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).