Gee Brothers Ice Harvester

In the early 1900’s (over 100 years ago), because of the newly developed availability of electrical power generated from the Grand River dam and power plant, numerous manufacturing businesses sprang up and thrived in the Lyons area. Among the more unique of these businesses was an ice harvester machine manufacturing operation, which originated from a revolutionary invention by Hector Gee to help reduce the enormous amount of toil with how ice was made at the time in the country.

In 1919, Francis Gee’s father (Hector Gee) was granted a patent by the United States of America Patent Office (copy attached) to produce an “Ice Harvester” machine. Together, Hector and his brother Homer, began producing Gee Bros. Ice Harvesters in the early 1920’s, and selling/shipping them across the United States and Canada, and even oversees. Hector’s son (Francis) began working for the business in the late 1920’s, and in 1936 became a partner in the business.

As a result of this invention, the reliance on hand saws and horse plows to harvest ice from lakes and rivers was greatly reduced, and thousands of pounds of perfectly cut blocks of ice (typically 6” x 10”) could be produced in a fraction of the time previously required and with much less labor.

Sales of the Gee Bros. Ice Harvesters were brisk (approx.. 100 per year for about $445 to $545 each for 10 and 12 horsepower machines) until the introduction of electrical ice boxes in the 1940’s. The ice harvesters were sold and shipped from Lyons by railroad, plus the business also worked with a nationwide distribution network. The last five machines were sold in 1942 (during World War II), to buyers in European Norway.

The Gee Bros. Ice Harvester was a sled mounted motor driven saw that could be operated by one person at a speed of 150 feet per minute. Then, when cut, the ice blocks would be removed with crow bars and lifted onto a wagon, for storage in ice houses until used. The remnants of Lyons’ old ice storage house can still be seen beside south Tabor Street near the Grand River. From there, the blocks of ice would be delivered to people’s homes for their ice boxes.

The Gee Bros. family put together a reconstructed version of the original Ice Harvester in the 1990’s, using original parts they had saved throughout the years, and donated it for display to the Lyons-Muir historical museum (photo attached). The Ice Harvester is a very heavy machine and sits on the museum floor above a strong foundation wall. It remains one of the LMHS museum’s most unique and prized display pieces.