Way back in 1991, my wife and I decided to visit some new-to-us engine shows. We had heard good things about the show in Sycamore, Illinois, so we decided to give it a try. The show didn’t disappoint, and we saw several engines, tractors and steamers that we hadn’t before. Of the unique engines seen, one really stood out: a Challenge upright with auxiliary hopper cooling. I captured a photograph, and made a mental note to place a Challenge upright in my wish list.

Fast-forward twenty-some years into the future. An upright Challenge engine was listed for sale online. The engine was in terrible shape, missing many parts, with the rest rusted solidly together. Recalling the engine seen at Sycamore, I was still interested even though it would be a tough restoration. I contacted the seller and made a deal.
Challenge Co. — a short history
Challenge traces its history all the way back to 1867. Initially, the company was a proprietorship, known as Burr & Armstrong. These two men were the sole employees at startup. Products offered were feed mills and a combined sheller and grinder designed by Nelson Burr. The company had grown to more than 30 employees by 1869, and the firm became known as Challenge Mill Co.

A fire destroyed the business in 1872, but it was quickly rebuilt and continued to grow. Windmills became a primary product for the company, resulting in another name change in 1882. The firm now went by Challenge Wind Mill and Feed Mill Co. Company leadership transitioned to Thomas Snow in the
late 1880s.
In 1899, Challenge began working on bringing a gasoline engine to the market. Mentions of engine offerings by the company began around September 1899, with gasoline engines inserted into the wording of its ads. The company announced late in 1899 that it was building a foundry to facilitate manufacture of gasoline engines.

A patent, US 661,078, was granted to Joseph B. Rodger on November 6, 1900, for a Vapor engine. This patent was assigned to Challenge WM & FM Co., and was applied for on May 1, 1899. Surviving Challenge engines from the early days take several design elements from this patent.
Thomas Snow died unexpectedly in April 1903. His son Thomas A. succeeded him as president of Challenge. The company name changed again during 1905 to Challenge Co. The company continued to evolve its engine designs and became a significant builder of engines. Another son, Frank Snow, became president in 1917, where he remained until selling the company in April 1945 to Batavia Metal Products Co. This company went bankrupt within a few years, and all assets were sold. Many of the buildings of Challenge Co. still stand in Batavia, along the eastern bank of the Fox River.
Challenge vertical engines
Production of Challenge engines during its first years appears to have been limited, based on serial number data from surviving engines. An early catalog (#45) from Challenge WM & FM Co. shows the company offered horizontal tank-cooled engines in sizes from 2hp to 16hp, and vertical tank-cooled engines in three sizes: 1-1/2hp, 2-1/2hp and 4hp. The vertical engines were dropped in later catalogs, and the company offered only horizontal engines.

Thus far, no advertisements showing a Challenge auxiliary hopper-cooled vertical engine have been discovered. There are some standalone ads in period trade magazines that offer an air-cooled vertical engine for use with pump jacks. The air-cooled engine has the same design as the auxiliary hopper-cooled engine, with the exception of the cylinder. The air-cooled cylinder has fins, while the aux hopper design has a water-cooled cylinder and means for attaching the aux hopper. Ads found for the air-cooled upright span from 1908 to 1910. The nameplate on our engine calls it a Type A-C, potentially another tie to the air-cooled design.
Only two of the water-cooled auxiliary hopper upright Challenge engines are known to have survived — serial numbers 312 and 430. There are no recorded examples of a surviving air-cooled vertical engine. Of course, there may be other Challenge vertical engines hiding out there waiting to be found.
Restoration Begins — Help Needed
To bring our Challenge engine back to operation would require extensive work. The engine’s water jacket was broken out on both sides, the aux hopper was broken in multiple places, the piston was stuck, the cylinder, head and valves were badly eroded from rust, plus many pieces were missing. To begin the restoration, I started working to take the engine apart. Every part fought my efforts. Tight fits and rust had bonded the parts together. Eventually, we managed to free the head and cylinder.
Knowing I did not have the skills and expertise for some of the required work, I began to look for someone who could help. I was fortunate to make connection with Justin Click, who was quite confident he could fix the problems. Initially I took the cylinder and aux hopper to him to work his magic on.

How to solve for all the missing parts? A good friend, Ken McConnell, had helped me recreate parts for another project, and he was on board for the Challenge project. Using CAD (computer-aided design), a 3D model is constructed for each part. Parts can then be printed out in plastic with a 3D printer to check fit and function. Next, models for patterns are built in CAD, and these are then printed out. The patterns would go to a foundry to have cast iron or brass castings made. Once castings are done, these can be machined to make finished parts.
Steve Bagg, the owner of the other vertical Challenge engine, graciously agreed to help with our engine. He allowed us to take detailed measurements from the parts on his engine, which we would turn in to CAD models to begin the recreation process. The entire valve train from my engine was missing, so several parts were measured.
Neither of our engines had an ignitor, as both had been converted to spark plug ignition. Not enough detail shows in the ads for the air-cooled engine to define the ignitor. I took on the task of creating the ignitor, basing the design on ignitors used on horizontal Challenge engines from the same time frame. It would require reorienting and scaling it down in size to make it right for the vertical format. Ken supported several iterations of design with printed parts until we finally felt we had a good design.

Tackling a tough engine project such as the Challenge required patience, and I was encouraged when we made progress. We gained an early triumph when Justin freed the piston from the cylinder. The brazing of the broken cylinder water jacket and the aux hopper was a victory. As expected, the cylinder required boring and a new sleeve.
Once castings came in, these were machined into parts. All the existing parts on the engine also needed refreshed, taking out worn parts by machining new bearings, pins and bushings. The head was resurfaced, and new valve seats and guides made, along with new valves. New studs and 1/2-12 nuts had to be made to fit the engine. 1/2-13 is the standard now, but wasn’t so when the Challenge was built.
We designed a gas tank based on scaling from the ad picture. A short piece of the retaining bracket was still on my engine, helping to confirm the design. The carburetor was missing on our engine, so we went with a Lunkenheimer carb, similar to what is on Steve’s engine.
Restoration nears completion
The Challenge engine was always a fill-in project for Justin’s shop, so it got minimal attention at times. In the fall of 2021, reassembly really got started, and we cleared the last hurdles to get the engine complete. Among these was getting the crankshaft rod journal back round again — accomplished with a special tool I had picked up for re-turning a crank rod journal in block. The connecting rod needed to be straightened. Final design for the governor latch out also was completed, as this was an element that differed between Steve’s engine and ours.

Finally, the engine was back together. It ran for the first time in mid-December 2021. The engine fired the first time it rolled through compression and came to life. With some adjustments to the governor and timing, it was running quite well. After a few tweaks and final adjustments, the engine traveled home to us in time for the holidays!
It was a long journey. The restoration took seven years from disassembly to when it started running again. A tough project, but a satisfying one. The Challenge challenge was completed through the collective efforts of many — a job well done.
Reunion for Challenge vertical engines
It had been many years since I had first contacted Steve Bagg about his Challenge vertical, hoping for some help to bring our engine back to life. Without Steve’s help, the restoration of our Challenge vertical would have been much more difficult. I am so appreciative of his help and the friendship from Steve and his family.

We talked of getting the two Challenge engines together, if mine ever made it to completion. I certainly had doubts, as my engine was in such tough shape. But all this has been overcome, and now it was time to get the engines together for a reunion!
August 2023, at the show at Sycamore, Illinois, was when the reunion was planned. It was super to bring the engines together and set them up side by side. It likely had been more than 110 years since two Challenge engines like these were together. It was great for our families to meet in person, and share in celebration of the reunion. A day to remember. Thanks again to everyone for helping with this Challenge!
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.