1943 B&S model A engine

I've had this B&S model A engine for almost a year and finally got around to getting it running.The engine was complete when I got it,it looked like someone had cleaned it up some a tried to get it running.When I got into it,the first thing that I found was that it was turning pretty tight,I found that the engine had been put together without a gasket that sets the crankshaft end play,so I made a gasket for that,the points plunger was sticking,probably from old oil so I had to get that free again.Once I got those things out of the way,I tried cranking it and found that the compression felt pretty low,I tried to start it a few times but it wouldn't even putt.I ended up taking the piston out and found the rings were stuck in the ring grooves from carbon,I was able to carefully and with the help of liberal amounts of wd40,I was able to get the rings free.Once I buttoned it back up,it didn't take to much to get this one singing again.To me these old engines are a testament to sound engineering,this engine was built in 1943.It's all cast iron,even the head shroud and blower housing,it weights about 75lbs and produces about 1 1/2 hp,that's probably the real reason why they last as long as they do,while they are a far sight better than the hit N miss engines that came before,they a far cry from the engines that power lawn equipment a such today.

Wisconsin engines

One of the reasons that I prefer vintage Bolens tractors over some of the other brands is there use of Wisconsin engines,they used engines from just about every small engine company but they had quite a few of there earlier models that used Wisconsins.Now if you ask people that have been around engines for a while about Wisconsin engines,you'll get a lot of different opinions,everything from love 'em to hate 'em.Wisconsin has been building engines since around 1909 or 1910,they started out building 4 cylinder engines that were used in cars,trucks and tractors.Stutz,Kissel,McFarlan,Brockway and FWD were a few of the companies that used Wisconsin engines.The Stutz/Wisconsin combination cars were front runners in the early years at the Indianapolis 500 and the early Stutz Bearcats used Wisconsin engines starting in 1914.In the 1930s they started building small engines and came out with the V type 4 cylinder that is still used on a lot of agricultural and industrial applications.The engines that they built from the 1930s into the 1970s were big hunks of iron,most weighed 100lbs or more,one of those sitting on a tractor frame does a pretty good job keeping the front wheels on the ground.Bolens was one of only a few companies that used Wisconsin engines and if you find one today,unless it's been sitting outside unprotected,it probably doesn't have much wear in it.I've heard of a few that sounded like they were used hard enough to show wear,were rebuilt and are ready for another 40 or 50 years.

gas powered washing machines

Back in the early days of the 1900s gas engines were all the rage,they were using them for everything.Maytag started building engines around 1910,the first were engines that just sat beside a wood tub washing machine and ran it with a flat belt.Around 1920 they started building washing machines with an engine instead of an electric motor and a few years later started building washing machines that would run on electric or with a gas engine.This is mine,actually I have 3 right now but this is the only running one,they also had attachments for grinding meat,churning butter or making electricity.