Back When The World Was Rational
Durn tootin' this ad makes me feel old. I worked on many a generator attached to such as engine. The last one was at Tioga Lodge and had 37,000 hours on it.
Forum Discussion
Durn tootin' this ad makes me feel old. I worked on many a generator attached to such as engine. The last one was at Tioga Lodge and had 37,000 hours on it.
12 Replies
- People shop primarily be price so what do you expect?
- If we can get a man to the moon, we can have stuff as reliable as we did a century ago. I may be showing my age, but I absolutely abhor this "good enough" philosophy that I see in virtually everything made these days, next to seeing the "made in China" tags.
- On the other hand, I also remember when 100,000 miles on an auto was exceptional, and you had almost always had at least a valve job by then. Stopping on long grades to let the engine cool down... being lucky to get 15,000 miles out of tires....
- The Amish disagree :)
Jim - You should also remember that in those day they were for specialized use on farms etc - nowadays we all have a generator or 2 stuck in the shed/garage/rv.
It's called progress - nothing we can do about it so just sit back and enjoy the ride! - Our company still farms a few acres with HOLT tractors from late 1920s or 1930s.
Thresher is fairly new I think from the 1950s. Repairs are way way over $1 per year.
A few antiques also kept in near new condition. - Every year in early October we have the Galt Antique Gas Engine & Tractor Show just west of town. There are a lot of those type of engines the OP posted about, and most of then are running.
- Hershey - the ice cream machine you referenced is still there or at least WAS this past winter. I never tasted the ice cream, though. Most definitely a 'different' engine.
- Vertical valves!
A good friend of our family had a collection of one cylinder engines. He just built all the parts to keep them running in his shop. Buying them was no fun anyway and he loved building things.
Jim - This is the kind of durability and value that once was. If a part did not work, you took it apart, and fixed it with a small tool kit. On an obsolete diesel model a cam lobe went flat. I built up the lobe with Allstate 275 and then ground it down to best look like the lobe on the other cylinder. It started within 5 seconds of cranking and ran like a champ. Pushed a 20 kw Lima generator to a little over 12 KW at 12,000 feet altitude. On 13 gallons a day. A clue as to why I get so cranky with some of this throwaway gizmo junk.
