Chuck Moss' 4 H.P. Model G
A GRAY engine in Hawaii !
Chuck says~
Tom, thanks for having put the work into collecting the data/pictures
and putting up a website. It has already helped me, and I'd already
"done my homework" on scouring what I could from the rest of the web.
Thanks for putting up the 1914 instruction book.Does anybody else have one
a little earlier? I have no photos available at the moment, engine is largely
in pieces (which is good because it is heavy!!) Most likely the first
pictures will be of the pieces.
Some specifics of what I (think I) know about this engine.
- Serial Number 4G2895
- Looks to be a 4HP, based on 4 3/4 inch bore.
- It has the 3 in one carb/mixer.
- Spark plug thread size is 3/4" NPT
- Primer cup aft of spark plug hole
- It's a Wet head.
- Oddball splash oiler on connecting rod.
It is missing all of the governor & timer stuff that mounted on the base.
Most of the pushrod is there (in skeleton form). I'm grapling with
trying to figure out what governor arrangement it had.
The reason I singled out Dick Staats is that I think his engine is the closest
to mine. Based on the clues in the website on where to find the serial
number on mine, I found it this time. S/N is 4G2895. Mine was stamped on
the cylinder, just aft of the head.
In having looked at the repair parts info. in the 1914 manual,based on the
manual, Wendell's book, a few pictures in advertisements here & there; it
still looks like there were either two or three different governor configurations
on the Gray G. At least one (up to 1913 or so) had the governor weights
on the cam gear and the later ones had the weights on the flywheel with
a collar on the crankshaft. My flywheel doesn't have the mounting
points for those weights, so I conclude that it is of the earlier
style. I also think that the later governors used an adjusting screw
for speed adjustment and the earlier ones used a lever with a
thumbscrew to hold in place. Whether or not this change in speed
adjusting was made at the same time as the flywheel weight arrangement
is unknown to me, and leads me to say either two or three governor
configurations.
1913 Gray photo ad found at Ted Brookover's Web Page. Ted has a nice "Ignitor Identification Page"as well.
See the ad photo (dated June of 1913) for some picture and text data
on the governor in use then. It claims no collar, and detent on the
bottom of the pushrod, which doesn't track to what I think I find in
the 1914 instruction manual. For me at least, it is the only place that I've seen what I
think is an exact match to the engine I've got with no flywheel mounted
weights, and the 3 in 1 carb.
Therefore, I am thinking that Dick Staats engine governor configuration
is the same as mine was (all parts aft of the pushrod roller are
missing to the pinion). That is, I am missing the mounting bracket,
detent, detent arm, spindle, weights, cam, cam gear, timer stuff, speed
adjusting lever etc.).
FYI, I live in Hawaii, so this engine is pretty rare for this region.
Lots of 3HP, or so, Z's, McCormick M's, John Deere E's, Witte's, etc.,
from the 20's & 30's to run coffee pulpers until electricity became available,
not many engines from the teens. I've rebuilt and have as runners a 1936 Stover
(Sears) CT-3 (found on my place which my parents bought back in the late 60's),
a 1924 JD 3 HP E dug out from underneath a coffee "wet mill" where it look like it was
since new, and a FM 2HP Z I got when I used to live in Washington State. The Z is married
by belt to a coffee peeler polisher & used in dry milling the coffee we grow here.
To all,
Cheers, and good luck to all of you working in the Gray zone.
Any other thoughts/data from any of the rest of you would be appreciated too!
Chuck
If anyone has any pictures and/or sketches of the same type governor
setup as Chuck, and what you did on your engine to replace missing parts,
to get it running, please contact him.
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