2440 Thomas Street Ceres, California 95307
No one will ever know why John M. Kroyer thought the way he did
about certain things. Man cannot reach across the years nor walk in
the footsteps of men who lived a century ago. Much of a man is lost
when the anvil is silent and the cupola is cold. But we can learn
much by studying the thoughts of these men who put their ideas in
cast iron. These thoughts transformed agriculture and reshaped the
face of our nation.
Men like John M. Kroyer, a Danish immigrant who settled in
America and made his home in Stockton, California. He brought new
ideas to a new world and was consumed by a desire to build engines.
He came in the age of power in flywheels, and his engines powered
the factories and pumped the water which irrigated this lovely
paradise called the San Joaquin Valley.
In 1898, on the corner of California and Washington Street, he
poured liquid iron into molds of sand. He machined and assembled
his engines which harnessed explosive vapor to turn a flywheel. He
called it the Samson Gas Engine. A century later, it is one of the
most sought after fuel vapor engines built in California. These
remarkable engines reveal a man who thought deep, a man whose
company enjoyed phenomenal growth and went on to become the largest
producer of gas engines and pumps on the west coast.
Samson engines were installed in small buildings called
pump-houses. Pits were sunk deep and lined with redwood. Samson
centrifugal pumps were firmly mounted on skids in the bottom of
these pits which brought them closer to the water table. A drive
belt from the engine to the pump brought ‘life’ to the
‘open runner impellers’ which caused sweet water to flow
and irrigate orchards and crops. It was mechanization never before
seen, and it mated prosperity with a generation which looked toward
an easier and more productive life. All in all, it was a wonderful
thing.
These Samson pump houses were interesting places. Amidst their
clutter sat a large wooden Samson battery box containing four
potash Edison batteries and an Induro spark coil. Wires ran
haphazardly to the igniter usually tied in with a knife switch.
There were small corked bottles of Edison Battery Oil waiting their
turn to stop the potash solution from evaporating. Pump packing
hung coiled on rusty nails like snakes waiting to strike. The
atmosphere was mysterious and oily. Even the pump house itself
seemed to know its purpose was noble. It knew that within itself
lay the secret of marvelous yields and the heart of every bountiful
harvest.
I believe the first engines built by John Kroyer were charming
little two and a half horse vertical engines using an ‘open
post’ design. A side shaft actuates the exhaust valve and
ignition timing. What sets them apart is an unusual way to
counterbalance the crankshaft. The counterbalance is actually cast
as part of the flywheel hub and integral with the two spokes. (See
figure 1.) We call them ‘Web spokes.’ A five horsepower
horizontal engine was also produced with a web spoke design but all
other Samson engines I have seen (besides the ‘solid
frame’) use the traditional counterbalance cast in the rim of
the flywheel. Why the difference?
