run smoothly.

As funny as the episode was, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Barney because some of us have been snookered similarly.

kind regards
Garrett Meadows