192? United engine runs for the first ime in 50 years

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Anachronism

Well-known member
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Feb 15, 2014
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I bought 2 engines a few monts ago, both had sat in a barn for decades, but one was complete and only mildly stuck, this one I considered to be a parts piece or an anchor for a medium fishing boat, as it was missing many parts, had a 6" flame weld repair on the conneccting rod, and it took a sledge hammer against a 4X4 in the cylinder to move the piston. 3 months later & a few hours machining & forging parts, it runs, and with the original piston rings

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My dad has an old Fairbanks Morse engine that's very similar in appearance. He doesn't run it very often, or for very long, but it's always fun to see. He's had it since long before I was born, in fact I think he bought it as a teenager in the 1950's. Thanks for sharing.
 
One of my uncles gave this T&M to me in 1955, I acquired a Fairbanks Morse in 1962 from a scrap yard for $7.50. I use them to power saws & portable machinery on the farm, as well as many demonstrations of life before OSHA & Sam Bernstein---

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Engines can be quite resilient-they can run after being cleaned up well.Some that are so rusted you wouldn't think they could work.Clean them up-apply fresh oil and fuel and away it can go.And new spark plugs and rings help.Haven't done this myself-but know of folks that have.At best I can sorta keep lawnmower motors going.
 
Interesting. When I think of Fairbanks-Morse I think of big blown induction two stroke opposed piston diesels in locomotives and submarines, not little gasoline engines like these.
 
I have seen Fairbanks Morse made horizontal single cylinder engines from 1 1/2 up to 40 HP (see attached photo), and I know they made larger, but yes, they are most famous for their 2 cycle diesels, which began in the late 1920s(?)

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Back in the mid 60s I wrote to FM for parts for a FM 3 HP model Z, and they in return sent me brochures for 52,000 horse power generator sets and opposed piston marine engines. I still have one or two, but a lot of them disappeared after I was drafted. Interesting to note that the "Z" series farm engines featured a combustion chamber configuration similar to the HUGE early diesels and oil engines
 
Polkanut69: Thanks for the link, we attend several steam engine & living history events here in Michigan each year, the event touted in the link seems quite similar to our Steam Threshers Reunion, put on by the Michigan Steam Engine & Threshers Club
 
Polkanut69: Thanks for the link, we attend several steam engine & living history events here in Michigan each year, the event touted in the link seems quite similar to our Steam Threshers Reunion, put on by the Michigan Steam Engine & Threshers Club
 
You owe yourself a visit to the old USS Texas outside Houston to see it's triple expansion reciprocating steam plant. It is a pre-WWI battleship that served in both WWI and WWII. She was originally coal fired but converted to burn oil in the 1920's.
 
United engine restoration

Congratulations, Anachronism, on another good job well done. I have long been fascinated by the old style 'horizontal, open-crank' type engines, but unfortunately on this side of the 'Pond' they are very scarce, and command prohibitive prices, even for something in a similarly poor condition to the one you have just restored. My horizons are limited to (as Tolivac mentioned) lawnmower engines.... I have a couple of Suffolk engines currently awaiting attention when time permits.

All best

Dave T
 
Dave Tranter: Last year at a 3 day steam engine & tractor show we had the pleasure of sharing our display of old machinery & blacksmithing with a retired machinist from Worchestershire. Last winter he bought a half size steam engine to rebuild. Interesting note about the T&M engine: thanks to WWI there are likely more T&M products in Europe & Australia than here in the U.S, I might have seen 4 or 5 in the past 40 years. The attached photo shows Mr. James Trevor Ives standing in for me at the machine display

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Marine Engines

In case it may be of interest to anyone.......

In the UK we had only two (major) builders of opposed piston marine engines.

Messrs. William Doxford & Soms (Engineers) Ltd. designed and built their own engines on Tyneside, though some engines of their design were built under licence in the U.S. / Canada.

Messrs. Harland and Wolff built engines in Belfast, but these were to the Danish Burmeister and Wain design.

Doxfords (sadly now defunct) has quite a following in this country, and there is a fair amount of information about them on the Web, including some fascinating pictures of these huge machines under construction and in maintenance.

All best

Dave T

P.S. no idea how to post 'links', and wouldn't want to favour one site over another, so 'happy searching'.... ;-)
 
Hit and Miss! And old farm machinery..

You really should check out the Old Threshers Reunion, held every 4th of july week in Denton NC, at the Denton Farm Park, ive been going for years,,,they even have Aunt Beas Studebaker she brought with her when she retired to Siler City NC!!!
 

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