Here is one for the What Is It Column. This engine has a 5′
bore, 7′ stroke and 24′ flywheels. It is throttle governed,
WICO EK mag, closed crankcase and Timken main bearing. I think it
may be a Witte but there is no name showing. The color of the paint
has been a dark gray. Would like to know what make it is and what
hp. It handles a 30′ buzz saw real well.
This is a horizontal engine of about 2 hp., with a water hopper,
open crankshaft, and two flywheels. The number stamped on the end
of the crankshaft is 4752. It has a 3?’ bore and a 5?’
stroke. The valves are in a F-head arrangement. There are no timing
gears. Instead, it has an eccentric on the crankshaft. The
eccentric has a linkage that goes forward to operate the exhaust
valve. This linkage is ordinarily held up by spring tension so it
does not operate the exhaust valve. Above this linkage is a small
plunger. Behind this plunger is a small passage that leads to a
port about half-way down the cylinder. The exhaust valve is opened
only after the engine fires and the piston is part way down the
cylinder past the small port, letting some pressure out to force
the plunger and linkage down, then the eccentric opens the exhaust
valve. When the engine does not fire, the exhaust valve does not
open.
On the other end of the crankshaft is a timer on a governor
weight to make it a hit and miss. After the engine fires, there is
the power stroke, exhaust stroke, intake stroke, then the
compression stroke; but if the engine is going too fast the
governed timer causes no ignition. The engine releases its
compression and compresses again until it slows enough to fire. It
has a buzz coil and spark plug ignition and a float type Planhard
carburetor screwed to a pipe making it low enough for gasoline to
be fed to it from the tank that is cast in the base. Some engine
men tell me it is a McVickers; some say it is not. I would like to
know what kind it is, when it was made, and anything else that
anyone can tell me.