I’m 71 yrs old and back in the 50’s and 60’s when I was a kid my great grandfather lived in an oil and gas company house on Oil Ridge Tyler County WV. His job was to keep the massive meaning HUGE hit and miss engine running he also oiled the belts that ran several pumping stations off of the flywheel of the hit and miss engine. The main belt ran a pulley that ran other belts that went to the pumps. It was a pretty amazing thing to see for a little kid, the engine could be heard for miles. In the late 60’s the operation was converted to electric motors for the field pumps and my great Gran Pap had to move into town and lived with my grandmother. He had some amazing stories about the old hit and Miss engine. Those days in the USA were amazing.

@klpittman1

Ай бұрын

I’m in Kanawha county. Used to hear old well pumps out in the woods from miles away. Haven’t heard one run since the 80’s.

@oscartheg6674

Ай бұрын

I can't add to that I have seen them in old county fairs they're excellent.

@garyjohnson4657

Ай бұрын

I would be willing to bet, that people who first saw these were in awe! I also think it will not be long till modern society, not having been exposed to these machines, will be just as in awe!!!

@rossk4864

Ай бұрын

Great story. In the 1980's I lived in a village on the lower Yukon River in Alaska where I ran the power utility. A guy, who lived at a fish camp about 30 miles downriver had a failed Lister diesel generator and asked me for help. He took me by boat to the camp and I determined that the voltage regulator had failed. Sitting next to the Lister, in the generator shack, was an early 1930's horizontal, single cylinder, 15 kW Whitte diesel generator. I asked him about the unit and he said he never saw it run in his 35 years, but his dad, who was deceased at that time, had told him that there was nothing wrong with it. I filled up lubricating oil cups, bled the fuel line and filled the fuel priming cup with diesel, I found and opened the compression release and started spinning one of the flywheels, closed the compression release and off it went without hesitation. I initially couldn't get it to generate, so I stopped the machine, and arced the field with a car battery. Upon restarting, it generated, and I easily adjusted governor and voltage regulator to 60 Hz, 120/240 volts. It had a 50-pole alternator and turned at 144 rpm. He used it for a few months, until he got the Lister repaired, and said it ran flawlessly the entire time.

@scottrayhons2537

Ай бұрын

​@@rossk4864really interesting story about those generators! History will repeat itself if Crooked Joe stays in office. Keep those diesel generators on standby.

Towing 5k+ with a jacked up Suzuki. That's some balls.

@Cast_Iron_Curiosities

Ай бұрын

I don't know if I'd consider backing it into the garage as towing lol. I'd definitely not take it on the street!

@user-zc5qy2sr1c

Ай бұрын

LOL! That one lunger probably weighs more than the Suzuki.

@ShainAndrews

Ай бұрын

@@Cast_Iron_Curiosities LOL.

@ironworkerfxr7105

Ай бұрын

FIRST THING I THOUGHT........

@petert3355

Ай бұрын

That is just asking to wag the dog....

Look I’m just happy to see somebody younger. That actually has learned how to do all this correctly. It’s very impressive to an old man. It makes me smile. !! keep doing what you’re doing because you have knowledge very few people in the planet will have??!!!

The part that got the tears from laughing flowing for me was when he said "if you've got one of these at home.......it is possible to blow one of these up by doing an air start" Priceless.

The spring doesn't control the amount of gas. When that plate lifts, it allows both gas and air into the engine. The gas regulator controls the ratio of gas to air. The spring keeps the plate closed, so it only gets gas when it draws in air.

I'm not an engineer, nor a mechanic, but I found this fascinating. The way you have explained everything and the detail you went into was absolutely brilliant! Thank you so much. 😃

@mickwolf1077

Ай бұрын

way better than an animation explaining things.

The longer the hot tube, the more advanced the timing. That tube seems to be too long and ignition is starting well before TDC. It also makes it very unforgiving to start. I'd go back to that 6" now that you have it running and see how it behaves.

@roberthousedorfii1743

25 күн бұрын

I'd love to see a followup video about how to tune these things, per this suggestion. @rsmith2786 is it possible to advance the timing, if the tube is too short, by heating the tube to a higher temp? or would that just screw things up even more?

@6agenthawk

9 күн бұрын

thats what i was thinking too as he was trying to kick start it and after when it was running

Careful, my grandma first husband got his coveralls caught in wheel. Died 3 days later. Widow with 3 children at 19years age.

My grandfather grew up near Sheffield Pa, and had a hunting lodge there. This is the heart of the Allegheny National Forest. Near his camp there were 2 stationary steam engines that ran push rods through the woods to run oil well pumps. Some of the rods are still strung through the Allegheny National Forest as of 2007. This engine was used to replace those steam engines. The Bessemer plant is still in Grove City, sadly boarded up. I went to college there. Fascinating stuff.

As an old ships engineer I must say your explanations are excellent. I did not had any knowledge of this kind of two stroke gas engines, how to time them or hot pipes. In an other video I learned about hit and mis engines, magnetos and how to re-magnetize them. You do this better than every teacher I had. One remark, the rod between crosshead and the piston we called the piston rod. You probably already knew this (sorry).

That was the first time I had heard a good explanation of a hot tube and timing. Nice instruction! Loved the CAD (Cardboard Aided Design) visual aids. It was cool (hot?) to see how the length makes a difference. It was almost like a diesel pre-chamber. Thanks.

5 minutes in, the display and description adds tremendous value to the learning curve ! Thanks mate ! 😊 Cheers from New Zealand

I stumbled across one of these in a shed in western PA, Butler area about 40 years ago as a kid riding horses. the whole setup was there, even the belt from the engine to the main beam of the pump jack. It will had plenty of compression, it would hold me standing on the flywheel of about the same size as this one. Only difference is where this has a crosshead guide, the one I saw was directly connected to the piston that you could see the back of. Most of the valve gear and governor control was missing. I'd love to wander back into the woods some day and see if it's still in there. It's obviously big enough that someone would have to make concerted effort to get it out because it was way up a valley with minimal access. Thanks for the explanation of the hot tube ignition, I never understood how those worked... basically a diesel engine with a glow plug. I do wonder however if the type of gas would also have an effect on timing as it should be easier to light natural gas than propane since it's lighter. Now whether that means it needs more or less ignition, I don't know... theoretically running propane, you should only need 1/3 the fuel you'd use on natural gas to get the same thermal energy per ignition... So depending on where that engine came from, and what it was being fed, that may have played a role and explained its odd timing. Cool video!

Just had our gardner ,1.5hp hot tube engine running last night. Glad to see our hobby is alive in 2024

Surely there is a better method of turning rod without chewing up the rid with a monkey wrench??? WTH, damn, even a piece of thick cloth would be better than nothing??? Regards from South Africa

@sjv6598

Ай бұрын

I was quite shocked he took that approach.

@primrosereceptionist611

Ай бұрын

Use a strap wrench.

@lmj1417

Ай бұрын

Remove the head and then turn the piston. You don’t want to damage the rod. A damaged rod will ruin the packing. A horse cock which is like a sleeve protects the packing when the rod is pushed through the packing. I have done this to dozens of reciprocating compressors which are similar.

@serioustrouble63

Ай бұрын

exactly what I thought!

@boogerhead0

Ай бұрын

Horrors..... A Pipe Wrench?????????

As an older man with a steam boiler background, this was 38 minutes well spent!!!

Simple engines can still be a pain to get going, good job overcoming the problems.

Thanks for the long detailed closeup of the engine running. And thanks for explaining all the components. Very educational.

I wonder if part of the issue might be that propane is less easy to ignite than natural gas which has a lot of methane in it.

All the oil sight glasses seem to be short of oil, especially the one adding oil to the intake port.

Thanks for the once over on that giant 2 stroke. I understood much of what you explained only because im somewhat familiar with 2 stroke engines. The hot tube is something like a glow plug on a diesel engine I'm guessing but you lost me a bit on the sizing of it, I'm going to go back and watch again to see if i missed something. I love old engines and appreciate the time you took explaining this one. Pretty cool how you timed this engine and i would really like to see that governor in action and see exactly how that comes into play. Thanks again

Thanks- great explanation with simple but accurate pieces. I wish all the specialists doung stuff on you tube were as clear as you.

Your one 🧑‍🔧 " hell of a mechanic " Ole buddy 😁👍

You have done a great job again, I am sure your friend will appreciate the work you put into getting the engine running, it would be nice to see her again after you finish the fine tuning, to see how easy a start you can achieve, and if you give your buddy a crash course in air starting.

EXCELLENT! THANK YOU for the detailed explanation of the parts of this engine and how it (engine) and they function. MOST KZread engine channels omit this 👎 Your very detailed explanation is VERY helpful to those of us who are not experts. PLEASE do more videos in this manner. 👍👍👍

Love the Suzuki, those things were awesome, bare bones, light and small but great 4wd and a lot of fun.

God those big old two strokes sound sooooo lovely. Thanks for sharing her with us

Love the cardboard and tape explanation of two-stroke operation!!! Subscribed!

Loves the diagram Looking at the connecting rod someone did not look at the original paint and adjusted it. I always look for clues like that

@martinda7446

Ай бұрын

Spotted that straight away too.🤠 And the big tool on the con rod eating it.... Though I'm sure it had plenty of marks already... The wobbly input valve.. That didn't look right, the empty oilers.... Flippin eck, I'd be a nightmare in there....

@gowdsake7103

Ай бұрын

@@martinda7446 it is detective work, realistically the engine gives you clues

Great tutorial/instructional video on the explanation of how those engines work. Taking the head off, Taking the valve off and showing the intake and exhaust ports. Gives one a much better understanding of the engine internals. Thank you for this video.

@NotchFox

29 күн бұрын

Your engine, and obviously you know your engineering, but I cringed everytime you hit the rod and nut with that pipewrench.

@needsaride15126

29 күн бұрын

@@NotchFox I was thinking the same thing.

Old Engineer here from Ireland. Beautiful engine and wonderful to hear. Heavenly to watch and it's kicking my memory cells alive. Well Done young Sir.

Great video! Thank you for posting! I worked for Cooper-Bessemer (Cooper Energy Services) in the 70's - 80's. Never saw anything about the Bessemer engines, even though I spent time in the Grove City 'Bessemer' plant.

I can see parallels with later car engines but the primitive technology is amazing.

I'm 62 years old and lived on a farm as a kid but, never delt with such machinery as this. We did have an old tractor,( brand escapes me), with steel spiked wheels that a wide belt ran from the side of the engine area to a large cutting wheel/table combo behind it that we used to clear our land of trees and cut them into logs. So, I never experienced these combustion engines like this but I sure as hell am amused and love watching these videos! You got a new viewer for as long as you do your work on them. Thanks for letting me learn about how things work from the past.

LOL....I was waiting for a misfire and it sending you flying through the garage when you were trying to kick start it.....wise choice using that air bump start.....great job getting it running

I have loved old steam and hit and miss engines since my childhood. Thanks for clarifying with detail on how they work. Fascinating how they produced power from this in 1899. Thanks for sharing.

Ayo you deserve a lot more views and you explain very well thanks.

i appreciate the effort put into the diagram, felt like watching Watch Wes Work for a second there

BEEN GOING TO TRACTOR SHOWS FOR 60 YRS AND NEVER KNEW HOW ONE OF THESE THINGS WORK,,,,,UNTILL NOW,,,,THANKYOU !!!!!

I'm here in England and loving your video. I think it's important to keep the old technology running. Thank you from Graham aged 70 and a bit. XXX

Excellent job getting that beast running. Great explanation on how it all works was awesome too. Thanks for the video!😀👍

I am impressed, You have a lot of patients.

Thanks, a beautiful machine and the noise when running is very satisfying, I must be turning into one of those guys at the country fairs.

Lot of skill and knowledge you have on these old engines. Very interesting vid and great to watch.

I learned stuff I couldn't have imagined I needed to know. 🙂 Thanks and keep on chuggin'.

I'm just glad I don't have to start one of these every morning.

Very interesting. I love engines and this is amazing that our forefathers could engineer these fabulous machines.

We had two, similar to that one, on each Light Ship back in the 1950's, I admire your knowledge on something so old, well done.

This is one of the best KZread videos I've seen! I love that a guy knows how to work on these. I have one of those tool and die lifts they're super handy.

Always great to see you getting these going!!

Visiting my Aunt in Smackover Arkansas in the 60's, she took me to an oil field between Smackover and Eldorado to show me a place she played as a girl. The 'play' involved walking the steel rods that were across the field running from a similar engine, but it was a gasoline powered hit and miss engine. The idea was to keep your balance as you walked along, and the rod went out, then back in, it riding on ground rollers set so many feet apart. The rods pulled several walking beam style pumps, and they moved a considerable distance. She was almost 70 at the time, hopped up on those steel rods and walked them like she was 12, first riding away from me, and then coming back, all the while walking away. I went back to visit about 40 years later, and the area that was a barren wasteland of black oil soaked ground, was totally restored, trees, grass, wild flowers, all the wells long gone. Can still remember it had a single Autolite spark plug. After watching this, I think the gas powered hit and miss was a bit less temperamental.

Amazing, truly a thing of beauty...thank you for sharing this great machine ❤❤❤

Thanks so much for this video. Terrific explanation of how this thing works. A bit of pucker factor starting the old girl!

you did a great job explaining how this works. I like visuals

I love these engines! Thanks for a great tutorial…

That was fun to see how this big engine works and to see it up and running. I did notice though that the fly ball governor was not hooked up.

This is absolutely fascinating - really informative.

Well, I'm 62, and my first tractor was a model H "Poppin John" which was ancient when I was 20. It could be used to back into a 6 or 8" drive belt and become a stationary engine to drive a cane mill. Even though it was tiny tractor, it had incredible torque.

shame about the pipe wrench attack, but great work getting it going, she seemed reluctant at first!

I now know exactly how a two stroke engine works. Very good explanation.

Great vid !!! I'm an old 2 stroke motorcycle enthusiast so 2 strokes hold no terrors for me.......however that hot tube ignition system is something else again. Imagine timing the engine by varying the length of the hot tube !!! I'll be remembering that tip, for sure. Thanks for such an informative vid.

You persevered and eventually got it going when many others would have given up just like the owner did. Although a simple engine it takes knowledge as to how they actually work. Watching you work on this stationary engine made a nice change

The small one I was Building was a 6 stroke - fired on both ends the piston has 2 plugs or ignition sites. Runs on Propane and air. has a large wheel and a smaller wide wheel. Somewhat like this but different. Complex timing. Nice explanation. Called a "Merry"

Thanks for all the info and unique machine.

Not bad! I'm quite impressed with your lvl of engineering. Stay awesome my friend! We need everyone of your type we have. God bless!

15:00 A lot of small family fortunes were made with simple pumping setups like that. Half a dozen or more boreholes, with pumps driven by jerk-lines from a central power house, all off of a single-cylinder15 or 20hp engine. A good bit of money in the outlay, but after a couple of years it's paid for and then you start banking profits for as long as you can keep the oil flowing. Good times.

thanks for the patience in explaining the working on the pieces you are dealing with australian fan

Excellent presentation. Thank you!

New sub! Love the old engines! Love to watch and listen to them running! Great explanation also.. Thank you

Thanks for the video, fun stuff! It looks to me like the counter rocking of the trailer was one of the reasons it was so hard to get it going. It was losing a LOT of momentum moving that trailer which would have gone into piston movement otherwise. Just an engineer's quick observation. Great video!

God I’d Love to get me one of them old hit & miss engines. They have a hit & miss engine shows in Portland, Indiana every year. There’s a bunch of them there. And it’s less than 30 miles from me. Thanks for sharing Bud. You have a nice one there.

Great video. I recently started learning about engines. My Cummins had a problem with the camshaft, and I realized I didn't know what that was. So I've been learning a lot. I'm going to go up and talk to those guys at the county fair this year!

The best explanation I have heard so far. Thank you

Also. That thing is awesome. You’re a great tech, man. Looks great working!

i did have some idea how a 2 stroke gas/petrol engine worked, but you cleared some details right up. great job. sub +1

@thehourglasswithaman

Ай бұрын

So is this not a hit or miss engine

@theonewhoknows2

24 күн бұрын

@@thehourglasswithaman nope

I gotta say how interesting that was, I've seen one of those engines in the science museum London, all be it a bigger version, your explanation was so clear and easy to understand, thanks..

Casting the cylinder would have been tricky big ports and intricate lines what a beautiful engine ❤

I'm from just south of where that was made. I learned a lot thank you! You sir have a new subscriber

These look like they should be in Willie Wonka's factory pumping out strange candy

When I was kid many years ago, we lived about 2 miles from an oil and gas pumping station which used several of these big one cylinder engines. We could clearly hear the engines on most days.

I thought I understood 2 stroke engines..... NOW I do....... well done great video

I found this very educational. Thanks for sharing.

Looks like the trailer movement is making the engine run uneven. Anyway, it was good to learn about the timing issue with the hot tube. I guess it is not just the length but also the temperature that affects the ignition point. There are many variables to get right as you demonstrated, the gas pressure and the strength of the inlet valve spring. I assume that each engine needed to be adjusted to suit the conditions at each oil well, back in the day. I wonder if any of the old boys that kept them running are still around? I imagine the magneto was added to take some of the timing guesswork out of the equation. I suppose the hot bulb ignition needed a constantly running blowlamp? The air start was pretty dicey but better than seeing you run the risk of getting mangled in the flywheel. Good interesting video.

Interesting video. Thanks. That head did look heavy.

I learned a lot from this video, time well spent. Thanks

Makes one wonder how long they tried to get the first one functioning.😊 Needs some counter weights to steady it on the ground.

That answered any questions I had about them engines. Thanks and I'm a new subscriber now.

Very cool channel 🏁 stuff you don't see every day. Boy engines sure come along way 😂

Merci pour les explications, toujours très agréable à regarder, vos vidéos.

My old Johnson two stroke from 1920 had a poppet valve that I lapped in pretty often but it worked very well

Very interesting. I've never seen an engine like this. John from MI

Looks like the exhaust release ramp on the piston clears the exhaust port first allowing the expanded exhaust gases to start exiting and scavenge the cylinder before the inlet port opens for the transfer port. To have to remove the spring from the inlet valve, either air is being drawn into the induction chamber past the piston rod or exhaust gases drawn past the rings. Probably

Was looking forward to the ring a ding ding ding ding.

I love your on-the-cylinder diagram

Thank you, fascinating education! How many pounds of propane does it consume per hour of operation?

I think I know now why they call it an industrial revolution. Back then it was a real battle getting things going. 😎 Great video, thanks.

Cool! I enjoyed that a lot. Keep tinkerin'!

Love the content 🎉just subscribed thanks for sharing and teaching much appreciated

Great channel my friend. Very informative. Cheers from Birmingham, England

I have 25hp Bessemer that i purchased a few yrs ago. Got pics of it being removed from the lease. Ive not had it running yet,but have got it to fire some.. Ive been repairing things on it as I have time. My packing was shot so I put new packing in. Helped alot. Mine was flooding due to a really worn intake valve stem. It wouldnt always seat the valve face flat. Just got a new stem made and the bore opened up. Hope to pipe it all back up and see how much that improves it in starting.