20601 Old State Road, Haubstadt, Indiana 47639
There is always some new information that pops up in regard to
antique gas engines. On June 13th at the Classic Iron Show, a man
asked me about a Hercules engine that had a platform under it that
stuck way out to the side where a long curved clutch handle was
attached. Not knowing the answer, I assumed it to be some
after-market clutch mechanism. That was on Friday. On Sunday the
answer came. A friend alerted me to a piece of Hercules literature
for sale in the flea market. It turned out to be an original
Hercules binder circular. Right there was that engine with the
platform that stuck out to the side with the long clutch handle
attached. It is illustrated below. The text states that the binder
engine mounting equipment was available for the 1 Vi HP size engine
only. The shipping weight of the whole kit, less engine, was 170
pounds.
Information about the existence of more Sparta Economy engines
continues to arrive. A 4 HP model A #602 has turned up in Texas. A
2 HP model A #1372 has turned up in Oregon. In all, since last
report, there are now 385 Spartas on the list. At the Hoosier
Fly-wheelers Show on June 28, there was a 3 HP model B #3698 on
display. No where in literature or catalogs is a 3 HP size
mentioned. It is always 2, 4, etc.
The measurements of the bore, stroke and flywheel diameter are
the same as that of the normal 2 HP size of that era. Are there
more Sparta Economy engines with the 3 HP tag out there? Maybe it
was a Monday morning special where the HP stamper was still
recovering from his weekend activities.
Hercules and Sparta engines continue to be well represented at
shows. At the Hoosier Flywheelers Show there were 13, with one
Hercules, four Economys, four Jaegers, one Renfrew oil engine and
three Spartas. At Foos Fever at Coolspring, Pennsylvania, there
were 39, with eleven Hercules, twelve Economys, nine Jaegers, two
Thermoils and five Spartas. As for me, it was Foos Fever. I
exhibited my 6 and 7 HP Foos engines.
