Are there enough magnetos to go around?

I own more engines that need magnetos, like websters and wico eks, than I own that have the correct mags. It seems to me that the cost of these are now more than I paid for the rest of the engine, and these are common mags. And, then you may have to buy the bracket, rebuild kit, etc. In the long run, are there more magnetos than engines, less magnetos than engines, or exactly the right amount? Just kinda wondering what you guys think.

I think there are many more magneto's than engines, they are just butied or go un noticed.. If you scrounge around in all the sheds at any old farmstead you are almost guarentee'd to come up with at least one in a pile of rubble. In years gone by I have seen hundreds at farm sale and never gave them a second thought. I am sure many of the mags at swap meets and on the internet priced from $150 and up were bought at farm sales for $1. Funny thing when you see a magless engine for sale they want the same price as one with a mag. But if you buy them seperate you will pay double.

Bill, Thats why I`m going to get rid of my gas engines and look for one of them there Schwinn`s we talked about. Only, no banana seat. I`m replacing it with the new and improved, "big butt" seat that was offered as an option in mid 1968!!

I do agree though! The prices for mags are ridiculous!! Hell, I`ll just sell my mags and buy more engines. I can run them on battery and coil!!

oldenginejim

I'm sure to catch heck for this, but here goes: Not only are the prices of magnetos, ridiculous, getting one repaired isn't much better! Look in the supplier catalogs & check out the prices for mag parts...they aren't that expensive, so why is it so expensive to get repaired??? It's almost as bad as a new mag! Do you have to be a collage grad or rocket scientist to repair them? Do they have diplomas & are they "MAG REPAIR CERTIFIED"??? They make more per hour than I do...I must be in the wrong business! Would someone please explain these prices to me?

I would say that if you think it cost to much to send the mag out for repair Randy, then you should do it yourself and then after your done with it go ahead and send it out for repair. A very good friend of mine repairs mags and ignitors and is by no means going to the bank everyday with cash for deposit. I have watched him work on some of the mags people send to him and as far as I am concerned, he should charge more. I have seen the sales tickets for the parts he has to buy to repair them plus you should see all the equipment he has to maintain to do the work.

I do agree that the cost of buying a mag is getting a bit on the high side but people are still buying them regaurdless. Maybe you should just consider buying engines that require a battery coil setup and relieve your stress on the high cost of finding and buying a mag.

Instead of trying to sell that chore boy for 900.00 dollers, take the mag and bracket off sell it for 350.00 and sell the engine for 695.00,ive seen that happen alot or you will see an engine missing the oiler, grease cups, mag, crank guard, hand crank, and the owner sais i might have some of them parts lying around in my garage and out come the boxes of grease cup and oilers and a box of crank handols, and on the work bench is 6 mags setting there, i have learned my lesson, i just hate to see the new guys get screwed, and while im hacked off another thing that burns my ass is these so called men screwing these widowed ladies out of their husbands engines, i have herd of some sad stories lately, one lately was a man (boy) who told the lady that the engines was not worth much, and would buy all of them, so she would not have to mess with them, buying a upright for 300.00 and selling it for 2500.00, and it was like that with all of them. HE THINKS HE GOT A GREAT DEAL, BUT ITS GOING TO BE A BAD DEAL WHEN MY FOOT DISAPEARS IN HIS ASS.

I have been looking for a mag for a 4 cylinder Holt. Cant wait to see the price on that one!

TOM: Wish I could be there. This bothers me more than anything. I'll back you up all the way. CHUCK

I see lots of mags at the shows. Never seem to find the one that I'm looking for, though! And I've seen pretty reasonable prices, $15-35 for working unrestored mags. I also lament that the price of parts has gone up, but that seems to be true for the auto and ag industires too. Some guys who rebuild mags are real perfectionists and considering the time and detail they put into their work, they are well worth the price. Others are hatchet men. Its best to know who you're working with.

I have several Wico EK's. The most dependable one with the hottest spark looks the worst. It has old burnt looking tape on the coils, big globby looking solder connections, and the cover is missing. It is the one that several repairmen have told me to throw away and start over with a rebuilt. It is also the one that is going with my Cushman on ebay. I probably should have followed my own advise and sold them seperatly. I could have even said it was BARN FRESH!!!

may not be enough to go around i ordered a mag for a jd 3hp ep engine from a guy in mn. sent him a check in 1992 still have no mag.i called him acouple of times then he put a recoder on his phone. i have conceled check where i can see it reminds me that there are con artist in engine land. this guy advertised in gem. my weaknes for being so trust worthy. but there is still alot of nice and honest engine people to deal and assotiate with.

Well Steve, thanks for sharing!! She's a real beauty!! No hit and miss, that one!!

Your engines are ok too! John

I had a mag that was in a lot worse shape than that, it had set outside in the weather for years and the whole thing was locked solid. I was told I would never get it working, but after about a week I had replaced the points guide and alot of cleaning up, and a new condenser and it came back to life! I was able to use the original coils which at first glance you would think no way it will work!


http://www.netpluscom.com/~10730/proj.html

Bill, some have them and others don't. Look this bunch of maggies, they belongs to an Australian friend of Ted Brookover. That's what I called, some stuff in stock.

Take care John H.

JOHN: Just get a red X CHUCK

The picture didn't work, here another try.

Take care John H.

Well, I guess we know where all the mags are now !!

oldenginejim

Hey, there's one in there that I've been looking for for 12 years...

An interesting feature of magnetos in Australia is that you will find lots and lots of high tension ones and no where near as many low tension ones. The majority of engines to land on these shores were pretty quickly converted to high tension. Also battery ignition was almost non-existant. Due to the vast distances between townships battery ignition was not practicle (where were you going to get batteries) and so most companies went with the more expensive but more reliable high tension magneto and plug.

Just a quick question. Is it safe to stack these mags that close together without screwing up the magnetism in the magnets? Could it possibly make them weak?

oldenginejim