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.