REFLECTIONS

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34/5/26 Unidentified Engine Q. See the photo of
an engine that we think is an Olds but is missing the water hopper.
Does anyone have any information on this engine? If so, please
write Donald R. Shiflett, 597 Fairfax Pike, Stephens City, VA
22655.

34/5/27 Ensilage Cutter Q. In the August 1998
GEM, pages 20-23 was an article about ‘My Little Engine .’
Reference was also made to an old ensilage cutter that burned up
years ago. Can you recommend any book or books that might possibly
show various ensilage cutters? Any help would be appreciated. Burl
H. Gillum, 6637 Pendleton Ave., Roanoke, VA 240l9.

A. The only book we would know of would be
Encyclopedia of American Farm Implements, available from GEM.

34/5/28 English Iron Works Q. I am looking for
information on the English Iron Works, Kansas City, Missouri. The
only numbers are 16, 18 & 22 cast in the cylinder base. Any
information will be appreciated. Ed Noli, PO Box 4172, Kingman, AZ
86401.

34/5/29 McCormick B-250 Diesel Q. I just bought
a McCormick B250 diesel engine, s/n 7603. Did anyone ever see these
and I also wonder when it was built? I called some IH dealers and
they didn’t ever hear of it before. It is in very good shape
and runs nice. Any information would be appreciated. Ben Kinsinger,
686 Kinsinger Road, Meyersdale, PA 15552.

34/5/30 Desjardins Engine Q. I have a
Desjardins engine and need to contact someone for information on
it. If anyone can help, please contact: Karl R. Hoffman, 12500
Masters Road, Memphis , MI 48041.

34/5/31 LeRoi engine Q. I have a two-cylinder
LeRoi engine, exactly like the one on page 281 of American Gasoline
Engines. Mine is completely disassembled so I would like to hear
from anyone having information on it. Charles F. Bass, Orchard Hill
Farm, PO Box 210, Peterborough, NH 03458.

34/5/32 Alamo Engines Q. In the August 1994 GEM
you indicated that there would be a series of articles on the Alamo
engines. Was this completed? Roland G. Olthoff, 704 S. Water St.,
PO Box 645, Warren, IL 61087.

A. From time to time we have run photos of
various Alamo engines. There will be more coming from time to
time.

34/5/33 Reboring a Cylinder Q. I have a Novo
with deep pits in the cylinder. Has anyone had success using JB
Weld or some of the other miracle products ? The cylinder seems to
have a very thin wall, 3/16 or less thick. Is this too thin to be
bored out for a sleeve? Any help would be appreciated. Bob Query,
733 LynchLane, Virginia Beach, VA 23455.

A. First off, if the pits aren’t too
numerous, they may not cause much of a problem. Personally, I would
hone the cylinder and clean it up as good as possible, and finish
off with a nice polish. You will probably have to build up the
piston now, because of the oversize hole. By carefully fitting the
rings, you may get by with it just fine. If worse comes to worst,
boring and sleeving is still an option, but one that I would avoid
if possible, especially if the cylinder wall is as thin as you say.
Keep in mind too, that most ring leakage is under the rings (due to
a poor fit in the grooves) and not over the rings. If the pits
aren’t too numerous, one ring will cover for the other as the
piston travels past the pits in the wall.

34/5/34 Ellis EngineQ. See
the photo of an Ellis engine, 1?-3 HP, s/n 1365. It is in excellent
condition inside and out, but I would like to find more information
or advertising photos to show how the engine looked originally. Any
information would be appreciated. Ken Cvacho, 113 Kirkley Circle,
Forest, VA 24551.

34/5/35 Hildreth and Novo Q. I have a Hildreth
Novo, 2? HP, and s/n 1264. Also a 1? HP Novo, s/n 73087. Can you
tell me when these engines were built? John Raney, 55565 -11 Mile
Road, New Hudson, MI 48165.

A. There are no s/n records for the Hildreth
engines; the 11/2 Novo was built in May 1922.

34/5/36 Waterloo Boy Q. I have a 6 HP Waterloo
Boy engine. The most recent patent date is 1909. Sometime in the
past the head and one flywheel were removed. See the photo of what
is reported to be the original mixer for the engine. It is brass,
has a ?nch gas inlet, and the needle valve is missing. The entire
top can be rotated to adjust the air intake. This mixer is very
different than anything I have seen on a Waterloo Boy engine, and I
am wondering if it is original. Also, there is some dark grey paint
on the engine, and I am told that some of the Waterloo Boy engines
were grey. Can anyone comment as to proper color, striping, etc. ?
Any help will be greatly appreciated. Tal Harris, 4300 Daniel Dr.,
Waxhaw, NC 28173.

34/5/37 Stover Engine Q. I have a Stover
engine, s/n W145965 built for Bracket, Shaw & Lunt Company. It
was made in 1922 and is 3 HP. Who was this company? Any other
information on this engine would be appreciated. Ted Murphy, 757
Allen Rd., Torrington, CT 06790.

A. Brackett, Shaw & Lunt Co. was a large
jobbing house that sold Stover, among other engines.

34/5/38 Leader Tractor Q. See the photo of a
Leader tractor. It has a Hercules engine and a three-point hitch.
It is s/n 3190-49D. I also have another one that is virtually
identical except that it has an arched front axle. It is s/n 48D-1
-1941. I was told that the Leader was related to the Brockway
tractor. Can anyone provide more information? Paul Hubner Jr., 57
Michigan St., Winchester, NH 03470.

A. Leader and Brockway is an interesting
connection, and one we don’t know about. Can anyone help?

34/5/39 Bolens Q. See the photo of an old
Bolens (Estatekeeper?) riding mower. Any information would be
greatly appreciated. Robert R. LaBrenz, 80 N. Nine Mile Rd.,
Linwood, MI 48634-9763.

34/5/40 Farmall F-12 Q. Matt Muich, 195 Zion
Rd., Newburg, PA 17240 writes that he has a Farmall F-12 with a
seized engine, and would like to hear from anyone who can tell him
how to get it loose. Matt is 13 years old. See the photos.

A Closing Word

As we put this issue to bed in early March, the weather people
are telling us about a coming snowstorm. Gosh, by the time you get
this copy in April, we surely do hope that the snow, cold, and flu
season is past us.

Occasionally we run across pictures of those gigantic snow
blowers that were mounted ahead of locomotives to clear out
mountain passes and the like. They were powered by gigantic steam
engines, and according to some reports, these outfits could be
heard for miles when at work. It sure would have been nice to have
seen and heard one of these things running, steam engine or
not!

See the Royal Oil Engine. We have a catalog from Smith &
Sons Mfg. Co., Kansas City, Missouri. It shows their extensive line
of engines. The catalog is undated, but we would guess it to be
about 1920. In all our years with engines, we have never seen or
heard of a Royal engine. Are there any left? Do any of you folks
know anything about them? If so, let us know, we will be happy to
hear from you.

Editor’s note: Every month, Mr. Wendel sends us a package
from Iowa, with all the pictures and questions and answers on a
computer disk with printout. This month, it seems as though the
package had a few challenges on the way, and the scanned page of
the Royal engine from the Smith & Sons Mfg. Co. took some
serious abuse, likely water damage suffered somewhere enroute.
Thus, we have re-typed all of the text from the original catalog
page, trying to scale it approximately to the original, and the
picture, which was still in good condition, has been reproduced as
it originally appeared.

The purpose of the Reflections column is to provide a forum for
the exchange of all useful information among subscribers to GEM.
Inquiries or responses should be addressed to: REFLECTIONS, Gas
Engine Magazine, P.O. Box 328, Lancaster, PA 17608-0328.


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  • Published on May 1, 1999
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