34/12/4 A Great Find!
Ed Ferguson, 605 Lake Placid Drive, Sequin, TX 78155 sends a
photo of an engine on the Rogue River at Grants Pass, Oregon. He
saw it on a jet boat excursion, and was told it was a
Fairbanks-Morse installed in 1942 to pump water. Ed had no
opportunity to make further inquiry about the engine, but sent
along some information that may be of help in rescuing the
engine:
Hellgate Jetboat Excursionss Grants Pass Jetboats Inc., 966 SW
6th Street, Grants Pass, OR 97526-3103 Phone: (800) 648-7204 email:
trips@hellgate.com
If anyone is able to acquire this engine, Ed would like the
finder to keep him informed of its acquisition and restoration.
(And so would we!)
34/12/5 Help Wanted!
Robert Polk, 603 E. Coronado Way, Payson, AZ 85541 sends a photo
of a Wade Log Saw, Model SM-1. He has most of the hardware, but
needs the dimensions of the wood parts for reconstruction.
Robert also needs to know the correct color for a Foos Model J,
1? HP engine. If you can help on either of these queries,
please contact him.
34/12/6 Shingle Mill Q. I have a shingle mill
with a 36-inch horizontal blade. It is original and abused. I had
it professionally hammered, plus in’ stalled carbide tips. They
are flat or chisel tips. It now cuts with little power, but cuts
slow and smokes. It appears to me that the wood shaving is long and
thin, it expands and rubs on both sides of the wood when it cuts
and fills up the gullet during the cut. I would have a new blade
made, but it is rather expensive. Can anyone offer suggestions?
A. There are likely some people out there who
know more about this than ye olde Reflector, but we would suggest
that you are correct about the gullets plugging with the chips. We
would also suggest that the gullets are too small, and may have
been that way originally. Also, there may not be enough side
clearance. In other words, the bit may not be wide enough for the
plate to which they are mounted.
34/12/7 Information Needed Q. What is the year
built for a Witte engine, s/n B31594 Also I have a very nice
original F-M Jack Junior engine. On the crank guard there is an
outline of a decal similar to a United engine decal. Does anyone
know of this design? I would be happy to hear from other Jack
Junior owners. Zach Nagel, 9497 S 380 W, Rensselaer, IN 47978.
A. The Witte was built in 1925. We didn’t
know about the decal you mention on the Jack Junior. Can anyone
help?
34/12/8 Fairbanks-Morse Chain Saw Q. I recently
made inquiry to Fairbanks-Morse regarding an engine they
manufactured a number of years ago. They were unable to answer my
questions.
The engine is in a chain saw, s/n AH47, engine no. 2064605. The
saw has a 10′ inch x 4? inch high blade. Any help would be
appreciated. Bill Cornish, 18821 N 17th Ave., Phoenix, AZ
85027.
A. Right after World War Two, Fairbanks-Morse
made a major attempt to get into appliances and small tools, such
as lawn mowers, chain saws, and various other items. Most of these
items were not built by Fairbanks-Morse, but were built by outside
vendors to F-M specs and with the F-M name cast on them. When we
researched at Fairbanks-Morse in 1992, most of this information was
already gone, regarding who manufactured what, and when it was
built. Apparently there had been a major purge of obsolete
information at some point, and this sort of information went to the
nearest available dumpster. Is there anyone out there familiar with
the Fairbanks-Morse chain saw, and can identify the original
manufacturer?
34/12/9 McCormick-Deering Mower
V. T. Hunn, 5100 Rubidell Lane, Fort Worth, TX 76140-8042 would
like to know the age of a McCormick Deering No. 7 mower; and we
find it was built between 1929 and 1939.
34/12/10 Galloway Engine
Thos. Strangway, 717 Letts Road, Oakland, MI 48363 writes:
Having read the July GEM article on Wm. Galloway, we would like
to get answers to the following questions:
1) What year made
2) Paint scheme & color
3) Where to get muffler
4) What size was the gas tank
5) Where to find copy of operator’s manual
6) Where to find a clearer picture of the engine
7) Is oil or grease used on fitting on end of rod
34/12/11 Information Needed
Rick Holder, 343 Hwy 11 South, Monroe GA 30655 would like
operating information on a Fairbanks-Morse horizontal 45 horsepower
diesel as well as on a 9 x 10 Frick traction engine. If you can be
of help, please contact him.
34/12/12 IHC Type M Q. Henry Linton, 406 N 18th
Ave, Hattiesburg, MS 39401 has an IHC Type M, sin W-15338 and would
like to know the year built and the correct color.
A. The engine was made in 1926. The color is
Adirondack Green, comparable to DuPont 84155 or Ditzler 40496
34/12/13 Unidentified Engine
Wilfred Ronellenfitch, 53070 Bell Ave., Kenai, AK 99611 sends
several photos of an unidentified engine. It has no nameplate and
no casting numbers. It appears to have been painted blue, and is
not in American Gas Engines. Can anyone be of help in identifying
this engine?
34/12/14 Hot Weather Beverages
In response to a query about old-fashioned summer refreshers
(October GEM) Coles Roberts, New Jersey Museum of Agriculture, PO
Box 7788, N. Brunswick, NJ 08902-7788 writes that there was one
called ‘Switchell’ and it consisted of one third each of
vinegar, molasses (or honey) and water.
34/12/15 R & V engine
Steven R. Dawes, 1031 Division Road E., Fort Shaw, MT 59443
needs information on an R & V Type D Triumph Line engine, s/n
CL43734, 4 HP, 400 rpm. It has a 4? inch bore. Please contact him
if you can be of help.
34/12/16 Novo Engine Q. I have a Novo engine,
Model R U58A, s/n 14867- Would like to know when it was built,
rated horsepower, and correct paint color. Patrick Nyre, 45 Symonds
Rd./, Hillsboro, NH 03244.
A. Your engine was built in 1925; it was rated
at 7 to 9 horsepower. We are not sure of the correct color for this
model. Can anyone be of help?
A Closing Word
With this issue we close out 34 years of Gas Engine Magazine,
and beginning next month we open with our 35th Anniversary Issue.
Ye olde Reflector is one of those persons who has received every
single issue of GEM since the late Elmer Ritzman founded
the magazine. In fact, we would suppose it was at the constant
urging of people like myself, that GEM had its birth. In
the mid 1960s gas engine collecting was really in its infancy, and
there are many of us who must humbly confess that we stumbled over
those 1? HP John Deere engines for $5 or even a rare Maytag
model for a couple of dollars. It was fairly easy to buy a magneto
for five bucks or less . . . sometimes a whole box of magnetos
and/or parts would fetch $5 or less at an auction. This writer once
bought out the magneto department of a defunct repair shop; parts,
equipment, a heavy press, and all for $ 150. We sold NOS magneto
parts for five years! Things have changed since then!
Next year, 2000, also marks thirty years since ye olde Reflector
first began serious research work on this history of engines and
tractors. We had been collecting this material for several years,
but finally decided to begin our first book, Power in the Past:
A History of Gas Engine & Tractor Builders in Iowa. Much
of the encouragement came from longtime friends, including Andy
Kruse, Lester Roos, Wilfred Abels, Harold Ottaway, Verne Kindschi,
and Preston Foster. In fact, Preston Foster was a great help on
that first book, and for compensation he asked for and got the very
first copy of that first book!
We also recall giving great thought in those early days of
whether we should part with $5 for a beautiful Rumely OilPull
catalog. We finally parted with the $5. Then there was the fellow
that came to a show in the late 1960s with a rickety old station
wagon, the back of which was loaded with hundreds of steam and gas
catalogs, along with a great many Gas Review and Gas Power
magazines. We finally ended up with all these, 120 total, for
$60, or 50? an issue! We would dearly have loved buying the whole
schmear, but after spending $60 there was barely enough gas money
with which to drive home!
As we go into the winter (engine rebuilding) season, we are
reminded of a few tools we would like to add to the shop.
Ironically, we were spending some time one evening reading through
a German book of proverbs and sayings back in the 1840s. As we
flipped through the pages, the saying, ‘Schlechtes Zeug macht
schlechte Arbeit.’ Loosely translated it means, ‘Poor tools
make for poor work.’ We would guess that applies to almost any
kind of work, but it sure is nice to work with nice tools! Perhaps
some nice new ones might come in your Christmas stocking this year.
We sure hope so!
