Time stands still for no one, and as the decade of the 1910s began, Field would face increasing competition. Lower cost engines would enter the market and make it more difficult for Field to compete with its heavy, top grade, and high-cost product. Part II picks up the Field story here and tells how Field responded to this changing marketplace.
New designs enter the market
An ad for an entirely new engine by Field started appearing in May of 1910 in trade journals. The engine was a 3hp vertical hopper-cooled, named the “Field Junior,” and claimed to have the same Field high quality. Two companies in Lansing, Michigan, offered very similar engines: Ideal Motor Co. and Hildreth Mfg. Co., and both had been advertising throughout 1909. Herbert Holmes of Lansing had applied for a patent on an Explosive Engine, which described the vertical valve arrangement and access within the cooling tank of the engine. This was granted as U.S. 948,925 on February 8, 1910 and was assigned to Ideal Motor Co.
The new Field Junior likely was sourced from Ideal. The Field Jr. had its own unique carburetor, and it also had sparkplug ignition rather than the ignitor used by the Ideal. The valve configuration was the same, and both engines provided access thru removal of a cover on top of the water hopper. Field ads for the new vertical engine continued into the summer.
The year 1911 brought several new engines from Field. Three unique designs, using more conventional cam gears were offered. All of these were hopper cooled and of headless design, with valve and ignition operation achieved through use of a long rocker arm. Field chose to advertise the first two of these engine styles in area newspapers instead of national trade magazines. A 6hp “Field Special” was available at least as early as February, with a Detroit newspaper ad from May showing an image. Also appearing in a May newspaper ad was a small 1-1/2hp engine named the “Rayner Field.” This engine had spark plug ignition, while the 6hp had an igniter.
Also launched in 1911 was a third headless engine with a long rocker arm in a 2hp to 2-1/2hp size. This style engine appears to have been exclusively a contractor engine, built and labelled for other companies. Thus far, no ads for this style engine have been found showing it with the Field name, but there are numerous traits that point to Field as the likely maker. Advertisement images have been found for two companies: Bluffton Cream Separator Co. of Bluffton, Ohio, and United Engine Co. of Lansing, Michigan. Two other company’s nameplates have been found on surviving engines: Wonder Mfg. Co. of Syracuse, New York, and GD Thorndike Machine Co. of Portland, Maine, Note: Thorndike was also a branch house for United.
Advertised initially in July 1911, a new, lower-cost sideshaft engine was introduced. These were also called “Rayner Field,” and featured water-hopper cooling and spark plug ignition. The new sideshaft engines were extensively advertised, including in trade magazines. Note that all four of the new engines had similar looking rounded water hoppers and were headless. Beyond that, there were few common parts between them. The Rayner Field sideshaft was offered in four sizes, also adding to more complexity in the factory. The standard, older-style sideshaft engines also continued to be offered.
The main goal of all these new engine designs was to reduce product cost, but only the new Rayner Field sideshaft would meet with some success and sell in good numbers. The vertical Field Jr. and the three styles of long rocker-arm engines had only meager sales and would be dropped by mid-1912. Employment at Field Brundage had risen to 81 in 1912, as they worked to bring so many engines to market.
Big changes in the management of Field Brundage were also taking place. Donald White took over as manager in 1912, having worked at Field as a clerk and bookkeeper since 1905. William Brundage was having health problems and moved to California. In 1913, LH Field Jr. would be named vice president, and Alexander Mitchell would become secretary and treasurer. Mitchell was previously a bookkeeper for Field and Jackson Automobile Co. before that. Rayner Field would become manager of the company starting in 1913.
Also significant in 1913 was the arrival of Vincent McMullen, named as general superintendent for the company. McMullen was a 1905 engineering graduate from the University of Wisconsin who went to work for Baker Mfg. Co. in Evansville, Wisconsin. Just prior to coming to Field, he had spent several years at Fairbanks Morse Mfg. Co in Beloit, Wisconsin, as a general foreman.
Wolverine unleashed
Field Brundage launched yet another new engine design by March of 1913, the “Wolverine.” This was a big departure from all previous engines, as the new engine had a head and used a simpler pushrod valve mechanism. It would be offered in nine sizes, from 1-1/2hp to 15hp. Finally, the company had found a more cost-effective design of engine to build. At the end of 1913, Parlin & Orendorff Plow Co. (P&O) of Minneapolis, Minnesota, announced that Field engines would be sold exclusively by P&O.
The Wolverine name would be dropped by early 1914, with the company now calling the engine the “Type W.” Another company had used the Wolverine name for years on their line of marine engines and likely objected to Field using the name. The Type W became the main product for the company. Sales of the heavy, sideshaft-style engines slowed considerably, and they were likely only built on order. In 1914, employment plunged at Field, hitting an all-time low of 26. Some of this was likely because of the less complexity of the Type W engines. However, it also signaled a drop in sales.
A patent application from Vincent McMullen was filed during June of 1914 for a unique speed changing device. This would grant as U.S. 1,144,909 a year later in June of 1915. This feature added a stepped hub onto the end of the crankshaft, allowing for easy adjustment to three specific speeds. This feature was found on engines during 1915 and would be used until production ceased on the Type W.
McMullen departed Field Brundage in the later part of 1914 and moved on to become the superintendent of the new Hercules Gas Engine Co. in Evansville, Indiana. Hercules sold engines thru Sears labelled as “Economy.” It would be a major manufacturer of engines, making several hundreds of thousands. McMullen would get a patent (U.S. 1,268,593) for a throttling governor carburetor at Hercules in 1918. McMullen stayed with Hercules into the late 1920s, when engine production was slowing. In 1935, he found his way to Cummins Engine Co. in Columbus, Indiana. There he would rise to a vice president, until retiring in 1962.
Montgomery Ward and Sattley
The Field family’s involvement with the Field Brundage Co. would come to an end in December of 1916. Montgomery Ward, the huge catalog retailer, had made a deal to purchase the factory and use it to build engines for its catalogs. Leonard Field was in his late 70s and would retire and move to California, where he died in 1920. Rayner Field organized the Michigan Buick Sales Co., a large regional dealer selling and servicing Buick cars. He served as president and manager of this firm until his death in 1937.
Oddly, a C.F. Field would move into the leadership role at Field Brundage for Montgomery Ward beginning in 1917. He had previously been with Rawleigh Manufacturing Co. in Freeport, Illinois. William Brundage was also back in Jackson in 1916, returning as factory superintendent.
Montgomery Ward also purchased the large factory complex of Racine Sattley Co. in Springfield, Illinois, in mid-1916. The Sattley name was well-known in the farm implement business, dating back to 1848. MW would brand the engines from Jackson as “Racine Sattley.” Production in the factory was greatly increased in 1917 by MW. Employment had been 36 in 1916, but tripled in 1917.
Sattley offered a new throttling governor engine in mid-1918. This engine design sported a carburetor similar to that used by Hercules. Perhaps the company had some rights to the design from McMullen’s time at Field. To use lower-cost kerosene for fuel, the company had, in prior years, offered a dual fuel carb and a two-compartment fuel tank, still using their hit-and-miss governor. Employment levels continued to be high in 1918-19, as engine sales remained strong.
The vision of Montgomery Ward was to consolidate all its agricultural products into a huge factory complex in Springfield. It was announced in July 1919 that MW would begin building a new $300K factory in Springfield for gas engine production, which would employ 600 men. Production in Jackson was planned to be moved to Springfield.
The plant in Jackson had a name change to Hummer Engine Works during 1920. Alexander Mitchell transitioned up to manager of the company, a position he would hold until early 1923. William Brundage had left the company and found employment with Hayes Wheel Co. as assistant general manager. He worked at Hayes until 1925 when he retired due to his health and moved back to California. He died in 1926 at age 58.
Montgomery Ward’s new engine factory in Springfield was completed in mid-1920. At that time, the U.S. was in a deep slump, and sales of farm equipment, including engines, had fallen steeply. The move of equipment from the Jackson factory to Springfield was put off, with the Jackson plant mostly idle. At the beginning of 1923, MW decided to put the factory in Jackson back into operation, and 60 individuals were employed by summer. Charles Robertson came to Jackson from Springfield to assume leadership in the factory during 1923.
Engines were sold under a number of different nameplates during the MW years. Largest production by far was the Sattley brand. Field Type W-labelled engines also continued during this time. Other brands selling the engines included Hummer, Downes’ Special, and Elmore. The factory was alternately referred to as Hummer or Field Brundage Engine Works during the 1920s.
Montgomery Ward announced a new engine in October of 1923. Referred to as the “New Sattley,” it was Robertson’s invention. The engine was described as being less complex and having fewer parts than the Type W engines. The new engine made use of interchangeable parts with the Ford Model T car. The piston, wrist pin, rings, valves, and other parts came from Ford. The engine would be protected by patent U.S. 1,627,118, which was granted in May of 1927. Production of the New Sattley began in December, and Type W engine production was discontinued. It was noted that there was no demand for larger horsepower engines, and thus the new engine would be offered initially only in a 2hp size. Over 3,000 orders had already been received for the New Sattley engine.
Jackson factory engine production ends
The Montgomery Ward catalog for 1925 featured the New Sattley engine, and still offered the Type W engines in 3hp, 5hp, and 7hp sizes. Shipping for the Type W engines was to come from Springfield, Illinois, while the New Sattley would ship from a factory near Jackson, Michigan. The front page of the Jackson newspaper on June 7, 1925, told of the sale of the Field Brundage factory. Ampco Twist Drill & Tool Co. was the buyer and was expected to be in operation in the plant within a month. Per the article, the factory had been idle since the previous September.
The 1926 MW catalog still offered the New Sattley-style engine, but the 3hp, 5hp, and 7hp engines were of the design built by Nelson Brothers Co. of Saginaw, Michigan. All indicated shipping from a factory near Jackson. For the next few years, these would be the engines offered by MW. It is likely that production of the New Sattley-style engine had shifted to Nelson Bros. The equipment from the engine factory in Springfield was sold in October 1925, and the factory building shortly after sold to American Radiator Co.
Service parts for Field engines continued to be available for a number of years from Universal Parts Co. in Jackson. In a strange twist, this company operated at 138 W. Pearl Street — from the building that once housed Charles Trask’s machine shop, where he had made the first engine in the Jackson timeline of Field Brundage.
Midwest Old Threshers Feature Gas Engine for 2025
Midwest Old Threshers in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, will be celebrating its 75th anniversary show in 2025. In 1980, the show began to feature a specific gas engine manufacturer, and encourage exhibitors to dust off examples from their collections and bring them to show. 2025 will mark the 45th feature gas engine, which will be those built by the Field Brundage Co. of Jackson, Michigan, as well as the Sattley engines of Montgomery Ward built in the Field factories.
Further recognition is given each year to a featured gas engine exhibitor, along with his engine. Brian Bambrook of Eddyville, Iowa, will be featured for 2025, with his 1-1/2hp Field Type W engine. Brian has been in the gas engine hobby for 40-plus years and has exhibited at Old Threshers for many of those years. His wife’s grandfather was an engine collector, which sparked his interest and got him started collecting, too. He has really enjoyed the friendships and adventures through the years the hobby has brought.
Brian found his Field engine on a trip to visit a long-time collector in North Dakota. The engine has much of its original paint and is in good mechanical condition. The Field started right up and ran well. Brian added the trucks to make it easier to bring to shows. The engine is stenciled “P&O,” as it was sold through the agency of Parlin & Orendorff. Based on its serial number, this engine was built in early 1915.
Old Threshers is looking forward to a great show with many examples of the featured Field Brundage engines on display. Be sure to be there and check it out!
Check out Part 1 of the Field Brundage Story.
Barry Tuller is a collector of gas engines and related belt-driven equipment, literature & advertising. He enjoys learning about engines and researching the history of the people and companies that made them. He can be reached at btengines@gmail.com.
