R.D. 2, Middletown, Maryland 21769
I read the OIL PULL TUNE UP article by C. E. Stambaugh in the
September-October 1972 issue, with great interest and knowing Bud
Stambaugh over the past few years, I feel that he is one of the top
experts with Oil Pull Tractors.
His method of adjusting valves on light weights is correct and
should be rechecked on a hot engine due to the push rods and rocker
arms being enclosed. The older 12-20, 16-30,2040 etc. had open push
rods and rocker arms and there was very little difference in valve
clearance between hot and cold, due to cylinder heat expansion
exceeding open push rod heat expansion.
Now, I would like to refer to the remarks by Frank J. Burris,
35640 Ave. F., Yucaipa, California, which I read with concerned
interest.
My reason for writing this article is that I’ve worked
around Oil Pulls many years, beginning with an Old 20-40 purchased
by my father in in the early 20s and traded on a 30-50 Y about the
time Rumely Company changed to Allis-Chalmers.
Mr. Burris remarks that he discarded the use of a water tank on
a 20-35 Oil Pull and is operating the engine on pure gasoline. I am
sure Mr. Burris is aware of the danger if this Oil Pull should come
up to its normal heat which is over 200 degrees and there should be
gasoline fumes in the crankcase. I remember one old 12-20 that
exploded in the crankcase from using gasoline and blew both
cylinders loose from the crankcase. I also remember a 30-50 Y and a
2545 light weight exploding and blowing the crankcase inspection
cover and timing gear covers out.
All of these Oil Pulls were built to run on a mixture of
kerosene or a crude type oil and water and were oil-cooled due to
extremely high operated temperatures. This was their method of
developing power. These old Oil Pulls didn’t have much of a
crankcase ventilating system and no one seems to know if the fumes
exploded from the return vent to the carburetor or just plain heat
and agitation in the crankcase from gas fumes.
One fault with many Oil Pull operators was due to the lubricator
which fed oil to the cylinders and main bearings. This lubricator
would go through one to two gallons of oil on a hard days work and
the surplus oil would spill into the crankcase keeping it full,
therefore the operator would very seldom drain the crankcase to get
rid of accummulated contamination.
I remember a beautiful, practically new light weight 30-60 that
developed a cracked engine head, burned exhaust valves and top
piston rings due to the owner deciding he could cool the engine
with water and burn gasoline. This engine also had the restricter
either rusted out or removed from the cooling circulator which
allowed on cylinder to run hotter than the other.
I suppose I’ve talked long enough about Oil Pulls, but I
still love to hear them run and when it comes to pounds of fuel per
horsepower, I don’t think there was a more economical engine in
the field at their day and age. We used to drive a 30 x 52 Red
River Special Thresher from early morning till dark on 30 to 35
gallons of kerosene.
So, Mr. Burris, I know you’ll enjoy playing around with your
Oil Pull every minute, however, I would like to suggest that you
put the water system back on this old boy and give it a longer life
of original operation. Your ten degree timing for gasoline is very
good, but if the oil restricter is still in proper place, which I
am sure it is to equalize the heat to both cylinders, the engine
temperatures will still climb above 200 degrees.