That was my first impression too. Then when you look at the castings they were all made to fit some kind of tube. The back one even has the hole for the hitch pipe to go into. I'm not much into cream seperators but I don't ever remember seeing one built like that would have been. Did they make portable ones? I can't think of another piece of equipment that would use something like that. It would be nice to find out they were something common.stout looking sulky. Those parts under the seat remind me of a cream separator.