Illinois oil field trip

[KeithW]

Hello all,
Took my trip to the oil country of eastern Illinois. Saw a number of wells being run by F-M Z engines. Here are some pictures of one. Stopped in to see Larry who runs a small oilfeld engine repair shop in Grayville. Nicest guy you would ever want to meet. Keeps the F-M Z engines in the area repaired and running. Saw a number in various oilfield supply stores that looked like they might be real projects. Might have to pick up one or two some time.

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keithw

[MoRo]

How old are some of these engines. I'm guessin' not that old, because of the radiator cooling system and all.
~M~

[John Newman, Jr.]

Keith,
Next time you come you come up from Nevada headed to Illinois to check out oil field engines, I'd sure enjoy riding shotgun on such an expedition. If you come through St. Louis, I'm willing to bet I could work my schedule to fit. I'm always up for an engine hunting adventure.

[ListerDiesel]

Originally Posted by Monte R.

How old are some of these engines. I'm guessin' not that old, because of the radiator cooling system and all.
~M~

I think they have made that version for many years, there are usually a couple at Portland each year, might have taken a picture of one this year or last.

Peter

[KeithW]

They were quick to point out the differance between old work engines and antique engines. The ones still working are of recent vintage. Still cool but easier to find and find parts for. They were pretty much two sizes, about 50 cu in and about 100 cu in. The one in the pictures was running on well head gas but some ran on propane. I plan to go back again in May. I'll post a note then and see if I can hook up with some of the folks from the area.

keithw

[Fred Van Hook]

Keith, If you can ever make it to the Oblong Ill. show they can take you to see the 3 Superior engines pulling multipule wells. (1 25 h.p. and 2 35 h.p.) They take you on tour free. Just sign up and go. It is like going back in the past.

[Doug Waggonner]

The engine in the picture is a Fairbannks ZC 208, the "208" stands for the cubic inch. These engines go from the little "52" to "118", "208","346","503", then the BIG OL' 739 Fairbanks built these engines I believe untill 1948 for themselves. BUT, then they had them built by other mfg'rs like Bell mfg and Colt Mfg. Untill the late 70's or early 80's. And Arrow built about a dozen 208's in the mid 1990's! And you can STILL buy 95% of the parts for these engines. And here is a link to the shop manual for the ZC engines. enjoy! http://www.arrowengine.com/media/arr...ementparts.pdf

[Richard Fisher]

Hi All, The Oblong Engine Show Is A Must See For All That Can Possably Get To It. It Is The Second Week Of August Every Year.

Some Day The Epa Will Shut Down These Big Engine Opperations, And If You Missed Your Chance To View Such An Opperation, Shame On You

Dick

[Doug Waggonner]

The EPA will be hard pressed to do away with oilfield engines since they have nearly zero emmisions running on natural well head gas, methane, or propane. That, and the fact there is about a million of them still in service thru-out the country.