A short story about my collection of “Tired Iron”: of about 35
old gas engines ranging from 1 hp to 10 hp. Some were made by
Termaat and Monahan (T. & M.) of Oshkosh, Wisconsin; Simplicity
made by Turner Manufacturing Co. in Port Washington, Wis.; Root and
Vandervoort, Stover, F.M., I.H.C., McCormick, Hercules, Sandow,
Economy. John Deere, Witte, Sattley, Fuller and Johnson, Galoway,
Monitor, Lansing, Ottawa and Fairmont. I have a couple that I
can’t identify. One is an upright with a 4 inch bore and a 4
inch stroke. It is a hit and miss with make and break ignition, a
cam operated fuel pump to pump the gas from the base up to a
Lunkenhiemer carburetor. The exhaust valve is operated by means of
a roller mounted on the timing gear which runs on a lever to
operate the push rod or rather pull rod that moves about two
inches. On the way down it operates the igniter. At the bottom of
the stroke it operates the exhaust valve. It has a separate water
tank for cooling. On one fly-wheel it has the letters B & E Co.
Maybe someone could tell me the name of the engine and where it
was made. It was in bad shape but I have it almost ready to run.
When it’s complete I’ll send a picture and a better
description.
I recently found an engine that was on an old
dredge in the middle of a marsh near Omro, Wis. With the help of a
couple of friends and a snow sled we hauled it out in pieces. There
was no other way to get to it. We had to wait till it froze and
snowed. It was a mile from the nearest road. The engine is a
Simplicity. It has 10 hp at 325 RPM, 6 1/2-inch bore, 10-inch stroke, 45-inch fly-wheels, hit and miss,
Webster mag, make and break ignition. The weight is over 2200 lbs.
without the axles and wheels. These axles and wheels are not
original. The piston was stuck in the cylinder but with a lot of
soaking, heat, and rough treatment it came out. The head was badly
broken. One valve guide broke in two pieces inside the water
jacket. But with a lot of welding and handwork and two homemade
valves and valve springs plus some rebuilt pins here and there, a
good cleaning, fresh paint, rebuilt gas tank, and polished brass it
now runs and looks better than new.
In the September/October 1967 issue of Gas Engine Magazine there is a
picture of an engine sent in by Ruben Michelson, Anamoose, North
Dakota. I believe this engine is a Termaat and Monahan. It looks
exactly like the one I have. But I think he will find it is a hit
and miss and not a throttle governor, and that the gas tank mounts
underneath with a long filler pipe that comes up aside the
connecting rod.
In the November/December 1967 issue of Gas Engine Magazine there is a
letter from Verne W. Kindschi of Prairie du Sac, WI about the
Monitor engine. I would like to add a little about the sizes of
these engines. I have an 8 hp horizontal and I have a friend that
has a 7 hp vertical. I met Verne at an engine show in Baraboo,
WI. He introduced me to this magazine and I immediately
subscribed.
1968 Engine Show
Plans for the 1968 Reunion are being discussed. Always a lot of
work to do and plans to be made. Once again there will be an
auction on Saturday. This proved a good drawing card for last year
and will be tried again. All proceeds are to go to the club.
A new attraction this year will be a garden tractor pull on
Sunday. This will be a new venture in this part of the country,
although they have been held in Ohio. Anyone with a four wheel
garden tractor will be eligible to participate for a small entry
fee. Prizes will be given.
Reunion dales are July 26, 27 and 28th at Fairville, N. Y., four
miles north of Newark on Route 88. If you come from a distance,
some interesting things to see while you are in the neighborhood
are the Rose Gardens in Newark, The Morman Pagent at Palmyra, and
the Brookwood atomic generating plant at Ontario.
