D
David Bliss
Guest
Can anyone give me any more information about my engine? It seems, from the number on the igniter bracket (303M56), that there is a connection to Termatt and Monahan, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
It is definitely 1921 or later, the brass plate on the hopper says Mackies (1921) Ltd. It has marked similarities to the T & M Wiscona Pep engine, but has ball bearing main bearings, a completely open crank with a light tin splashguard, a different water hopper and a different fuel tank. The cylinder head, carburettor, igniter, flywheels, gears and piston of the Wiscona are identical to mine.
It is also very similar to two other engines I have had, a Teles Smith and a Walden, both of which also had the ball bearing cranksaft. Most parts on these would have been interchangeable with mine but they both differed from mine in having high-tension ignition. The Teles Smith also had a slightly different carburettor; the Walden had a heavy cast iron crank splashguard supporting the magneto, different valve operating gear and a different carburettor. All these engines seem to suffer from the same faults: weak crank shafts break, if the throttle spring breaks the governor arm falls into the flywheel, breaking the governor arm itself or a piece out of the cylinder block, and the throttle butterflys can fall off internally and become stuck.
Did T & M export some variants to British manufacturers, perhaps? In discussions with engine enthusiasts here in Britain the names Hobbes and British Lion have cropped up several times.
It is definitely 1921 or later, the brass plate on the hopper says Mackies (1921) Ltd. It has marked similarities to the T & M Wiscona Pep engine, but has ball bearing main bearings, a completely open crank with a light tin splashguard, a different water hopper and a different fuel tank. The cylinder head, carburettor, igniter, flywheels, gears and piston of the Wiscona are identical to mine.
It is also very similar to two other engines I have had, a Teles Smith and a Walden, both of which also had the ball bearing cranksaft. Most parts on these would have been interchangeable with mine but they both differed from mine in having high-tension ignition. The Teles Smith also had a slightly different carburettor; the Walden had a heavy cast iron crank splashguard supporting the magneto, different valve operating gear and a different carburettor. All these engines seem to suffer from the same faults: weak crank shafts break, if the throttle spring breaks the governor arm falls into the flywheel, breaking the governor arm itself or a piece out of the cylinder block, and the throttle butterflys can fall off internally and become stuck.
Did T & M export some variants to British manufacturers, perhaps? In discussions with engine enthusiasts here in Britain the names Hobbes and British Lion have cropped up several times.
