By Richard Eisenreich,
6807 24th Street, Rio Linda, California 95673-2801
Fourteen years ago, I received a small hit and miss engine from
an uncle for whom I had done a favor 49 years ago. My uncle had
passed away and I flew to Wisconsin from California to pick up the
engine in 1983.
I didn’t have any history of the engine but enjoyed running
it with a pump that came with it.
I had only observed stationary engines pumping water by
windmills at the county and state fairs when I was then working on
a dairy farm fifty years ago.
A year after I received this engine I decided to build a small
tractor to put it on, so my grandchildren could drive around our
place. I am not one for drawing plans to build items but make a
sketch on a board and what turns out is what I get.
The hardest part of this project was to determine the horsepower
I could get out of this small engine. The engine had a 1′ bore,
2′ stroke and 8′ flywheels. After much trial and error with
three shafts and pulleys, I was able to drive the tractor using
belt tighteners as a clutch.
The grandchildren really enjoyed the ride but became afraid of
the noise. The engine under power would hit on every compression
stroke and with small ‘ exhaust pipe it would really POP!
Since I became interested in rebuilding old engines and
tractors, three years ago, I decided to restore Little Red Engine
and to locate a background of engine makes. After some research, it
is assumed that this engine is a one-of-a-kind and was built by my
uncle.
Presently, I have modified the tractor to battery powered
electric drive, and now the grandchildren like it much more as the
noise is gone.
I really am enthused about old engines and tractors since I
first started to get Gas Engine Magazine, and now have subscribed
to eight other magazines about vintage equipment. I am 69 years old
and look forward to reading about other projects.
