Day by day we continue assembling details for our planned tour
to Australia in February/March 2001. Australia has a special
mystique, and the tour we have planned includes lots of
‘iron’ as well as lots of beautiful scenery. Our driver is
very interested in ‘iron’ and this is a big help. He also
has a brother who’s deeply into our hobby, so we are trying to
encourage him to accompany us. We have found that it really helps
when we have contact with ‘locals’ who know about those
special things, and can also lead us to ‘iron’ we would
never see otherwise. By the time this copy is in your hands we
should also have details together for an extension tour to New
Zealand, following the main tour to Australia. To contact us, see
our address in the ad that ran in the June issue (page 84), or
email us at: reflctr9@netins.net
We await details of the release date for our new book,
Standard Catalog of Farm Tractors, to be out soon from
Krause Publications. The advertising department fouled up a bit in
advertising the book as having 700 photos, when in fact, the total
is about 1,700 or perhaps more. This will probably be the most
comprehensive history of the farm tractor ever published, and will
range from the beginnings up to the 1950s.
One of the problems with the book was figuring out how to
contain the mass of material that is presented. Another was
deciding on a cutoff date, and still another was in finding photos
that came to us after the copy was closed. Given the space
that was available to us, we arbitrarily established a cutoff date
of about 1950. This wasn’t a solid rule, since in some cases
certain models ran into the 1960s. Rather than do a cutoff in
mid-run, we decided to extend certain models until the end of their
production run.
This book will also be composed entirely of digital images, as
compared to the old standard of negatives/photographs/halftones and
finally the printing plates. Most publishers now are able to do
direct imaging from the digital scan direct to the printing plate.
Our personal preference is still with the old method, but given the
intense competition in the publishing business, and the huge amount
of extra time involved, the digital imaging method is becoming the
only cost-effective means. It does seem a shame though, to have
several thousand dollars invested in camera and darkroom equipment
that pretty much has been idled with a powerful computer, scanner,
and a handful of Zip disks on which to store the images.
35/8/1 Unidentified Engine Q. See the photos of
an unidentified engine with a date cast into the block of 5-25-29.
It has an ‘A’ cast into the oil filler boss. The gas tank
and magneto are not original. It has a Zenith carburetor, and a
ball bearing crankshaft. Any information would be appreciated. Bill
Brack, 2454 SW 2nd Ave., Ontario, OR 97914.
35/8/2 Kiekhaefer Chain SawQ.
See the photos of a two-man chain saw an aunt in California gave
me. It has a Mercury engine, Model KB7-AY, s/n 143812, Year 1947,
11 HP. It was built by Kiekhaefer Corporation, Cedarburg,
Wisconsin. I need to know the fuel mixture , and would like to hear
from anyone having some operating tips. Any help will be
appreciated. If I have any brave friends I will try to get it
running. Wayne Rogers, 14268 Persimmon Crk. Dr, Chandler, TX
75758.
35/8/3 Majestic Engine Homepage
Jimmy Priestley has been compiling extensive historical
information and an owner’s list on the Majestic engines for
many years. The fruits of his labors are available on the internet
at: www.geocities.com/oldengine2. He is always looking for Majestic
engine owners; his regular mail address is James W. Priestley, 117
Lind St., McMinnville, TN 37110-1922.
35/8/4 Alpha Engine
George F. Pilger, 285 Sinn Rd., Cowlesville, NY 14037 has an
Alpha engine, Type E-171, HP W1?, s/n 680, as shown on page 122 of
American Gas Engines. If a s/n list exists, he would like
to know when this engine was built.
35/8/5 Taylor Vacuum Engine
Kirk J. Gostkowski, 46 Fulton Blvd., Commack, NY 11725 has a
Taylor that he is working on, and so far cannot find any
information. It is a 2HP model, s/n 14797, Type C, from Taylor
Engine Company, Elgin, Illinois.
Kirk would appreciate your help. As most of you know, this
engine was a combination engine/vacuum pump used for milking
machines. You can also contact Kirk at: Kirkg@Li.net.
35/8/6 Fairbanks EngineQ.
Have you ever wondered what an engine looked like that was
advertised in an estate sale? In the June 1999 GEM, page 65, it
shows a Fairbanks Improved 4 HP engine that was to be auctioned off
in western New York. I was the lucky bidder, so I am sending these
pictures of the cleaned up engine. I would like to talk to anyone
who has one like it. Stiles Bradley, Box 25, Pavilion, NY
14525.
35/8/7 Fairbanks-MorseQ. What
is the year built for a Fairbanks-Morse engine, s/n 780453? Stan
Agacinski; stana@snip.net.
A. Your engine was built in 1934.
35/8/8 Cushman Etc.Q. What is
the correct color for the Cushman Cub? Please also advise as to any
information or sources of information on the engine used in the
golf carts made by AMF/Harley Davidson. Any information would be
appreciated. David E. Sundeen, PO Box 1704, Trenton, FL 32693.
A. The Cushman Cub is gray, comparable to
DuPont 32565. Can anyone help on the AMF/Harley-Davidson
question?
35/8/9 McCormick-DeeringQ.
What is the year built of a 3 HP McCormick-Deering engine, s/n
B1520? Robert R. Young, RD 1, Box 96, Kimball, SD 57355.
A. Your engine was built in 1918.
35/8/10 Engine Clipart
After looking through thousands of clipart catalogs without ever
finding one picture of an old engine, or any other farm equipment,
I think it would be a good project for GEM or someone to
come out with a CD, maybe even in conjunction with an existing
clipart company. A lot of us would use it, if it was available.
Dean W. Larson, 4553 E. Holland, Fresno, CA 93726-2713.
email:DWL15@sufresno.edu.
35/8/11 Reo Lawn MowersQ.
Does anyone know of a parts source for Reo lawn mowers? Tom Cox,
3511 Clydewood Ave., Richmond, VA 23234-2425.
35/8/12 In Response to 35/6/18C
Frank Wilsey, 2702 Whitney Ave., Baltimore, MD 21215 writes in
response to Mr. James Hoffmeister: Your B & S engine is
probably either a Model NS or WI. The NS has a 2-inch bore and
stroke, producing 1 horsepower, and would have been built between
1940 and 1954. The WI has a 2 x 1? inch bore and stroke, producing
? horsepower; it was built between 1938 and 1957. It was an
‘industrial’ version of the B&S washing machine
engine… the standard version was a Model WM. Eclipse used the WI
on some of their reel mowers.
35/8/13 Oops! A Follow-up
Mr. Ray LeClair, P.O. Box 389, Winchendon, MA 01475, in his
inquiry in the May 2000 Reflections column (35/5/5), was interested
in learning not just the colors of his engines, but also needs help
in determining the year of manufacture. Anyone out there with that
knowledge?
A Closing Word
The response to our articles on lathes has been surprising. The
number of very old lathes still operating is also a surprise. We
have always surmised that there are still a lot of ancient lathes
at work, but the letters we’ve had tell us there may be far
more of them than we once thought.
Dierk Roberts, 3023 Dusk Drive, Weatherford, TX 76088 (email:
droberts341@yahoo.com) sends along a couple photos of a Lathe No. 4
from the April 2000 GEM (page 6). The machine shown here is from
Chas. A. Strelinger Company, Model N189, but it is missing some
parts. If you can be of help in this regard, kindly contact Mr.
Roberts.
So far we haven’t heard from anyone regarding the
specialized South Bend lathe we recently illustrated (with the
special fixtures for machining differential boxes). But then,
we’ll keep coming up with additional machines, common and
uncommon, in the next few months.
Much of this material comes from a run of American
Machinist, beginning in 1877 and going to 1948. Also, we have
extracted various things from our complete run of
Machinery that we bought from the Franklin Institute
Library a few years ago. On top of that, we have a sizable
collection of old machinist books. One big two-volume set was
between the walls of an old house. Published in the 1880s, this
interesting pair of books apparently was stored overhead in an
attic. Somehow or other they ended up between the walls until the
house was demolished a number of years ago.
Several months ago we responded to a reader for a paint color on
the Cushman Cub engine. Our answer was that it was comparable to
DuPont 7498 Green. We then received numerous comments that it was
DuPont 32565 Gray. If you recall, we later conceded the point, not
only from memory of the Cub, but from having one with faint shades
of gray. See the photo from a recent acquisition. Here is the
Cushman Cub mounted to a John Bean sprayer, and just as green as
grass!
Somewhere we had this feeling we had also seen Cubs that were
green, but until we happened across this piece of literature, we
couldn’t figure where it was! Therefore, we suppose it would be
correct either way. If you come across a green Cub, chances are it
served its career on a Bean spray outfit!
We’ll see you next month.
The purpose of the ‘Reflections’ column is to
provide a forum for the exchange of all useful information among
subscribers to GEM. Inquiries or responses should be addressed to:
REFLECTIONS, Gas Engine Magazine, P.O. Box 328, Lancaster, PA
17608-0328.