Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer's Engines

c. 1927 Hercules Model S 1 3/4 HP Engine

This engine (serial #360122) was made by the Hercules Gas Engine Company of Evansville, Indiana, probably as an Economy engine for Sears, Roebuck, & Company. Hercules began making the Model S in the early 1920s, initially equipping it with a Webster magneto for its ignition. In the mid-1920s, however, the company switched to a Wico magneto. If you look at the side of this engine, you can see its Wico magneto. Wico, originally called the Witherbee Ignition Company, was a major producer of ignitions for the automobile industry as well as the engine industry. Rated at 600 RPM with a 3 1/4" x 5" bore and stroke, this engine – like the other engines in this exhibit – may have been used to power a wide variety of machines around the farm, including butter churns, clothes washers, and cream separators.

The Hercules Gas Engine Company's history has been traced back to William H. McCurdy and the Brighton Buggy Works of Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1894. Supplying Sears, Roebuck and Company with buggies, McCurdy's company grew to the point where he needed larger facilities to meet demand. In 1902, McCurdy moved the company to Evansville, Indiana, and renamed it the Hercules Buggy Company. From the early 1900s to 1909, the Evansville factory produced the Sears Motor Buggy, its first experience with gasoline engines. Even after Sears moved the manufacture of their motor buggies to Chicago, the Hercules Buggy Company continued to produce bodies for the motor buggies.
In 1912, the situation for McCurdy and for Sears changed. Sears had been purchasing its stationary engines from the Holm Machine and Manufacturing Company in Sparta, Michigan. When Holm could not meet the demand of Sears for its engines, McCurdy was asked to become the new supplier. In 1912, the Hercules Buggy Company purchased the Holm Company and moved the manufacturing of stationary engines to Evansville where a new factory was being built. On November 8, 1912, the Hercules Gas Engine Company was formed. In early 1914, the first Hercules engines rolled off the line. They would be the first of about 400,000 engines produced by the Hercules Gas Engine Company until the factory closed in 1934.
If you walk a short distance down the line of engines here in this exhibit, you will find a Hercules Model E 1 1/2 HP engine, made in Evansville around 1921.

Notes

A good resource for information on the Hercules Gas Engine Company is herculesengines.com, which can be accessed here. It has lots of photos, as well as brochures, owner's manuals, and other items for the Hercules lines of engines. A good narrative of the company's history can be found on the tractorfriends.org website, http://www.tractorfriends.org/tractorsengines/herculesengine/herculesengine.html, which you can access here. For a Hercules engine serial number list, click or touch here.

Early 20th Century Alpha 2 1/2 HP Engine

This engine was made by the De Laval Cream Separator Company, the same company that would later make the cream separator found in this exhibit. Stuhr's cream separator has a hand crank instead of a belt wheel; however, De Laval made cream separators with belt wheels so that they could be powered with an engine like this one. As with the other engines in this exhibit, a farm family might have used this engine to power not only a cream separator but also a clothes washer, a butter churn, and other machines around the house.
If you look at the side of this engine, you might see that it has a Wico Electric Company ignition. Originally called the Witherbee Ignition Company (abbreviated WICO), the company may have been renamed the Wico Electric Company sometime in the 1910s. Wico made a wide variety of ignitions, including its EK Magneto, for automobiles and engines throughout the early 20th century. At least three engines here in Stuhr's exhibit have Wico ignitions.

c. 1920 Dempster Mill Class H 2 1/2 HP Engine

This engine (serial #11542) was built by the Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company located in Beatrice, Nebraska, about 120 miles east-southeast of Grand Island. Established in 1878 and incorporated in 1886, Dempster Mill became a major windmill and pump manufacturer by the turn of the 20th century. In 1902, the company added two-cycle engines to its product lines; however, in 1909, it had switched to four-cycle engines.

If you look at the side of this engine, you might see that it has a Webster Type K Tri-Polar Oscillator, made in Racine, Wisconsin. If you're interested in how magnetos work, an informative article on magnetos, including the Webster Tri-Polar Oscillator, can be found here. This engine also has an American Injector Company lubricator, made in Detroit, Michigan.

From Farm Implement News:
The Tractor and Truck Review,
vol. XL, no. 1 (January 2, 1919), p. 66.

c. 1916-1921 Ingeco Type W 3 HP Engine

This engine (serial #20774) was built by the Worthington Pump and Machinery Corporation at its Ingeco Pump Works plant in Cudahy, Wisconsin. Before 1916, Ingeco (the International Gas Engine Company) was a subsidiary of the International Steam Pump Company which consisted of several firms. The International Steam Pump Company was organized in 1899, and Ingeco began producing engines in Cudahy, Wisconsin, as early as 1912. In 1916, the International Steam Pump Company, which had been very successful, was reorganized and renamed the Worthington Pump and Machinery Corporation. From the time of this reorganization until 1920 or 1921, Worthington continued producing Ingeco engines, adding Type W to the engine's name. This particular Type W engine was reportedly used near Lushton, Nebraska, about 45 miles east-southeast of Grand Island.

From Tractor and Gas Engine Review,
vol.11, no.2 (February, 1918), p. 66.

If you look closely at the side of this engine, you might notice that it has a Wizard magneto for its ignition system. If this starter is the original or it is an accurate replacement, we might even date this engine to sometime between 1916 or 1917 and late 1919. According to Chris Jerue, in the article titled "The History of Ingeco Engines," the Type W included Wizards as standard from early 1917 to the end of 1919. Near the end of 1919, the company switched to a Webster magneto.

If you look along the top of this Ingeco engine, you might notice a small brass cup sticking up from the engine. This is a Lunkenheimer Brass Oil Cup made by the Lunkenheimer Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. This company was founded as the Cincinnati Brass Works in 1862 by Frederick Lunkenheimer, a German immigrant to the U.S. Over the first several years in business, Lunkenheimer made a wide variety of valves, lubricators, steam engine attachments, and other brass items. After Frederick's death in 1889, his son, Edmund, took over leadership of the company. Edmund was a very inventive person, obtaining several patents for valves and lubricators. In 1902, the company opened a new 150,000 square foot factory, employing about 700 workers. The factory produced items not only for the U.S. market, but for markets throughout the world. You can see a 1906 Lunkenheimer illustrated catalog, showing this brass cup and the company's other products by clicking or touching here.

From the Lunkenheimer Factory 1906 Illustrated Catalog
and Price List. Published in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Notes

Some information on Ingeco engines can be found in C. H. Wendel, American Gasoline Engines Since 1872, ed. George H. Dammann (Sarasota, FL: Crestline Publishing Co., 1983), pp. 565-566.
More information can be found in Chris Jerue, “The History of Ingeco Engines,” Gas Engine Magazine: Preserving the History of Internal Combustion Engines (August/September, 2011). Part 1 can be accessed here. Part 2 (October/November, 2011) can be accessed here.
The information on the Lunkenheimer Company in 1902 is from Electrical World and Engineer, vol. XL, no. 18 (November 1, 1902).

c. 1940 Weber 80 HP Engine

This very large stationary engine may have been made by the Weber Gas Engine Company in Kansas City, Missouri. Unfortunately, this engine has no clear identifying marks, so we are relying on the small amount of information provided to the museum during acquisition to identify it. It was reportedly used to power an irrigation pump near Harvard, Nebraska, a town in Clay County, about 40 miles southeast of Grand Island.
The reported manufacturer of this engine, the Weber Gas Engine Company, was initially organized in 1884. The company's founder, George J. Weber, really got the company going when he acquired patent 444031 on January 6, 1891, and patent 449507 on March 31, 1891. As early as 1893, The Age of Steel had an article on the Weber horizontal engine. In 1908, Weber sold the company but continued to work on engines in his own laboratory. During a 1913 accident in his laboratory, Weber was seriously injured. He died the next year. After Weber sold the company, the company's name may have changed, first to the Sheffield Gas Engine Company, and then to the Weber Engine Company. If you would like to see a video of a large 40 HP Weber engine in action, click or touch here.

If you look at the side of the engine closest to the nearby grain cradle and wheelbarrow sprayer, you will see a large box. This box is part of the engine's lubricating system, a Manzel Brothers force feed lubricator, made in Buffalo, New York. The Manzel Brothers Company was established in 1896 and incorporated in 1906, or, according to trade magazines of the time, in 1905, by Herman J., Adolph W., and Fredericka Manzel. Their brother, Charles W. Manzel, held several patents for lubricators and other items.

Notes

Some information on Weber engines can be found in C. H. Wendel, American Gasoline Engines Since 1872, ed. George H. Dammann (Sarasota, FL: Crestline Publishing Co., 1983), pp. 541-543.
Information on the Manzel Brothers is from International Motor Cyclopaedia, Sport, Industry and Trade: Automobiles, Motorcycles, Motorboats and Aeronautics. Year Book–March, 1908 to March, 1909 (New York: E. E. Schwartzkopf, 1908), p. 302.

1920 International Type M 1 1/2 HP Engine

This engine (serial #A53073) was made by International Harvester Company at its factory in Chicago, Illinois. Like the McCormick-Deering engines here in this exhibit, also made by IHC, this engine is a Type M, IHC's most widely sold engine on the market. From 1917 to 1937, IHC made 429,376 Type M engines in a variety of sizes, including 1 1/2, 3, 6, and 10 HP.

If you look on the side of this engine, you might see that it has an IHC Type L magneto for its ignition. This magneto has a patent date of January 30, 1917, which may correspond to one or both patents for magnetos issued to Robert C. Danly on that day. The first of those patents is 1214014, which you can view as a pdf here. The second is 1214015, which you can view as a pdf here.
The maker of this engine and its magneto, International Harvester Company, was formed when an agreement was made on August 12, 1902 between people representing five different firms that specialized in harvesting equipment. Those firms were the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company; the Deering Harvester Company; the Plano Harvester Company; the Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Company; and the Milwaukee Harvester Company. As you walk around Stuhr Museum's exhibit, you will see several items made by International Harvester, including four engines.

1923 McCormick-Deering Type M 6 HP Engine

This engine (serial #C28658) was made by International Harvester at its factory in Chicago, Illinois. IHC made 56,788 Type M 6 HP engines from 1918 to 1937, with a production peak of about 5,700 units in 1923, the year this engine was built. Rated at 6 HP and 550 RPM, this particular engine was reportedly used to power a saw for cutting wood on a farm near Bradshaw, Nebraska, in York County, about 35 miles east of Grand Island.
The maker of this engine, International Harvester Company, was formed when an agreement was made on August 12, 1902 between people representing five different firms that specialized in harvesting equipment. Those firms were the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company; the Deering Harvester Company; the Plano Harvester Company; the Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Company; and the Milwaukee Harvester Company. As you walk around Stuhr Museum's exhibit, you will see several items made by International Harvester, including four engines.

1910 Famous 3 HP Upright Engine

This engine (serial #LA14017) was made by International Harvester Company at its Milwaukee, Wisconsin, factory. IHC made the Famous 3 HP upright engines from 1905 to 1916. If you can see over the flywheel nearest to the walkway, you might notice that this engine has the patent date, May 2, 1905, molded into it. This date corresponds to patent 788595, a patent for a "starting means for explosive-engines" issued to Henry Joseph Podlesák, which you can view by clicking or touching here.

The maker of this engine, International Harvester Company, was formed when an agreement was made on August 12, 1902 between people representing five different firms that specialized in harvesting equipment. Those firms were the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company; the Deering Harvester Company; the Plano Harvester Company; the Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Company; and the Milwaukee Harvester Company. As you walk around Stuhr Museum's exhibit, you will see several items made by International Harvester, including four engines.

Early 20th Century Root & Van Dervoort Type E 8 HP Engine

This engine (serial #E2165) was made by the Root & Van Dervoort Engineering Company in East Moline, Illinois. Started at the end of the 19th century by Orlando J. Root and William H. Van Dervoort, the company was incorporated in 1900. Root & Van Dervoort produced engines until around 1919, shifting its focus to its automobiles, including the R & V Knight.
The nameplate for this engine has two patent dates:
July 14, 1903, corresponding to patent 733752, a sparking-device governor for gasoline engines developed by Orlando J. Root, which you can view as a pdf here; and
May 3, 1904, corresponding to patent 759193, a liquid fuel pump developed by Orlando J. Root, which you can view as a pdf here.

Although it's difficult to see from the walkway, there is an oil cup sticking up out of this engine's top. That oil cup was made by the Michigan Lubricator Company in Detroit. The Gade engine and the 6 HP Fairbanks-Morse engine in this exhibit also have oil cups made by the Michigan Lubricator Company.

1918 Fairbanks-Morse Type Z 6 HP Engine

This 6 HP engine (serial #357084) was made by Fairbanks, Morse & Company of Chicago, Illinois. Rated at 400 RPM, this 6 HP engine cost $119 in 1918. A very proficient builder of engines, Fairbanks, Morse, & Company was created by Charles H. Morse, a very successful agent for the E. & T. Fairbanks Company of St. Johnsbury, Vermont. In 1850, Morse became an apprentice with the Fairbanks company, a company specializing in weighing scales. In 1857, Morse moved to Chicago where Fairbanks had a sales office. After the 1871 Chicago fire destroyed a large portion of the city, the smart and energetic Morse took over the Chicago office and started Fairbanks, Morse, & Company.
By 1880, Morse also became the sole agent for the Eclipse Wind Energy Company of Beloit, Wisconsin, using his developing connections to turn the Fairbanks-Morse Company into a major supplier of windmills to the railroads and to farmers. Later in the 1880s, Morse also gained control of Williams Engine Works of Beloit, obtaining a piece of the steam engine market. In 1893, Morse persuaded James A. Carter, an innovator of gas engines, to head a new gas engine department for the Fairbanks-Morse Company. Morse licensed several patents acquired by James and his brother, John, in the 1890s.

With connections to the railroad and to farmers via its windmills, the company sold many engines to railroad companies and farmers throughout the country. The company also established ties with the mining industry, creating another market for their engines. By 1895, Fairbanks, Morse & Company was making vertical and horizontal gas engines for a very wide market. During the next several decades, the company’s most popular engine series was the Type Z series, started in 1915, and represented by three different engines here in Stuhr Museum’s exhibit.

This engine has a Sumter Plugoscillator for its ignition system, patented in 1916 and made by the Sumter Electrical Company. The Sumter company can be traced back to the late 1890s when it was named the Sumter Telephone & Manufacturing Company, established in Sumter, South Carolina. Sometime around 1908, the company was reorganized as the Sumter Electrical Company. In January 1915, the company's sales office was moved to Chicago, Illinois. In November 1915, the company and its Dixie patents were acquired by the Splitdorf Electrical Company of Newark, New Jersey. Sumter remained a subsidiary of Splitdorf and was organized as a corporation of Illinois, keeping its Sumter Electrical Company name. You can view a video of a Fairbanks Morse engine with a Sumter Plugoscillator by clicking or touching here.

From Gas Power, vol. 15, no. 4
(October, 1917).

If you look at the top of this engine, you will also notice an oil cup. It was made by the Michigan Lubricator Company of Detroit.

Notes

A brief history of Fairbanks, Morse & Company can be found in C. H. Wendel's American Gasoline Engines Since 1872, edited by George H. Dammann (Sarasota, FL: Crestline Publishing Co., 1983).
Information on Sumter is from The Gas Engine, vol. XX, no. 2 (February, 1918).
A great early 20th century resource on ignition systems, including the Sumter Plugoscillator, is Earle B. Norris, Robert K. Winning, and William C. Weaver, Gas Engine Ignition, Prepared in the Extension Division of the University of Wisconsin, Engineering Education Series (New York and London: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1916).

1939 Fairbanks-Morse Type Z Style D 1 1/2 HP Engine

This 1 1/2 HP engine (serial #811752) was made by Fairbanks, Morse & Company of Chicago, Illinois. Fairbanks, Morse, & Company made the 1 1/2 HP Style D from 1928 to 1941. Weighing about 160 pounds, this relatively small engine has a 2 1/4" x 3 1/4" bore and stroke, and was rated at 1500 RPM at the flywheel and 750 RPM at the pulley shaft. This particular engine has a Fairbanks-Morse Type RV magneto for the ignition system.

A very proficient builder of engines and other tools, Fairbanks, Morse, & Company was created by Charles H. Morse, a very successful agent for the E. & T. Fairbanks Company of St. Johnsbury, Vermont. In 1850, Morse became an apprentice with the Fairbanks company, a company specializing in weighing scales. In 1857, Morse moved to Chicago where Fairbanks had a sales office. After the 1871 Chicago fire destroyed a large portion of the city, the smart and energetic Morse took over the Chicago office and started Fairbanks, Morse, & Company.

By 1880, Morse also became the sole agent for the Eclipse Wind Energy Company of Beloit, Wisconsin, using his developing connections to turn the Fairbanks-Morse Company into a major supplier of windmills to the railroads and to farmers. Later in the 1880s, Morse also gained control of Williams Engine Works of Beloit, obtaining a piece of the steam engine market. In 1893, Morse persuaded James A. Carter, an innovator of gas engines, to head a new gas engine department for the Fairbanks-Morse Company. Morse licensed several patents acquired by James and his brother, John, in the 1890s.

Notes

A brief history of Fairbanks, Morse & Company can be found in C. H. Wendel's American Gasoline Engines Since 1872, edited by George H. Dammann (Sarasota, FL: Crestline Publishing Co., 1983).

c. 1910s Cushman Model C 4 HP Engine with Gray Paint

This engine (serial #25563) was made by Cushman Motor Works in Lincoln, Nebraska. Established by Leslie S. and Everett B. Cushman, Cushman Motor Works began manufacturing 2-cycle marine engines at the beginning of the 20th century, obtaining patent 703695 in 1902, and patents 721287 and 736224 in 1903. In 1904 and 1905, the company converted the 2-cycle marine engines to stationary use. From 1904 to 1906, they added a 3 HP horizontal engine to their products, and in 1905, they added a vertical engine. In 1908, they started producing a 4-cycle vertical engine rated at 3 HP, which they made until 1910. Then, in 1910, they redesigned the 4-cycle vertical engine, which was rated at 4 HP, eventually leading them to the model represented by the two Cushman engines in Stuhr Museum’s exhibit. Both Cushmans here at Stuhr have a November 4, 1911 patent date, which seem to correspond to patent 1008309, dated November 14, 1911. That patent is for a friction-clutch and can be viewed as a pdf here. The company often called their 4 HP engine a “binder engine,” seeing it especially as an engine for grain binders.

This engine has a 4” bore and stroke, and it weighs about 190 pounds. Cushman made the 4 HP engine until the 1930s, although the later models had an air cleaner and magneto. As late as 1934, a Cushman 4 HP engine with tank and battery cost $105. You can see a video of a running 4 HP Cushman here.

An ad with a Cushman engine
attached to a binder from
Tractor and Gas Engine Review,
Vol. 11. No. 5 (May, 1918), p.55.

Notes

Information regarding Cushman's history can be found in C. H. Wendel, American Gasoline Engines Since 1872, edited by George H. Dammann (Sarasota, FL: Crestline Publishing Co., 1983), pp. 115-116.

c. 1921 Hercules Model E 1 1/2 HP Engine

This Model E engine (serial #239840) was made by the Hercules Gas Engine Company in Evansville, Indiana, probably around 1921. It has a 1 1/2 HP engine and was rated at 550 RPM. The Model E was made between 1914 and 1921. Over 210,000 Model E engines appear to have been built.

The Hercules Gas Engine Company's history has been traced back to William H. McCurdy and the Brighton Buggy Works of Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1894. Supplying Sears, Roebuck and Company with buggies, McCurdy's company grew to the point where he needed larger facilities to meet demand. In 1902, McCurdy moved the company to Evansville, Indiana and renamed it the Hercules Buggy Company. From the early 1900s to 1909, the Evansville factory produced the Sears Motor Buggy, its first experience with gasoline engines. Even after Sears moved the manufacture of their motor buggies to Chicago, the Hercules Buggy Company continued to produce bodies for the motor buggies.
In 1912, the situation for McCurdy and for Sears changed. Sears had been purchasing its stationary engines from the Holm Machine and Manufacturing Company in Sparta, Michigan. When Holm could not meet the demand of Sears for its engines, McCurdy was asked to become the new supplier. In 1912, the Hercules Buggy Company purchased the Holm Company and moved the manufacturing of stationary engines to Evansville where a new factory was being built. On November 8, 1912, the Hercules Gas Engine Company was formed. In early 1914, the first Hercules engines rolled off the line. They would be the first of about 400,000 engines produced by the Hercules Gas Engine Company until the factory closed in 1934.
If you walk a short distance down the line of gas engines here in this exhibit, you will find a Hercules Model S 1 3/4 HP engine, made in Evansville around 1927, probably for Sears, Roebuck & Company.

Notes

A good resource for information on the Hercules Gas Engine Company is herculesengines.com, which can be accessed here. It has lots of photos, as well as brochures, owner's manuals, and other items for the Hercules lines of engines. A good narrative of the company's history can be found on the tractorfriends.org website, http://www.tractorfriends.org/history/herculesengine/herculesengine.html, which you can access here. For some basic information on the Hercules Model E printed in the August 1992 Gas Engine Magazine, click or touch here. For a Hercules engine serial number list, click or touch here.

c. 1910s to 1920s Associated 2 1/2 HP Engine

This engine (serial #164632) was made by the Associated Manufacturers Company in Waterloo, Iowa. Referred to a the "Hired Man," this engine was initially developed by 1910 as a 2 1/4 HP engine. It was rerated at 2 1/2 HP by 1917.
The Associated Manufacturers Company was incorporated in 1910 when Iowa Dairy Separator Company merged with other Waterloo area firms. Initially organized in 1896 to make hand-operated cream separators, the Iowa Dairy Separator company began developing engines by 1909. In 1913, the Associated line of engines was in full production. In 1946, the company was sold to Hamilton Engineering Company.

Notes

C. H. Wendel. American Gasoline Engines Since 1872. Edited by George H. Dammann. Sarasota, FL: Crestline Publishing Co., 1983, p. 35.

c. 1910s to 1920s Associated 4 HP Engine

This engine (serial #413204) was made by the Associated Manufacturers Company in Waterloo, Iowa. Initially called the "Farm Hand," the Associated 4 HP engine became the "Four Mule Team" portable engine in 1915. Weighing about 1,000 pounds, this engine was rated at 400 RPM. It cost $130 with the magneto. You can see a video of a "Four Mule Team" being started and run, including lots of close-ups of several moving parts, by clicking or touching here.
The Associated Manufacturers Company was incorporated in 1910 when Iowa Dairy Separator Company merged with other Waterloo area firms. Initially organized in 1896 to make hand-operated cream separators, the Iowa Dairy Separator company began developing engines by 1909. In 1913, the Associated line of engines was in full production. In 1946, the company was sold to Hamilton Engineering Company.

Notes

C. H. Wendel. American Gasoline Engines Since 1872. Edited by George H. Dammann. Sarasota, FL: Crestline Publishing Co., 1983, p. 35.

c. 1910s Cushman Type C 4 HP Engine with Green Paint

The Cushman Type C 4 HP Engine (serial #12659).

This engine (serial #12659) was made by Cushman Motor Works in Lincoln, Nebraska. Established by Leslie S. and Everett B. Cushman, Cushman Motor Works began manufacturing 2-cycle marine engines at the beginning of the 20th century, obtaining patent 703695 in 1902, and patents 721287 and 736224 in 1903. In 1904 and 1905, the company converted the 2-cycle marine engines to stationary use. From 1904 to 1906, they added a 3 HP horizontal engine to their products, and in 1905, they added a vertical engine. In 1908, they started producing a 4-cycle vertical engine rated at 3 HP, which they made until 1910. Then, in 1910, they redesigned the 4-cycle vertical engine, which was rated at 4 HP, eventually leading them to the model represented by the two Cushman engines in Stuhr Museum’s exhibit. Both Cushmans here at Stuhr have a November 4, 1911 patent date, which seem to correspond to patent 1008309, dated November 14, 1911. That patent is for a friction-clutch and can be viewed as a pdf here. The company often called their 4 HP engine a “binder engine,” seeing it especially as an engine for grain binders.

The box in front of the engine would have held the battery used for ignition; and the tank held water used for the cooling system. This engine has a 4” bore and stroke. The engine itself weighs about 190 pounds, while the entire outfit with tank, battery, and truck would weigh about 380 pounds. Cushman made the 4 HP engine until the 1930s, although the later models had an air cleaner and magneto. As late as 1934, a Cushman 4 HP engine with tank and battery cost $105. You can see a video of a running 4 HP Cushman here.

A Cushman ad from Farm.Implements,Vol. XXVIII,
No. 12 (December 24, 1914), p.55.

Notes

Information regarding Cushman's history can be found in C. H. Wendel, American Gasoline Engines Since 1872, edited by George H. Dammann (Sarasota, FL: Crestline Publishing Co., 1983), pp. 115-116.

Early 20th Century Gade 3 HP Engine

This air-cooled engine was manufactured by the Gade Brothers Manufacturing Company of Iowa Falls, Iowa. It was rated at 3 HP and has a 5" x 7" bore and stroke. According to a 1911 history of Hardin County, Iowa, the future Gade company was initially created by two men named Hardenrook and Rice. In 1903, Carl L. Gade joined these two men in the business. About six months later, Carl's brothers, Fred J., Willam H., and Louis A., replaced Hardenrook and Rice as co-owners. Over the next few years, the Gade brothers made a series of improvements to the company's engine, especially developing an air cooling system for their engines, and their company slowly grew. By 1914, the company had about 30,000 square feet of floor space, employed about 50 to 60 men, and had two traveling representatives. The Gade brothers' company not only shipped engines throughout the U.S., but also to other countries.

If you look at the top of this Gade engine, you might notice a small brass cup sticking up from the engine. This is a Lunkenheimer Brass Oil Cup made by the Lunkenheimer Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. This company was founded as the Cincinnati Brass Works in 1862 by Frederick Lunkenheimer, a German immigrant to the U.S. Over the first several years in business, Lunkenheimer made a wide variety of valves, lubricators, steam engine attachments, and other brass items. After Frederick's death in 1889, his son, Edmund, took over leadership of the company. Edmund was a very inventive person, obtaining several patents for valves and lubricators. In 1902, the company opened a new 150,000 square foot factory, employing about 700 workers. The factory produced items not only for the U.S. market, but for markets throughout the world. You can see a 1906 Lunkenheimer illustrated catalog, showing this brass cup and the company's other products by clicking or touching here.

From the Lunkenheimer Factory 1906 Illustrated Catalog
and Price List. Published in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Notes

The information about the Gade company's 1903 formation is from Past and Present of Hardin County Iowa, edited by William J. Moir (Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1911), pp. 450-452. The information about the Gade company in 1914 is from Farm Implement News, vol. XXXV, no. 48 (November 26, 1914), p. 70.

The information on the Lunkenheimer Company in 1902 is from Electrical World and Engineer, vol. XL, no. 18 (November 1, 1902).

1928 Fairbanks-Morse Type Z 20 HP Engine

This 20 HP engine (serial #714769) was made by Fairbanks, Morse & Company of Chicago, Illinois. Fairbanks, Morse, & Company was created by Charles H. Morse, a very successful agent for the E. & T. Fairbanks Company of St. Johnsbury, Vermont. In 1850, Morse became an apprentice with the Fairbanks company, a company specializing in weighing scales. In 1857, Morse moved to Chicago where Fairbanks had a sales office. After the 1871 Chicago fire destroyed a large portion of the city, the smart and energetic Morse took over the Chicago office and started Fairbanks, Morse, & Company.

Notes

A brief history of Fairbanks, Morse & Company can be found in C. H. Wendel's American Gasoline Engines Since 1872, edited by George H. Dammann (Sarasota, FL: Crestline Publishing Co., 1983).

1930 John Deere Type E 1 1/2 HP Engine

This engine (serial #314855) was made by the John Deere Tractor factory in Waterloo, Iowa. John Deere & Company entered the gas engine business when it purchased the Waterloo Gas Engine Company of Waterloo, Iowa in 1918. The John Deere factory made the engine seen here by using two 1927 patents issued to Harold E. McCray – patent 1625043, which you can view as a pdf here, and patent 1648737, which you can view as a pdf here. In 1931, after producing Stuhr's example, Deere acquired a third patent for its engines, patent 1803120. John Deere's engine series included the 1 1/2, 3, and 6 HP engines. This 1 1/2 HP engine has a 3 1/2" x 4 1/2" bore and stroke. It was reportedly used on a farm near Aurora, Nebraska, about 20 miles east of Grand Island.

Notes

Information on John Deere engines can be found in C. H. Wendel, American Gasoline Engines Since 1872, ed. George H. Dammann (Sarasota, FL: Crestline Publishing Co., 1983).

1925 McCormick-Deering Type M 3 HP Engine

This engine (serial #BW-5995) was made by International Harvester Company in Chicago, Illinois. The company made 103,195 of these Type M 3 HP engines during the engine's 1918 to 1937 production run. This 3 HP Type M engine at Stuhr Museum was rated at 600 RPM, and was reportedly used near Gresham, Nebraska, a village in York County, about 70 miles east of Grand Island.
One of the largest farm implement manufacturers in the world since its creation in 1902, International Harvester Company made several items in Stuhr Museum's exhibit, including four engines, three tractors, a binder, and two reapers. I. H. C. continued to be a dominant farm implement company after the period in which it made all of Stuhr's items. I. H. C. exists today as Case-IH, a company created in 1984 by the merger of the J. I. Case Company, which was owned by Tenneco at the time, and the farm implement division of International Harvester which Tenneco purchased.

If you look on the left side of this engine, you might notice that it has a Wico Type EK Magneto (#105739) made by the Wico Electric Company of Springfield, Massachusetts. This ignition system has a series of patent dates stamped onto its name plate. These patents are patent 1307343, dated June 24, 1919, which you can view as a pdf here; patent 1335119, dated March 30, 1920, which you can view here; patent 1488975, dated April 1, 1924, which you can view here; patent 1489382, dated April 8, 1924, which you can view here; and patent 1490171, dated April 15, 1924, which you can view here.

From Oil Field Engineering, vol.XXIII,
no.5 (May, 1921)

Early 20th Century New Holland Type P 1 1/2 HP Farm Engine

This gasoline engine was made by the New Holland Machine Company in New Holland, Pennsylvania. It has a 1 1/2 HP engine and is rated to run at 300 to 600 RPM. This particular engine has serial #9835 as well as two patents. The patents were both issued on April 7, 1903, to Abraham M. Zimmerman, the founder of the company. One of the patents, for a vaporizer for gas engines, is Patent 724648 which you can view by clicking or touching here. The other, for a sparking mechanism for engines, is Patent 724649 which you can view by clicking or touching here.

Abraham M. Zimmerman was born on a farm near New Holland, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1869. After a few years as an apprentice, Zimmerman moved to New Holland and started his own workshop where he repaired a variety of machines for local farmers. His initial business was called the New Holland Machine Shop, and, by 1899, Zimmerman had developed his New Holland Cob and Feed Mill which made him locally known. He added gasoline engines to his products by 1901. In 1903, the year he incorporated his company as The New Holland Machine Company, his factory employed about 21 workers. The New Holland Machine Company changed hands several times over the years since the early 1900s, and is, today, part of Case-New Holland, one of the world's largest agricultural equipment manufacturers.

If you would like to see and hear a New Holland 1 1/2 HP farm engine in action, click or touch here for a 44 second video. To see and hear a 59 second video of another old New Holland engine, click or touch here.

Notes

For some information on Zimmerman and his company before 1903, see "Zimmerman, Abraham M." in Biographical Annals of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: Biographical and Genealogical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and Many of the Earlier Settlers. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1903), pp. 944-945.