Reflections

The Great Fuller & Johnson Reunion held in August had
several highlights. Among them was the presentation of an award to
Verne Kindschi for his efforts in bringing over 160 Fuller &
Johnson engines together at Baraboo, Wisconsin. Mr. Preston Foster,
representing the Cool spring Power Museum, presented a beautiful
plaque to Verne for his efforts, and aptly naming him ‘Mr.
Fuller & Johnson.’ Thanks to Preston for bringing along
some camera equipment, and thanks to his daughter Kim, for taking
some photographs of the presentation.

The 1992 show season is about over, and what a season it’s
been! With every year comes a greater enthusiasm for vintage
engines and tractors, along with a better appreciation of our
mechanical past.

Although the vast majority of visitors to the shows are honest
and trustworthy, we should also keep in mind that those who
sometimes live by less than honorable means also see these shows as
a means to further their livelihood. Ye olde Reflector can
personally relate to this statement. At a recent show, we lost our
flatbed trailer. It was either stolen, or just walked away on its
own power. Those who perpetrated the dastardly deed probably could
care less about our hobby, or anything else for that matter.

We’re not relating this tale of woe as a sympathy getter . .
. the word ‘sympathy’ has a low place in the dictionary.
What we’re suggesting to our readers is that perhaps it’s
time to be a bit more cautious about securing our vehicles and
whatever else needs to be secured. Whenever we build another
trailer, it’ll be secured as much as possible when it’s
unattended, and our suggestion is that we might all do more of the
same.

Did you drain all those engines and tractors? If it isn’t
already too late, better check ’em again to be sure!

Our sincere thanks to the literally thousands of folks who
stopped by the GEM booth at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion. Many
of you just stopped by to shake hands and say hello, and we want
you to know it was appreciated! We enjoyed visiting with all of
you, even if only for a few minutes. A number of visitors came from
England, and we had the chance to visit with several of them. How
enjoyable! Hopefully, things will come together for a visit in 1993
to a couple of engine ral-lyes in England. We also met several
folks from Australia and New Zealand at the Old Threshers
Reunion.

Our questions and comments this month begin with:

27/12/1 Address Correction Thanks for
publishing my article on model hot air engines in the September
1992 GEM. When I wrote the article I had just received new
stationery from the printer and there was an error in the address
that I failed to notice. In the article my address was given as
17333 – 34th St., and it should be 17333 – 34th St S. If anyone had
their letter returned, please try again, using the correct
address-Charles A. Jones.

27/12/2 Kesselring Writes Paul Kesselring, 1408
N. Van Buren, Ottumwa, IA 52501 writes the following, and presents
us with some new information:

The Ottumwa-Moline engines were a two-cycle gas engine
manufactured for about seven years at 802 S. Madison Street in
Ottumwa.

On page 246 of Encyclopedia of American Farm Tractors is a
picture of an experimental tractor by the Sioux City Foundry &
Mfg. Company, Sioux City, Iowa. It used an engine made by the
Ottumwa-Moline factory. This tractor was never put into
production.

The Ottumwa-Moline Company was started in 1911 with George
Killinger as president, G. O. Dietz as vice-president, and R. A.
Clifton as secretary. In 1915 the company was reorganized with
George M. Felgar, president, and Killinger as treasurer. At the
same time, John G. Schafer became secretary. By 1919 the company
was out of business, and the following year the Iowa Motor Truck
Company was located at 802 S. Madison.

George Killinger resided at 218 N. Washington Street in Ottumwa.
Gottlieb Dietz lived at Moline, Illinois. George M. Felgar lived at
Trenton, a small unincorporated village in Henry County, Iowa. John
G. Schafer lived at Wayland, Iowa.

In my research I could not find any reference to the pump
production. This was one of the short-lived manufacturing ventures
in Ottumwa.

Two other early manufacturing ventures in the Ottumwa area
were:

John Keck of Fairfield, Iowa had a foundry and planing mill in
the 1860s. In 1868 he branched out from his foundry into building
threshing machines. This business went under in the 1870s.

John and Louis Keck, along with Louis Gonnerman, established the
Keck-Gonnerman company in 1873 at Mt. Vernon, Indiana. They built
steam engines, threshers, and sawmills. In 1917 they entered the
tractor business. The company existed until World War Two.

Iowa Malleable Iron Company of Fair-field, Iowa was established
in 1904. William Louden was the first president, and Joseph Dain
was the first vice-president. Dain had his hay tool company in
Ottumwa, but without a foundry, he joined the Louden company to
have a source for his castings. [ Dain later sold out to Deere
& Company.] At the present time, Iowa Malleable Iron Company is
in receivership. They hope to be back in business after
reorganizing.

27/12/3 A $350,000 Mistake Don Siefker, 705 W.
Annie Drive, Muncie, IN 47303 sends a clipping from the September
3, 1991 issue of The New York Times. It seems that a man from
Gladstone, Missouri mistakenly had his 1945 Farmall tractor
assessed at $9.6 million by the county. He corrected the error on
the tax bill, but the local school district didn’t know about
the error, so they were expecting in the order of $350,000 in
taxes. They learned of the error after they had already adopted
their new budget. [At $9.6 million, that surely must be some
tractor!]

27/12/4 Ferguson ColorsQ. /
have a Ferguson TO-20, s/n 14000, and a Ferguson TO-35, s/n
162254-What is the original color combination for these tractors?
The book, The New Ferguson Album, states that the TO-20 should be
grey and the TO-35 should be grey/green. Does anyone have the
proper paint codes for these paints? Any help will be appreciated.
Gregory Voelker, 37 Chestnut Hill, E. Hampton, CT 06424.

A. We have Martin-Senour 90T-3481 as being the
proper match for Ferguson tractors pre-1957. We have nothing
further on Ferguson, so can anyone provide this information?

27/12/5 Writing to Reflections The question
frequently arises as how to write to this column. It’s very
simple. Write out your questions or comments in your own words.
Especially if you are trying to identify something, some photos
will be very helpful. It’s very difficult to answer any
question regarding an unidentified engine without at least having
some photos to go along with your letter. As with other articles
for GEM, just send your queries and comments to: Reflections, Gas
Engine Magazine, Box 328, Lancaster, PA 17603.

27/12/6 Detroit Mower Q. I have a Detroit
mower, built by Detroit Harvester Company, Detroit, Michigan. It
has a side-mount power take off unit, two-speed gear box, and a
six-foot cutter bar. Any information will be appreciated. Russ
Schafer, 14050 Grafton, Carleton, Ml 48117.

A. Can anyone be of help on this unit?

27/12/7 Stover-Economy EngineQ. I have a Sears Economy engine made by Stover
Mfg. Company, 2 HP, s/n TA231585 SR. What is the original color of
this engine? Keven Seifermann, 3775 Sterling Dr., St. Cloud, MN
56301.

A. Your engine was built in 1936. We believe it
to have been essentially of the same red finish as was used on the
Economy engines that formerly came from Hercules. We have DuPont
674 Red listed as a comparable match.

27/12/8 Foos and Sattley QuestionsQ. I have a Sattley 7 HP built by Nelson Bros. It
was painted grey and I can see that it had pin striping but I do
not know the color of the striping. Any information will be
appreciated.

I also have a 2? HP Foos Jr. engine. I can see the engine color
and the design of the name, but it looks as if the name was white
and orange or white and red. What is the correct color? Dennis
Shimmin, PO Box A, Lewellen, NE 69147.

A. Can anyone be of help on this question?

27/12/9 Onan Fairbanks-MorseQ. See the photo of an engine sold by
Fairbanks-Morse, but built by Onan. It is a Model 1B-7, s/n
116.326799, rated 2? HP. Can anyone tell me when this engine was
built? Vincent Durham, Site 8 Comp 34RR1, Sicamous, BC V0E 2V0
Canada.

A. We have no information on this model. Anyone
out there who can help?

27/12/10 Gilson TractorQ. We
have recently acquired a very rare Canadian-made tractor, a ca.
1918 Gil-son, made by the Gilson Mfg. Co. in Guelph, Ontario. We
believe that this model of Gilson was based on the Plow Man or Plow
Boy tractor made in Waterloo, Iowa by the Interstate Tractor
Company, later known as the Plow Man Tractor Company.

Our tractor had undergone rather dramatic modifications during
its life, and in order to res tore it to its original appearance,
we are searching for information. We would appreciate hearing from
anyone with literature on, or examples of, Plow Man, Plow Boy, or
Gilson tractors.

Further, our tractor is equipped not with the Buda engine used
by Plow Man tractors, but with a four-cylinder engine marked Colby
Motor Company, Mason City, Iowa. Research has shown that this
engine would have been made, possibly by the Excelsior Motor
Company, for use in Colby motor cars, made in small numbers between
1911 and 1914. Thus we would appreciate hearing from anyone with
literature on Excelsior motors or Colby cars. Has anyone heard of
these engines being used in tractors?

Any help on this project will be greatly appreciated. Peter
Led-with, Curator of Collections, Ministry of Agriculture &
Food, PO Box 38, Milton, Ontario L9T 2Y3 Canada.

A. If anyone can be of help, please contact Mr.
Ledwith.

27/12/11 Jiffy MowerQ. See
the photo of a Jiffy Mower, Wichita, Kansas. Can any of the readers
give me any information on this mower, including its age, proper
color scheme, etc.? Any help will be appreciated. Brad E. Smith,
7574 So. 74 St., Franklin, WI 53132.

A. We’ve never heard of this one before.
Anyone out there who can help?

27/12/12 What is It?Q. See
the photo of unidentified machine. It was found in the trunk of an
old car. We were told by one person that it might have had
something to do with windmills. Another said that it could have
been used as air pressure to a line of factory-run sewing machines.
Can anyone identify this machine? Richard Simmons, Stone Arabia
Rd., Scotia, NY 12302.

A. We haven’t a clue . . . who knows what
this is?

27/12/13 Kling Bros. EngineQ.
See the three photos of a very old engine. It was built by Kling
Bros., Chicago, Illinois. It is called the Chicago Gas &
Gasoline Engine, no. 561, patented 10/29/1898 and 11/26/1898. Any
information on this engine will be greatly appreciated. Gene Reed,
1546 Dranesville Rd., Hemdon, VA 22070.

A. We checked the Patent Office Gazette. In
October, the patent would have been issue on October 25, and in
November it would have been November 29 for that year. Patents are
always issued on Tuesday of each week. Further, no reference to
Kling or Kling Bros is shown in the index. Either the year or the
date is incorrect, and without them, we can’t do much research
so far as the patents are concerned. In addition, we’ve checked
a file card index we’ve made up over the years of engine
patents. The name of Kling does not appear there either.
Regardless, yours is a most unusual engine.

27/12/14 Maytag Washing MachineQ. Ken Fall, 04917 Boyne City Rd., Boyne City, MI
49712 writes an interesting letter regarding the restoration of a
Maytag washing machine. He is restoring one of 1930s vintage and
wants to put it back to original, including the motor. Can anyone
advise Ken on this restoration, including the correct Maytag motor?
If you can help, please write to Ken at the above address.

27/12/15 Flywheels & Things Thanks to Mike
Sitton, RR 5, Box 221 A, Tylerton, MS 39667. Mike sent along some
pages from Machinery’s Handbook regarding flywheel designs,
safe speeds, etc. It’s very technical in some aspects, but most
of it is easily understood. When exceeding the safe speed,
flywheels, even small ones, can explode with vicious ferocity. Even
at the recommended speeds, faulty flywheels can explode. With our
usual caveat for safety, never run a flywheel loose in the hub. And
ye olde Reflector knows that welded flywheels are being run, along
with those with a crooked rim, etc. We’ll not presume to tell
anyone what to do, but this writer gives that stuff a wide berth.
In fact, Mike didn’t even allude to the dangers of bad
flywheels in his letter, but pick up your copy of Machinery’s
Handbook or a similar engineering book sometime to see what kind of
danger exists.

27/12/16 Thanks! To Andrew Szurek, 2809 Silver
Lane NE, Minneapolis, MN 55421 for sending along an operating
manual for the Whizzer Bike Motor. It is greatly appreciated.

27/12/17 Leader EngineQ. See
the photo of a 3? HP Leader engine, made by Field Force Pump
Company, Elmira, New York. It is sin 627, and has a 5 x 6 inch bore
and stroke. I would like more information on the engine as well as
on the company. The counterweights are not cast into the flywheels
but are cast into the crank in disks next to the rod journal. Any
information will be appreciated. Dick Mock, 159 Dirkson Ave., West
Seneca, NY 14224-1815.

27/12/18 IHC FamousQ. I am
restoring my grandfather’s engine. It is a 4 HP IHC Victor
horizontal, s/n R4134. Can anyone supply operating instructions for
this engine? Donald A. Perry, 3760 Quaker Rd., Gasport, NY
14067.

A. Some of the GEM advertisers do indeed have
operating instructions for this engine, or at least we believe so.
A check of the serial number lists shows that your engine left
Harvester’s Milwaukee Works in 1912.

27/12/19 Cushman Model C EngineQ. I have a Cushman Model C, 4 HP, s/n 4506. Can
anyone date the engine, and also advise the original color? It was
apparently a binder engine; are there any pictures of it driving a
binder? Any help will be appreciated. David Ayers, 73 Church Road,
Wawne, Hull. HU75XL England.

A. We know of no way to date the Cushman
engines, however we do have DuPont Dulux 93-62713-H dark green
listed as a comparable color match.

27/12/20 Witte InformationQ.
Can you tell me the year built of a 2 HP Witte, s/n 79062? Gordon
E. Hopper, 75 Kendall Ave., Framingham, MA 01701.

A. Your engine was shipped May 8, 1928 to the
Bean Spray Pump Company.

27/12/21 Engine Covers Here’s a tip you may
want to try. My wife and I have been talking about covers for the
engine I carry on a platform I built on the back of our motor home.
She suggested I try a cover that is made for a gas grill. I tried
one, and it was a perfect fit on my 1? HP Domestic. The cover is
also cotton lined which helps protect the paint from wear. Walter
R. Isham, 123 Raymond Drive, Hampden, MA 01036-9744.

27/12/22 Little Giant EngineQ. See the photos of a Little Giant engine; it
isn’t complete, and I need to connect with someone that has one
so I can look for what I need. Any help will be appreciated. Harley
B. Crawford, 5070 Algiers Dr., Santa Rosa, CA 95409.

27/12/23 Fairbanks-Morse InformationQ. What is the proper color for a Fairbanks Morse
3 HP Type Z engine; also an Olds Type A engine? Alberto Culver
(P.R.) Inc., PO Box 360566, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-0366.

A. We have PPG 43846 or DuPont 93-72001 Green
listed for the Fairbanks-Morse engine. The Olds is similar to
Sherwin-Williams 1335 Dark Red.

27/12/24 Notebook Correction In the Paint
Colors Section, we have discovered that under Novo engines, DuPont
143 AH Green isn’t green at all. The correct color is Centari
4190AH Green. Kindly change this entry in the Notebook.

27/12/25 Witte InformationQ.
J have a Witte 2 HP engine, s/n B503379, and need dimensions for
the crank guard, possibly a picture. Also, I have a Stover 2 HP of
1923 vintage, with the separate base, and need dimensions, outlet,
inlet, etc. of fuel tank. Any help will be appreciated. Gary
Montgomery, Box 22, Winslow IL 61089

27/12/26 When Built?Q. What
is the year built for the following: 1) Bauer 2 HP, #21352; 2)
Witte 7 HP, #B35408; 3) Sattley 1? HP, #74837; 4) Ottawa Log Saw,
#E57053; 5) Fairbanks-Morse, #760959. Earl Skiles, 2472 W. 91st
Dr., Federal Heights, CO 80221-5180.

A. No. 2 above was built in April 1926; No. 5
was built in 1930. We have no information on the others.

27/12/27 Garden TractorsQ.
The Cizek mower, made in Clutier, Iowa looks much like the Roof
mower. Was there any connection between these two companies? Also
see the photo of a Grander rotary cultivator, made in 1946 by A.
Grander & Company of Binningen-Basel, Switzerland. Mr. Grunder
was one of the pioneers in rotary tillage, beginning about 1910.
Infact, he worked with Mr. Konrad von Meyenburg, who invented the
spring-type rotary cultivator. For anyone interested, might 1
recommend the book Gardening Beyond the Plow, published in 1981 by
Garden Way Inc., of Troy, New York. Michael Hooijberg, Westdijk 12,
1463 PA Beemster, Netherlands.

Readers Write

Aurora Engine Company We recently queried you
about the Aurora Engine Company. Several folks responded, including
Richard C. Handley, 2281 Larkspur Ct., Aurora, IL 60506. He sent
along some information from the book, Tracks and Combines,
published by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers in
1984. It contains some information on the Aurora Engine
Company.

27/9/7 John Deere Crawlers Tom Sherry, 132
Hallum St SW, No. Canton, OH 44720 writes:

Operators, Technical Service, and Parts Manuals for most John
Deere products are available from Deere & Company. Ask your
dealer for a copy of Service Publications for Customers. This
publication has ordering information for Agricultural, Industrial,
and Consumer Products equipment literature.

27/9/8 Cleveland Formgrader Gary E. Hansen, 207
SW 22nd St., Rochester, MN 55902 writes:

Mr. Osborn’s machine is a formgrader made by the Cleveland
Formgrader Company, Avon, Ohio. This specialized machine was used
to cut a shallow trench for setting forms on highway paving
projects. The cutting of the trench and the compaction of the base
material by the drive wheel of the machine was done just prior to
setting the forms. With the advent of slip-form paving in the
1960s, the need for paving forms and the machines for setting and
pulling them, and the crews to operate them, disappeared.

The Cleveland Formgrader Company was the only firm to make these
form-graders, as far as I know. I do not know the original color,
but most all paving equipment was painted gray. There can be very
few of these still in existence or in original condition.

27/9/29 Using Unleaded Fuels Max F. Homfeld,
7964 Oakwood Park Ct., St. Michaels, MD 21663 writes:

Tetraethyl lead was introduced in 1924, and then only in premium
Ethyl fuel. It was used to improve octane quality, not to improve
valve seat life. I’m not sure when lead began to be added to
lower grades of gasoline, but it probably was during the mid-1930s.
Some companies did not use lead for years, Sunoco, for example.
Even in the late 1950s, the top grade of Amoco was unleaded.
I’m saying that a lot of engines did not depend on lead for
exhaust valve life. In fact, lead was considered a problem as the
deposit would chip off the valve face, causing leakage and valve
burning.

By 1970 it was clear that the catalytic converters were going to
be needed to meet the ever-tightening exhaust emission limits, and
lead poisoned any known catalyst. By then, high output engines were
being used in cars, a far cry from the Model T. Engineers soon
learned that without lead, they had a problem with exhaust valve
seat recession.

Automotive exhaust valves can run red hot at heavy load. Without
a lead coating on the valve face and seat, the valve face welded to
the cast iron seat and pulled off bits of cast iron. I remember
seeing exhaust valves sunk ¹/₈ inch into the
seat. The driver didn’t even know it for awhile, as the
hydraulic lash adjuster did its job well. The solution was to flame
harden the cast iron valve seats. General Motors hardened the seats
beginning with the 1975 models, as I recall. Compression ratios
were reduced to the lower octane requirements so that high octane
fuel would not be required.

In summary, I would not hesitate to run a pre-World War Two
engine on unleaded fuel, or to run any engine on it at a light
load.

Fordson Industrial Tractors We got lots of
comments on the pictures recently included in the column, showing
several industrial attachments for the Fordson tractor. A special
thanks to Russell Schafer, 14050 Grafton Road, Carleton, MI 48117
for sending along some interesting information. Included was a copy
of the 1927 Sales Manual from Tractor Implement 6k Equipment
Distributors. It illustrates agricultural and industrial equipment
specially tailored for the Fordson.

27/9/27 Unidentified Engine Marshall R.
Skinner, 9040 Baysinger, Downey, CA 90241 writes in part:

It appears that this engine is from the Mora Motor Car Company
in New York, built from 1906 to 1910, after which it would be safe
to assume that there was no Mora, no Mora! In their final year they
made a small runabout, Model 20, of 20 horsepower. There is a brief
description and a few illustrations of it in the Standard Catalog
of American Cars, 1805-1947, Krause Publications, 700 E. State St.,
Iola, WI 54990.

A Closing Word

The possibility of visiting some engine rallyes in England is
looking better and better. We’ve had a lot of responses, and
we’re working with a travel agent to put together a package. In
fact, this particular travel agent has organized several
‘engine tours’ to the United States for those coming from
England over this way. We think this is a great advantage, since
these folks are attuned to the kind of tour we would like, and the
things we would likely want to see. Our two-week tour would be
arranged around the Tat-ton Park 1000 Engine Rally, which is held
near Knutsford, just south of Manchester, England. Dates for the
tour would be from Saturday, June 19 to Saturday, July 3, with
departure from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. We should be
receiving more information in mid-October; anyone interested in
further details should write directly to GEM at P. O. Box 328,
Lancaster, PA 17603.

With every issue of GEM, it seems that previously unheralded
engines appear, or that long-forgotten companies are remembered. In
the September 1910 issue of Gas Energy, we find the following new
corporations: Beveer Gas Engine Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan;
Boulevard Engine Company, St. Louis, Missouri; and Gunn Motor
Company, East Utica, New York.

Does anyone have any information on these three companies?

We also find that about this same time, it was announced that
‘Briggs Bros., well known gas engineers, have designed a new
type of engine known as the Chanticleer Engine. The machine is
being manufactured by Jacob Haish Co., DeKalb, Illinois.’ We
also find that ‘Ferro Machine 6k Foundry Co., Cleveland, Ohio,
is placing a line of two-cycle engines on the market.’ Thus, it
appears that both the Chanticleer and the Ferro engines saw first
light sometime in 1910.

With this issue, GEM closes out twenty-seven years of
publishing. Instead of running out of material, it’s more
obvious than ever that we ain’t even started yet! So, send us
your articles and queries. We’ll try to be of help. Don’t
worry about grammar or usage; that’s part of our job. Sometimes
though, we scratch our head, even though we’re armed with a
dictionary, thesaurus, style books, Mencken’s The American
Language, and sundry computer helpers.

Perusing early issues of Gas Review, we’re always amused at
the Uncle Jake stories of long ago. This was a parody of the
typical German immigrant who could speak little English, and who
understood little of such a mechanical wonder like the gasoline
engine. We have no idea who wrote these little stories, but some of
them remind us of a few old immigrants we remember from our
childhood. Oftentimes, their literal translation from German to
English made their conversation rather comical. In this same
connection, we recall the story of a man who bought a good-sized
engine. The dealer also gave him five gallons of gasoline. In a few
days the old fellow called the dealer and told him to come pick up
the engine. After getting him cooled down a bit, the dealer said he
would come out and see what the problem was. On a hunch, he took
along another can of gasoline. Sure enough, the tank was bone dry,
and after fueling it up again, the engine was off and running.

Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of articles that might be
entitled, ‘My Favorite Engine.’ In the next few months, ye
olde Reflector will probably stir the kettle among the readers when
we present some photos of our favorite engine, along with reasons
why it’s our favorite. Meanwhile, we’ll keep you
guessing!