ESK, Sask. – Wrenches set onto wooden peg boards form a steel mosaic
adorning one long wall of Ernie Klatt’s workshop on his farm near Esk.
Tools are liberally sprinkled throughout the main workshop and line
shelves in an adjacent lean-to shed, while still others lay in piles on
the ground or in a nearby Quonset.
Klatt’s life has revolved around the thousands of tools he now collects.
He flew a plane, designed a crop sprayer, converted road scrapers and
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erected a grain elevator. The semi-retired farmer, who splits his year
between Esk and Arizona, also repaired machinery for area farmers in
his warehouse-sized shop, often fashioning tools when the right ones
weren’t available.
He buys tools at auctions and others are given to him.
Klatt has collected about 4,000 tools over the last 40 years, and
acquired another 1,750 from his late cousin Reinhard Frederick Klatt.
Like his cousin, Klatt has a great love of historical artifacts. He is
also curious and interested in just about everything.
“I always had to know what was on the other side of the hill,” he said.
His life with tools has been passed down to his children and
grandchildren, as it was passed to him from his father. His two sons,
Dean and Gary, run a 26-quarter grain farm and manage their own repairs.
Klatt’s collections also include cars – a 1917 McLaughlin, a 1932 Buick
Straight 8 and a 1929 Nash.
His wife Audrey prefers rare china over tools, but supports his unique
hobby.
“I never say he shouldn’t,” she said, praising his efforts in
preserving something that would otherwise be lost.
Some pieces, such as a jumbo monkey wrench, still get used when needed,
but most tools are neatly mounted on boards from smallest to largest.
“As you get room you kind of put them on where they fit so they don’t
use too much room,” Klatt said.
Among the most valuable are those made especially for the vehicle or
implement they came with and those embossed with names such as Billings
and Spencer, Winchester, Pexto Company and W and B, JD 52 (John Deere).
Some are valued at $400, with Klatt estimating his collection to be
worth at least $10,000. He said his cousin’s collection, which was
acquired for $3,300, is worth the same.
Klatt said he wanted to keep the collection and add it to what he
already had. The family connection made it more dear.
Reinhard’s son, David Klatt, said his father’s hobby began in earnest
in retirement after leaving the farm in the 1970s and discovering city
garage sales.
“He liked old things and he held on to them,” said David, who admitted
some of Reinhard’s interests rubbed off on him. He is executive
director of the Saskatchewan Western Development Museum.
Ernie Klatt plans to combine the collections into one over the next few
years, featuring one of each type of tool. He said little maintenance
is required once they’re cleaned with acid and wire wheels and mounted
on display boards.
He has exhibited them at shows and in parades, but finds lugging around
large, heavy boards cumbersome. A few of his tools are also displayed
in the Lanigan, Sask., Heritage Centre.
One of the larger monkey wrenches, a Williams and Barnes, weighs five
kilograms and is the length of an arm.
Some have patents dating back to 1835, said Klatt, who noted inventors
patented their tools in the early years.
International Harvester was among the most prolific wrench makers,
while a 1920s era Studebaker buggy wrench was used on wheel nuts, he
said.
Some wrenches are curved for getting into tight spots, while some are
ratchet types for digging holes. One has a handle with numerous bends
called a speed wrench, while another has adjustable wooden handles.
Some are handmade, he said, citing a pair of pliers made from bolts
that still show the threads in the handle.
One used to shape wheel spokes resembles a pencil sharpener and others
sport odd names such as hammerhead or alligator wrench.
Books augment Klatt’s knowledge of his tools’ use and value, but the
history is lost for many others. He cited a large open-end wrench
embossed with the letters “LT to OT” as one example of the mysteries he
wants to solve one day.
While the WDM had earlier rejected the collection due to a lack of
space, David said there might be a place for it there in the future.
“We have a number of tools, but no collection of tools,” he noted,
citing the large amount of work, effort and cost it takes to make a
collection.
That would suit Klatt just fine.
“I would like to get it into some place where it can be left
permanently.”
