Reid charge cylinder question

[Greg Shipley]

I have always wondered, why some reids were build with the charge cylinder on the left and some on the right.
why is this?

Greg

[Andrew Mackey]

Left hand or right hand power take off side, as needed, was the reason Only one side of the engine has usable crankshaft, due to the design (charging cylender rod is outboard of the flywheel) I believe that more left handers were built? Reid also Siamesed the larger engines, used a third flywheel and took power from the center of the unit. Not many of the Siamesed units remain - due to the fact that each side was independantly goverened, torsional stresses broke the cranks, usually leading to destruction of the pair. Does any one have a Siamesed set? I had heard of a 45 HP Siamesed set in Phillipsburg PA, that self destructed in the mid 1940s.
Andrew

[Tom Winland]

I have a pair of 15HP Reids that are opposite handed with bolt on clutches that I have thought about trying to hook together.

Tom Winland
Ohio

[Tom Schoolcraft]

Tom let me know if it works
As I also have a couple pair of right & left hand 15hp Reids sitting around here I could put together.
I have thought about doing this for sometime. But just never figured out how to make them fire at the right time.

[Doug Waggonner]

As for coulpling up two Reids. I think it would almost have to be magneto fired. Cause I dont think theres any way to get 2 hot tubes the exact same temp . I wonder if theres a way to make one OC or R1 wico mag fire 2 plugs? To make sure BOTH engines fire exactly in time with each other. And for display purposes, I think it could be done if there was some sort of shear pin where the 2 engines joined at the crank shafts. Just incase something went wrong you would only have to replace the shear pin. And as for the govenor, why couldnt you just use 1. Like a big Pickering or Judson and simply Tee off of the output side of the gov? That way you would eleminate the problem of 2 govenors working against each other. WOW, I may have just opened a can of worms I think I'm safe from trying this as my Reid doesnt have the short crank shaft with a bolt on clutch. LOL.....that, AND I dont have 2 Reids anyway. Oh, and Greg, Reid made left and right hand engines for people to ponder about 80 years later..... .....NO, the previous post is correct, it just depended what application the engine was designated for. I.E. what ever side they needed the power take off to be on.

[Andrew Mackey]

For those of you who want to couple 2 Reids - consider this: 1) both engines would have to be set on a common unmovable base, preferably a cast iron casting, as concrete will give, no matter how thick - this makes moving them as a pair nearly impossible.2) the crankshafts would have to be aligned within .0001" - from outer ends thru both centers, in 2 dimensions - vertically and horizontally (mis-alignment means fatigue failure) 3 and 4) A reliable throttle control, and ignition must be found (remember even a mis-fire will set up torsional stresses that may induce crank failure) 5) The center flywheel on thr twins was approximately tripple wide, as power was taken off the face - could one be found today? It sounds like a neat , but nearly impossible project!
Andrew

[Chuck Martin]

I believe I would set them up to fire 180 degrees out from each other. How many multi cylinder engines fire all cyl. at the same time? A flexible coupling would take care of the alignment problem.

I got a 25 hp left hand, If I could find a right hand to match, I might give it a try.

[Tom Schoolcraft]

Here a picture I have of two reids put together ( can't remember where I got this picture from ) It would be interesting to see something like this work