I grew up in a farming community. Many pull-behind hay balers and grain combines had Wisconsin V4 air cooled power plants. In the fifties, many commercial lawn mowers for cemeteries, etc., had big Wisconsin single cylinder engines. Nobody else made similar large one cylinder engines at the time. An interesting application of the V4 was an air compressor company that used two cylinders for power and two cylinders for air compression.
Awesome thank you so much for sharing those memories I would love to revisit this episode with just air cooled, but the information is very sparse and convoluted very conflicted. I’d like to get the full story and then make a second episode.
I’ve seen an old T-head Wisconsin sitting outside of an old cider mill. It used to run the machinery. Next to it is an overhead valve engine of approximately the same vintage. Cool old engines.
Very nice video. But, you never mentioned Waukesha Engine. I retired from Waukesha several years ago. They also started as a small shop in Waukesha in the early 1900's. Their engines powered so many vehicles, from race cars, military, firetrucks, and also inboard boats. Eventually all those smaller engines were dropped over the years. The smallest one I recall working on was around 900 cubic inches. They also made very large stationary engines for use in the oil field and to run generators for standby power and continuous power. In fact some of our engines for backup power were in the basement of the Trade Towers on 9/11. Those diesels kicked on and provided power till the towers collapsed. One was retrieved and sent back to Waukesha for display. Before I retired GE took over the company. Their goal was to close our doors and build a new plant in Canada which they did. Many good jobs were gone. GE sold Waukesha to Innio which is a German based company. The plant is still there in Waukesha on St Paul Ave but only the office is occupied so they can advertised headed in Waukesha, Wisconsin. So, Google Waukesha Engine sometime. But thanks for the article.
@@wisjeepmanjim8450 Thanks for the info. I used to deliver and pick up freight at your company and your engines were HUGE. One time I picked up two bare engine blocks and between the two of them were 10,000 pounds. I wondered what happened to the company.
I had the pleasure of working for Waukesha for a little over a year. I was a victim of the downturn caused by 9-11. No regrets, though, as it gave me the opportunity to move north to Alaska.
The first engine I ever crank started was a 1940s VF4. As a kid, I named it "grey motor," a moniker it carried for the next 40 years I owned it. I tuned it to where one pull always started it. I remember the decal on the front. It showed a team of Clydesdales and said, "Wiconsin engines, more horsepower hours." I never forgot that. There's a big difference between HP and HP hours of durability! The heavier the engine, the better! It was from a garbage truck my father scrapped out in the 60's it ran the hydraulics. We ran it sitting on its frame on the floor twice a year to keep it freed up. Eventually, we put it on a welder where I proceded to put dual straight pipes on it! They sound cool because they have an uneven firing order. I remember it had a Thomas Alva Edison magneto that generated ALOT of voltage! I learned this once as a kid when it was running on the floor and I walked past it brushing one of the exposed leads on the spark wire, I punched the engine and was looking at my bicep, Dad said "youre looking for the bruise where the sledgehammer hit you aren't you?" He was right! I went on to own well over 100 engines up to V12s but I can tell you no air cooled engine came anywhere close to a Wisconsin for durability or serviceability. The only issue was their cost and weight. An AHH 9 hp (underrated) single cylinder engine was about 200lb! A big, slow turner with alot of torque. You can see one on the "I love Lucy" show on the reel type lawnmower she ends up driving down the highway! Oil leaks were the death of many V4s on bailers. They would cause dust to clog the fins. They had a big round cover on each bank on the back of the engine that said "clean out daily" most people didn't. One issue was that if they sat for a long time, the lifters would stick, and some doby would jump on the crank to free it and break the camshaft. I saw one guy start to do this at an auction. I ran up, yelling, "No! No! You'll break the cam!" But he wasn't going to listen to a kid. That ended with a "stomp, KLUNK!" Cam in the oil pan! Got that one cheap!
Stutz all the way. As a kid I had a battery powered ride-on Stutz Bearcat. I wore that poor thing out driving it everywhere I could. Stutz's main competitor in those days was Mercer, a true rivalry. "You must be nuts to drive a Stutz" would be replied to with "Nothing could be worser than to drive a Mercer". I digress.....thanks for the education and the outtakes were hilarious! ~ Chuck
Thank you so much for sharing that memory of your stutz =) I love the outtakes there’s a lot that goes into it that you guys don’t see I’m not the best at talking.. it’s getting better. Everything is improving. I went back in had to watch an episode to see what kind of car was in the background of a previous episode. Shot a year ago and I was just amazed at how much everything has just improved… I want to put out a good product, but I don’t want it to be too polished if you know what I mean because because you start to lose some of the other stuff when something becomes perfect when something is perfect it almost seems fake, because nothing in life is perfect.. just like to keep it real =)
My father worked on the railroad, A LOT of the engines powering equipment were an air-cooled Wisconsin V-4. He even had one on his 2 1/2 ton company truck that powered the welder/compressor/generator. Probably one of the first engines I ever worked on (he used to take me to work with him when I was young). Those engines could take a beating.
Wow, I did not know that Wisconsin Engines were in the famous Stutz Bearcat! That was a surprise for me!! Thanks Jay for highlighting Wisconsin Engines !! The antique air cooled 10hp beasts we used on the farm were originally used to pump water to cool cans of milk, and later for irrigation pump motors. 💦 Kohler I think started out with galvanized wash tubs, but yes, I'd love to hear their whole story!! 🧀😊🐄
Kohler actually started with cast-iron crosses for cemetery.. they made plumbing fixtures, and all that other stuff but they didn’t build a bathtub until a little bit later they found out about enamel and they all they did was enamel a horse trough turned it into a bathtub. It’s a really cool history I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to be boring or anything. Happy you dig this. I was on the fence about putting it out because it’s kind of sort of unfinished. There’s a lot of information about engines but as soon as they go to the air cooled units. The information gets hard to find.
@@What.its.like. Interesting! The horse trough, yes, that I remember because my friend Larry worked there, but I didn't know that they started first with cast iron crosses! It all sounds interesting Jay, I'm looking forward to seeing your Kohler panoramic historical view in Technicolor! 🦚 🛁 😊 🧀🇺🇸
When I was a kid growing up on the family dairy farm in PA, back in the '60s, we had an old Roanoke Junior hay baler that used a two cylinder air-cooled Wisconsin engine. Hand-cranked to start, and with magneto ignition, it had seen a *lot* of heavy service. One day, while we were making hay, there was a loud "BANG' from the baler. That Wisconsin had thrown a piston. There was a huge hole in the side of the block, the remains of the connecting rod was sticking out, there was heat and smoke and oil everywhere - and that dang engine WAS STILL RUNNING! My brother had to get close enough to it to short out the magneto to shut it down. We ended up buying a new block, piston, rings, connecting rod, and whatever else we needed, and we stripped down the engine and rebuilt it. It ran nicely afterwards, until we had to retire the whole baler because the twine knotters had gotten too clapped out to repair any longer.
Awesome story thank you so much for sharing that memory That would have been terrifying to have to shut that off I’m amazed it still ran after that catastrophic failure
Yeah, I was shocked as well that a 2-cylinder could keep going on one cylinder with the second connecting rod flailing around through a hole in the block. It was quite a mixture of 'impressive' and 'very, very scary'. So when this video talks about Wisconsin engines being high quality, I am ready to believe it!
@@kriskarlsonYes. That was my grandfather. Unfortunately he died before I was born so I never knew him. His wife, my grandmother, and my father (who was a field engineer at Wisconsin) told me a lot about him as did others who knew him.
@@What.its.like. As you correctly stated in your video, the company changed hands several times over the years. It was originally funded by the Manigold's, local coal merchants (similar to Malcomson and Ford in Detroit coincidentally). My grandfather started out at the formation of the company (and remained throughout his tenure) as Chief Engineer but also I think as corporate secretary on the board and soon after vice-president. The company was sold to Continental first, as you said, and then I think Continental was sold to Hughes Aircraft, who owned it when my grandfather retired still as VP of the Wisconsin unit and Chief Engineer in 1955. He died soon thereafter. Later Teledyne bought it. I think later the tie-up with Fuji (Subaru) was merely a distribution agreement for Robin engines. I don't think Subaru owned Wisconsin. Wisconsin, in much reduced form, was last owned by a machining company in Waukesha Wisconsin. They built engines to order based on my grandfathers V-4 air-cooled designs updated slightly for emissions certification, etc. I think they quit selling engines in 2018. Aside: The water-cooled automotive engines were never the central product line for Wisconsin. They focused on engines for trucks (Kissel, FWD, etc.) and off-road and agricultural equipment (Cletrac bulldozers, New Holland, etc.) They also made marine engines (Wisconsin Whitecap) and Aero engines (inline-six and V-12). Haugdahl's record-setter (180.3 mph in 1922 - accurately timed but not sanctioned by a timing organization so it was referred to as an "outlaw" record) had one of the six-cylinder aero engines in it. Google "Wisconsin Special". That car may be, in somewhat modified form, in Germany today. I have vintage pictures of it hanging in my home.
My hometown of Sheboygan Falls is about 50 miles north of Milwaukee. It was home to The Falls Motor Corp. which built automobile engines from 1916 to about 1923. They built an overhead valve 6 cylinder that went into many independent makes, such as Elgin, Dort, Velie etc. My friend has a 1916 Elgin with a Falls engine and my Grandfather worked a Falls Motors in the the early '20s . I still have his employee badge.
Our neighbor had a New Holland baler with a V4 on it,bought in the 50's and still used in the '70's and beyond.And did it have an incredible exhaust note when it was loaded up.
We had an old 50's era Wisconsin engine on a field sprayer. That engine was a beast. Year after year it just kept working. It had the old style starting pulley where you had to wrap a rope around it. That wasn't the safest thing in the world as it would backfire on occasion. I wish I still had that engine but it was sold at a farm auction after dad died. Dad also talked about the Wisconsin V-4 engine his dad had on a combine. It was a good engine he said, but if it died while hot he just crawled under the combine and took a nap until it cooled down, because it would NOT start while warm.
Jay, since you brought up Wisconsin engines at some time you should consider doing a show on the Kissel Motor Car Company, from Hartford,WI. The Wisconsin Automotive Museum is in one of their repurposed bulidings. It has a nice selection of pre war cars. One of my friend's lives in one of the old Kissel Mini- Mansion across the street.
I want to do a Kissel car the goal is to cover at least one car from every manufacture in the United States. It’s a tall water I know and cover everything in between… especially the cars that never got covered. I really want to do a 59 ambassador wagon this year but I don’t have any leads on one would really love to cover a Rambler rebel as well same problem I don’t have any leads on one.
Back on the farm in upstate NY,we had a self propelled New Holland hay baler with twin Wisconsin 2 cylinder engines, one to drive, one to bale.It was a beast.
The Centerpiece of our Family Collection is a 1918 FWD Model B 3-5 Ton Truck, with the Wisconsin Model A T-Head 4. It's been in the family since about 1922, was used to build the first paved roads in Southern NH, then was used to plow them until about 1950. In 1961, My Dad pulled it out of retirement (Parked in the woods), and we used it to plow our private road (About 5 miles) until 1964. With its Full Time 4 wheel drive, Limited Slip Axle and Locking Center Differentials, and Wisconsin Torque, it's hard to beat for moving snow. It's been in working retirement since, restored to its original Military Configuration. (MVPA Hall of Fame) The engine has been incredibly reliable - it's probably got a Million Slow Miles on it, over a century old, and all it has required is normal maintenance- (Mainly pouring and scraping a connection rod bearing). It's easy to work on, although hand cranking 400 cubic inches on a -30 degree day is a chore. The best compliment that I can make was by a group of fellow Truck Collectors, who were showing a beautifully restored 1916 American LaFrance Fire Truck - I noted that I wished that our truck looked as good as theirs. They replied with "We wish ours fan as good as yours." As for the Stutz Bearcat, they're nice and all, but when you've broken down, or put it into the ditch, we'll come along and pull you out and haul you home.
@@What.its.like. One of the great parts was, during a Military Vehicles show, we were doing a driving demonstration and heard some noises behind a small hill. We investigated, and found an Old Engine Show in progress. We checked out their engines, they checked out our truck, and asked if they could place us in their List of Participants. They said it didn't matter if the engine brought itself to the show. Much good fun.
We had a New Holland bailer that had V-4 Wisconsin Robin, at some point I acquired a compressor that was a Wisconsin V-4 with one bank driving and the other compressing… not the smoothest running unit but it worked well. Keep up the good work, I enjoy your content.
I never knew about Wisconsin engines untill now Jay, so thank you Last weekend I had to fly to California for a quick visit, and visited the Nethercutt museum - Wow!!! All these beautifull cars in perfect condition. I noticed many American made vehicles were built right hand drive untill around 1920. Why were they built RHD ? I couldn’t obtain answer at the museum last Saturday sadly
Awesome happy you dig this episode I was on the fence about putting it out because it wasn’t the whole story kind of unfinished in ways but spent so much time on it and needed an engine episode Nethercutt is a museum that I definitely need to check out. I don’t know when I’m gonna go to California. I kinda wanted to go this year but it’s not going to happen this year maybe next year I definitely want to go to Pebble Beach that’s been a bucket list thing for me for at least 20 years now… As far as the right hand drive cars go a lot of cars made in America were right hand drive just like Europeans.. here is an article on it www.hcvc.com.au/forum/truck_Chat/18005-the-us-and-right-hand-drive
Good job, so happy to see people bringing out wisconsin history, I happen to know a little bit about them lol! Unfortunately they are not in business anymore, but there are companies selling the parts still
The air-cooleds are great old engines. An unusual feature is that nearly every part has it's part number cast right on it. Often find a 70 year old Wisconsin still working. There are a lot of the same parts used on various models. Funny model designations, VH4D, THD, TJD, AGND, AENLD. Many more. Haven't deciphered those names, except that the D suffix means it has hard Stellite valves.
If my Dad was still around, he could tell you some stuff about them. He used to sell a lot of parts for small tractors like Massey T20s. Ford 2N, 8N and 9Ns. He also sold Wisconsin parts and I think they were for mainly stationary motors,
I would love to revisit this one I wanted to find more information that’s why it’s Thursday I tried to do more research with every article giving the same 8 letter line.
Wisconsin engines were also popular on many engine drive farm equipment like balers and forage harvesters where instead of using PTO (power take off) power from the tractor they had an engine mounted on the implement to provide power. About the only place you see that now is in Amish or Mennonite communities.
Awesome it seems like that’s the general consensus of the community. They want to hear the whole story which I’m totally stoked to do. Not sure when that’s going to come. But it’s one that I’ve been working on in the background. I also wanted to do first generation Harley, the twin and go through all of the different Harley engines. Maybe do some motorcycle stuff on here eventually..
Went to the Kohler Museum in Kohler Wisconsin while visiting friends at Christmas. Learned a whole lot about toilets, not kidding. Yes I would enjoy an episode about everything Kohler!
Yes I was born in 1980 I fell in love with the motors around 89, at that time they where owned by teledyne they sold ownership to nesco in 92 I remember the change that was when I started visiting the factory, and then in early 2001 v&l who made the sheet metal for the motors bought wis-con out and changed it back to wisconsin motor till 2018, sad time for me I would go see them every 2 years luckily they gave me that v4 around 2010 and I'm still going strong on them, I still can't believe I'm talking to the grandson lol! That's why I gave you my email would love to swap some info back and forth to add to my collection, thanks so much for your time!
Awesome thank you so much for all that insights and information. I’m not the grandson but he is in the comment section reach out to him. Maybe he’ll get back to you. He seems like a really cool guy.
Used to do a lot of work on Wisconsin engines. I gotta tell you, they weren't a bad industrial engine, but if they were a competitive race engine, it doesn't say a lot about the competition!
When i was a kid , we had 2 haybailers an IH, and the other a Case- the first was a 2 cyl, and the case a V4. All ways dreamed of a go kart with either-
Heck I'm a engine guy. I'd like agricultural engines hit and miss, oil field engines, A series on the development of the diesel engine would be cool. Maybe more technical details if possible. Hall Scott engines in detail as well, and alternative engine designs also, free piston , liquid piston (inverted Wankel basically) it would all make great videos , then possibly go into non production engines. Things people built at home from scratch, even the new stuff, with scotch yoke reciprocating assembly, thanks for all the effort you put into the videos! 👍✌️
Its not WESconsin, its WISconsin, wiss rhymes with miss or piss. We don't say skansin, when we say it fast it often sounds like 'skahhnsin. LOL. Milwocky, Wiskahnsin.
The first Wisconsin I think of is the V4 powering a concrete mixer we used at work in the mid 1970’s. I think most working men today never think about Wisconsin car engines.
Yeah I’ve looked to try to get some more information on the air cooled engine. There’s videos on the air cold engines, but there isn’t that many videos on the early engines.
I definitely want to come back and hit this one again that’s for sure. I couldn’t find a lot of information on the later engines. The ones that were air cooled Definitely going to cover some more en engine suppliers that’s for sure and I thought about getting in some motorcycle engines as well. There’s a couple other ones that I’ve been putting off like it’s going to take a long time to do Pontiac because there’s like 20 engines in that family… same thing with Cadillac but I want to cover the north way engines before I dive into the Cadillac engines and I guess I should’ve done the very first ford six cylinder before the flathead Ford because it came before it but we’re not all about keeping everything in chronological order here
Awesome glad you dig this episode and totally will not sure when I kind of want to space it out a little bit. I’ve been thinking about doing Harley V twin the different families as well as the Indian start going into some motorcycle engines. I probably won’t ever cover motorcycles on this channel but we’ll see if it’s a popular thing, then maybe
A lot of experts believed a big 4 cylinder was the ultimate performance motor, around WW1. 6 cylinders had been tried but were disappointing in terms of power usually making less power than a 4 cylinder the same size. The first V8s were out but they had a 4 cylinder type crankshaft which meant they had no advantage over a good 4 in smoothness. The secret of Stutz performance was good breathing through 4 valves per cylinder. This meant they had to use a T head design with 2 valves on each side. This was a costly way to make a motor, but was used by such luxury makes as Pierce Arrow as well as Stutz. Later developments like the Ricardo head gave the L head a new lease of life but for a time, the Stutz T head four was the performance king.
I grew up repairing Wisconsin and kohler small engines ! Never cared too much for briggs tho ! Have seen some stutz's powered by Wisconsin engines ! i also like the lycoming family of engines !
My grandfather it was one of the first people on the South Shore of Massachusetts will the new Holland hay baler with one of them four cylinder Wisconsin's and it had a packer on top and when the bail spit out it would come up out of the hole and when you're a little kid it used to scare the hell out of you and I recently found out it still exists
Hi Jay! An interesting fact about the 1915 Stutz racers. Stutz wanted to win the Indy 500 BAD, since they were based there. For the 1915 season they built a team of new racers to try and do just that. Yes, these cars had engines built by Wisconsin, but they were not the normal T head types they had been making for Stutz. This engine was SPECIAL. They sort of copied the design of the Mercedes racing engine (Oddly for Stutz, Ralph DePalma won the 1915 Indy 500 in an actual Mercedes!) A four cylinder with welded up water jackets and an overhead cam. This was a really advanced racing engine for the time, right before Harry Miller and the Chevrolet brothers advanced the art of the American Racing engine to untold heights. Gil Anderson managed a top ten finish at Indianapolis, and won quite a few races that year including at Sheepshead Bay. Most of these cars still exist and are a fascinating piece of US racing history. A strange fact is, that Stutz insisted of using their transaxle on these cars, which was fine for the production cars, but WAY too heavy for a racing car. Or they would probably won many more races than they did. Don't have any remembered encounters with the small Wisconsin engines, but MAN that Sig Haugdahl's Wisconsin Special speed record car was sure SWEET!
Thank you so much for sharing all that information and insight greatly appreciate it. I’m happy you dig this episode. It took a little while to put this one together and I was a bit bummed I couldn’t find the information that I really wanted for the air cooled engines but there were some videos on particular air engines from Wisconsin engine manufacturing, but I didn’t see any early ones
The Wisconsin-Subaru connection was Fuji heavy industries was providing engines to Wisconsin and they were sold as Wisconsin Robyn. I’m thinking the Teledyne name was added when they bought or merged with Continental.
During WW 2 cranberry growers in Grayland, Wa could not get hand pickers to harvest their crop. Herman Joutsen took his wife's Electrolux out on the bog and vacuumed the berries off the vines. Growers began using much larger variations powered by sawdust blowers driven by Wisconsin engines, 2 cyl, 12 hp and V4 20 and 32 hp. When they shut down to empty, with no cooling air the magnetos heat soaked and would not provide spark until they cooled down. Some growers used a Rockford clutch and never shut the engine off all day. The local mechanic, Jalmer Wirtanen, also known as the Flying Finn, converted our 32 hp to battery ignition, srarted every time.
Sig Haugdal set a world land speed record in the 1920's in a Wisconsin powered car but the AAA fought it's recognition because it was done with IMCA officials and not AAA. There was a photo of this car in the video. As to the "T" head engine it may actually have been more powerful than the "L" head but was was larger and likely heaver and more costly so it fell from favor as things went on.
WYR: All of them. If you do a video on Huber steam traction engines and steam shovels from the old century, talk to Mark Huber in Colorado. He works at the Colorado Railroad Museum and knows a lot about his family's history with those machines. You probably know him on UA-cam as Hyce.
The only story I have is about a TJD and when the crank came off when it started broke the guy's wrist and flew up and broke his jaw and that was the end of anything that cranked if it didn't have an electric starter it wasn't getting sold
I had a Lincoln welder with a 2 cylinder in line air-cooled Wisconsin My dad had hay balers with v465 overhead valve Wisconsin air cooled they were good engines as long as you kept the fins blew out
I worked on "WISCO)NSIN ENGINES" for years, infact I have a 1967 bolens tractor with a "TR10D engine on it( original engine rebuilt in 1990)., I also have a toro whirlwind mower with a "AKN WISCONSIN ENGINE " on it( original engine rebuilt in 1998) I know that the company has changed hands many times and now it is a memory. I was not aware that parts are still available for those engines. it would be nice if you could share that information!!!!!!!!!. with respect to the "KOHLER" company, it would be nice to cover all aspects of what kohler made. I really liked the "K/M series cast iron engines" that kohler made and are now discontinued in terms of production, parts are also becoming hard to get. I did get a large stock of new "BRIGGS & STRATTON" parts when those parts still had active part numbers( briggs is now in the hands of a holding company- fred stratton retired and gave the company to his daughter, and she ran the company in the dirt. the company was auctioned off)
Awesome i’m gonna try not to make it that long. I apologize for not posting any episodes in the last couple days. I’ve been through a lot of stuff but tomorrow’s episode will be totally worth it at 1977 Chrysler cordoba.. the episodes going to be pretty long as well. It’s almost 30 minutes long now might be over that still working on it.
on the farm we have wisconsin engines. many were good enough to be considered to be heroic. that being said, that v4 updraft carb engine was found on many balers including our new holland 77. cold start, just like magic. hot start, forget it. how many men remember a thunder storm on the horizon, 200 bales of valuable hay in windrows and a hot v4 to start. we had a special glove we all shared, taking turns cranking. its not that it wouldn't start, but rather that it would almost start, run a few pops and not catch. 20 minutes was about the norm. the only thing hotter than the engine or the summer sun was the french used during this often repeated procedure. as for kohler, please give us the whole nut.
Thanks for this episode, maybe Hercules and Briggs & Stratton down the line next, don't remember reading if Briggs & Stratton ever made a car at one time like Maytag did "APPLIANCE ". Don't feel bad on the Wisconsin pronunciation, didn't know it was 2 different ways of pronouncing the name just like Arkansas , and Louisiana are pronounced 2 different ways. Even here in Texas we pronounce the word pecan different than the folks in Georgia pronounce pecan.
Briggs did make a vehicle, but it was more like a motorized skateboard, only bigger. Two passengers, and no body. Kinda like a home-made go-kart. I've seen them in pictures, but never one in person.
Definitely going to cover more engine suppliers that is for sure Briggs did make a vehicle, but as you said it’s more or less skateboard with wheels and a seat and it’s powered by this weird wheel in the back. It has five wheels. Essentially there is a buckboard electric vehicle in the pipeline from 1924. That’s very similar in designed to the Briggs car. ..
@@What.its.like. Enjoyed reading the comments from the viewers on the great family stories on the Wisconsin engines, it added a lot to the episode. Put my vote in on a history on all Kohler products that you can find. After all Mr Buick started in the plumbing business before building cars.
I did not know that Wisconsin engines were so prolific in the earlier days. I've seen the smaller, air cooled 1 cyl and V4 engines, but certainly none of the automotive engines. I'd like to see a video about Kohler. .And why haven't you pinned the Name That Tune winner yet?
Haha for some reason every time I hit pen it hasn’t been pinning people to the top. Andrea got it same thing with liking. Anyway, glad you did the episode. I was a little bit on the fence about putting it out because it’s technically not finished. I was able to find a lot of information about the company in the early days but I wasn’t able to find anything about the air cooled units that they made after and the company exchanged hands a ton and that was very hard to follow. Probably gonna come back and hit this one again. The kohler episode is going to be super cool. just not entirely sure when that one’s going to come out I would love to cover the peerless V8 I think that’s might be the next one. It just depends on how much information can be found, etc. I thought about the Tucker even though it’s technically supplied by Franklin but there’s so much information on that engine that there could be an episode on it as well as talk about the other engine that was supposed to power tucker.. would also love to do an episode on the Chrysler turbine project. There was more than one Chrysler turbine car. There was only one car that the general public tried out…
I believe you're wrong about Subaru owning Wisconsin engines. I know back in the late seventies an 80s they had a marketing agreement with Robin engines to bring them into the country. That is where the Wisconsin robins came from after the marketing agreement was finished with Wisconsin they became the Subaru Robin. And I believe now they're just marketed under Subaru.
The reason why they had the marketing agreement with Wisconsin and Subaru was so that Robin did not have to pay the liability insurance to come into the country
Until they aren’t I had a fully loaded 2012 Outback when I bought it 35,000 miles at 94,000 I was driving the dash lit up like a Christmas tree and wouldn’t go anymore.. turns out the transmission went and took the AWD system with it.. NO ONE wanted to do the job but Subaru dealer and cost 10 grand that was ten years ago
A good one would be continental motors everything butt aircraft because they used to build car engines but I can't find it on the web anymore and I think you can find about anything
Im from wisconsin. Im not trying to be a nitpick but its not Wes-Kohn-sin. Its Wis-con-sin. I can always tell people who arent from here just by how they say it. Other than that good video. I think our state is often forgot about compared to michigan and indiana.
Hahaha HONDA hold on not done accelerating JEEP just empty every pocket or just eats every penny CHEVROLET cheap hardly efficient variables runs on every time.
all of Kohler history! You'll geek out on it, will be great! T-Head may be old, be was strong and in a Stutz they flew! Don't over heat a Subaru and life is good...we've owned a few, own one now, kid killed one, by overheating it.... just saying.
Haha yeah definitely do all of it We had a 2011 outback loaded I was driving to work the dash lit up like a Christmas tree and wouldn’t move the transmission went and took the AWD system with it.. the car only had 94,000 miles on it when it happened. Plus those are interfering engines which need timing belt service every 100,000 miles and that can be an expensive job..
So sense Continental and Wisconsin were the same company was Wisconsin the air-cooled engines and Continental the liquid cooled engines so they had two different lines
Yes but Continental did get into the aero engines.. I was just talking about that the other day somebody could make continental parts, because they totally abandoned all of their engines they made before the aero engines
Is that the same continental engine that Lincoln welders used for years and other industrial equipment because there's a bunch of them still running that people fix up all the time
Your Subaru observation is “dead” on. My triple S (Subaru Sub - Standard) made it to 76,000 miles before it blew the engine. Total loss since repair/replacement exceed the value of the car. At least I could make to a dictionary and learn how to spell Honda and Toyota.
Hahaha I’ve had a couple the one that really crapped the bed was 2012 or 2011 Outback limited top of the line for a stellar deal on it.. only had 35,000 miles on it when I bought it in 2016.. was driving it to work one day all the lights in the dash came on lit up like a Christmas tree.. the transmission went and took the AWD system with it and NO ONE wanted to work on it had to take it back to Subaru garage where they wanted $10k to fix it plus it was going to need a 100k service water pump and timing belt.. $1,000 generally.. they are great cars when running good but parts are more expensive than Honda Toyota parts and finding someone who wants to work on them ( depending on where you are in the world ) can be hard.. You can’t beat Honda and Toyota as far as reliability I had a odessey that had absolutely no oil in it drove it god knows how long ( and drive it hard until the light came on ) put more oil in it and drove for years after that incident
It’s all good I just didn’t want you to get the wrong impression he did comment though I wish I could share the link with you just look in the comment section you’ll find him
Gordon Lightfoot --Sundown ?
Yeah congratulations that’s it this is the first one in a while =)
🎉👏👏👏 Well Done
Congratulations ✌️😉
🎉👏👏👏 Well Done
Congratulations ✌️😉
Great song
Totally agree Gordon light foot is underrated as well
I grew up in a farming community. Many pull-behind hay balers and grain combines had Wisconsin V4 air cooled power plants. In the fifties, many commercial lawn mowers for cemeteries, etc., had big Wisconsin single cylinder engines. Nobody else made similar large one cylinder engines at the time. An interesting application of the V4 was an air compressor company that used two cylinders for power and two cylinders for air compression.
Awesome thank you so much for sharing those memories I would love to revisit this episode with just air cooled, but the information is very sparse and convoluted very conflicted. I’d like to get the full story and then make a second episode.
Wisconsin also made a V-2 that used one cylinder for an air compressor.
I’ve seen an old T-head Wisconsin sitting outside of an old cider mill. It used to run the machinery. Next to it is an overhead valve engine of approximately the same vintage. Cool old engines.
Awesome thank you so much for sharing that =)
Very nice video. But, you never mentioned Waukesha Engine. I retired from Waukesha several years ago. They also started as a small shop in Waukesha in the early 1900's. Their engines powered so many vehicles, from race cars, military, firetrucks, and also inboard boats. Eventually all those smaller engines were dropped over the years. The smallest one I recall working on was around 900 cubic inches. They also made very large stationary engines for use in the oil field and to run generators for standby power and continuous power. In fact some of our engines for backup power were in the basement of the Trade Towers on 9/11. Those diesels kicked on and provided power till the towers collapsed. One was retrieved and sent back to Waukesha for display. Before I retired GE took over the company. Their goal was to close our doors and build a new plant in Canada which they did. Many good jobs were gone. GE sold Waukesha to Innio which is a German based company. The plant is still there in Waukesha on St Paul Ave but only the office is occupied so they can advertised headed in Waukesha, Wisconsin. So, Google Waukesha Engine sometime. But thanks for the article.
I didn’t mention every single Wisconsin engine company there were over 150 that came out of Wisconsin will total cover Waukesha one day
@@What.its.like. when I get some time in my busy retirement I'll send some history you may not find online.
That would be awesome I’ll shout you out for the information
@@wisjeepmanjim8450 Thanks for the info. I used to deliver and pick up freight at your company and your engines were HUGE. One time I picked up two bare engine blocks and between the two of them were 10,000 pounds. I wondered what happened to the company.
I had the pleasure of working for Waukesha for a little over a year. I was a victim of the downturn caused by 9-11. No regrets, though, as it gave me the opportunity to move north to Alaska.
The first engine I ever crank started was a 1940s VF4. As a kid, I named it "grey motor," a moniker it carried for the next 40 years I owned it. I tuned it to where one pull always started it. I remember the decal on the front. It showed a team of Clydesdales and said, "Wiconsin engines, more horsepower hours." I never forgot that. There's a big difference between HP and HP hours of durability! The heavier the engine, the better! It was from a garbage truck my father scrapped out in the 60's it ran the hydraulics. We ran it sitting on its frame on the floor twice a year to keep it freed up. Eventually, we put it on a welder where I proceded to put dual straight pipes on it! They sound cool because they have an uneven firing order. I remember it had a Thomas Alva Edison magneto that generated ALOT of voltage! I learned this once as a kid when it was running on the floor and I walked past it brushing one of the exposed leads on the spark wire, I punched the engine and was looking at my bicep, Dad said "youre looking for the bruise where the sledgehammer hit you aren't you?" He was right! I went on to own well over 100 engines up to V12s but I can tell you no air cooled engine came anywhere close to a Wisconsin for durability or serviceability. The only issue was their cost and weight. An AHH 9 hp (underrated) single cylinder engine was about 200lb! A big, slow turner with alot of torque. You can see one on the "I love Lucy" show on the reel type lawnmower she ends up driving down the highway! Oil leaks were the death of many V4s on bailers. They would cause dust to clog the fins. They had a big round cover on each bank on the back of the engine that said "clean out daily" most people didn't. One issue was that if they sat for a long time, the lifters would stick, and some doby would jump on the crank to free it and break the camshaft. I saw one guy start to do this at an auction. I ran up, yelling, "No! No! You'll break the cam!" But he wasn't going to listen to a kid. That ended with a "stomp, KLUNK!" Cam in the oil pan! Got that one cheap!
Thank you so much for sharing those memories What a cool story
I would enjoy hearing all about Kohler
Awesome will do
Stutz all the way. As a kid I had a battery powered ride-on Stutz Bearcat. I wore that poor thing out driving it everywhere I could. Stutz's main competitor in those days was Mercer, a true rivalry. "You must be nuts to drive a Stutz" would be replied to with "Nothing could be worser than to drive a Mercer". I digress.....thanks for the education and the outtakes were hilarious! ~ Chuck
Thank you so much for sharing that memory of your stutz =)
I love the outtakes there’s a lot that goes into it that you guys don’t see I’m not the best at talking.. it’s getting better. Everything is improving. I went back in had to watch an episode to see what kind of car was in the background of a previous episode. Shot a year ago and I was just amazed at how much everything has just improved… I want to put out a good product, but I don’t want it to be too polished if you know what I mean because because you start to lose some of the other stuff when something becomes perfect when something is perfect it almost seems fake, because nothing in life is perfect.. just like to keep it real =)
@@What.its.like. We all appreciate and acknowledge the work you put into this. As far as outtakes - just proves you're human. Thanks as always ~ Chuck
Just a personal note, I remember my grandmother telling me that she first learned to drive a car in a Stutz
@@wintonhudelson2252 What a great car to start with!
My father worked on the railroad, A LOT of the engines powering equipment were an air-cooled Wisconsin V-4. He even had one on his 2 1/2 ton company truck that powered the welder/compressor/generator. Probably one of the first engines I ever worked on (he used to take me to work with him when I was young). Those engines could take a beating.
Awesome thank you so much for sharing that
Also wanted to personally thank you for planting all those apple trees 😂
Wow, I did not know that Wisconsin Engines were in the famous Stutz Bearcat! That was a surprise for me!! Thanks Jay for highlighting Wisconsin Engines !! The antique air cooled 10hp beasts we used on the farm were originally used to pump water to cool cans of milk, and later for irrigation pump motors. 💦 Kohler I think started out with galvanized wash tubs, but yes, I'd love to hear their whole story!! 🧀😊🐄
Kohler actually started with cast-iron crosses for cemetery.. they made plumbing fixtures, and all that other stuff but they didn’t build a bathtub until a little bit later they found out about enamel and they all they did was enamel a horse trough turned it into a bathtub. It’s a really cool history I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to be boring or anything.
Happy you dig this. I was on the fence about putting it out because it’s kind of sort of unfinished. There’s a lot of information about engines but as soon as they go to the air cooled units. The information gets hard to find.
@@What.its.like. Interesting! The horse trough, yes, that I remember because my friend Larry worked there, but I didn't know that they started first with cast iron crosses! It all sounds interesting Jay, I'm looking forward to seeing your Kohler panoramic historical view in Technicolor! 🦚 🛁 😊 🧀🇺🇸
My teenage years revolve around listening to a Wisconsin V4 running all day on a Balthus Tobacco Priming machine. In Southern Ontario.
When I was a kid growing up on the family dairy farm in PA, back in the '60s, we had an old Roanoke Junior hay baler that used a two cylinder air-cooled Wisconsin engine. Hand-cranked to start, and with magneto ignition, it had seen a *lot* of heavy service. One day, while we were making hay, there was a loud "BANG' from the baler. That Wisconsin had thrown a piston. There was a huge hole in the side of the block, the remains of the connecting rod was sticking out, there was heat and smoke and oil everywhere - and that dang engine WAS STILL RUNNING! My brother had to get close enough to it to short out the magneto to shut it down. We ended up buying a new block, piston, rings, connecting rod, and whatever else we needed, and we stripped down the engine and rebuilt it. It ran nicely afterwards, until we had to retire the whole baler because the twine knotters had gotten too clapped out to repair any longer.
Awesome story thank you so much for sharing that memory
That would have been terrifying to have to shut that off I’m amazed it still ran after that catastrophic failure
Yeah, I was shocked as well that a 2-cylinder could keep going on one cylinder with the second connecting rod flailing around through a hole in the block. It was quite a mixture of 'impressive' and 'very, very scary'. So when this video talks about Wisconsin engines being high quality, I am ready to believe it!
Lots of the smaller construction equipment used Wisconsin engines. They were tough, reliable, and seemed to run forever.
Great information
If my grandpa was still around he could tell you a lot about these engines. He designed all of them.
Wow I just saw your post is your grandpa Arthur Milbrath?
@@kriskarlsonYes. That was my grandfather. Unfortunately he died before I was born so I never knew him. His wife, my grandmother, and my father (who was a field engineer at Wisconsin) told me a lot about him as did others who knew him.
Wow thank you so much for sharing that =) so you grew up with Wisconsin engines or did the company change hands when you were born
@@What.its.like. As you correctly stated in your video, the company changed hands several times over the years. It was originally funded by the Manigold's, local coal merchants (similar to Malcomson and Ford in Detroit coincidentally). My grandfather started out at the formation of the company (and remained throughout his tenure) as Chief Engineer but also I think as corporate secretary on the board and soon after vice-president. The company was sold to Continental first, as you said, and then I think Continental was sold to Hughes Aircraft, who owned it when my grandfather retired still as VP of the Wisconsin unit and Chief Engineer in 1955. He died soon thereafter. Later Teledyne bought it. I think later the tie-up with Fuji (Subaru) was merely a distribution agreement for Robin engines. I don't think Subaru owned Wisconsin. Wisconsin, in much reduced form, was last owned by a machining company in Waukesha Wisconsin. They built engines to order based on my grandfathers V-4 air-cooled designs updated slightly for emissions certification, etc. I think they quit selling engines in 2018. Aside: The water-cooled automotive engines were never the central product line for Wisconsin. They focused on engines for trucks (Kissel, FWD, etc.) and off-road and agricultural equipment (Cletrac bulldozers, New Holland, etc.) They also made marine engines (Wisconsin Whitecap) and Aero engines (inline-six and V-12). Haugdahl's record-setter (180.3 mph in 1922 - accurately timed but not sanctioned by a timing organization so it was referred to as an "outlaw" record) had one of the six-cylinder aero engines in it. Google "Wisconsin Special". That car may be, in somewhat modified form, in Germany today. I have vintage pictures of it hanging in my home.
@@w.b.milbrathjr.4991 WoW, very cool history. We need an episode on the Aero engines.....
My hometown of Sheboygan Falls is about 50 miles north of Milwaukee. It was home to The Falls Motor Corp. which built automobile engines from 1916 to about 1923. They built an overhead valve 6 cylinder that went into many independent makes, such as Elgin, Dort, Velie etc. My friend has a 1916 Elgin with a Falls engine and my Grandfather worked a Falls Motors in the the early '20s . I still have his employee badge.
Awesome thank you so much for sharing that information I’ll have to look into that company never heard of them
great info! Never got to work on one in all the years ive wrenched on small engines. Seemed like very high quality equipment
Our neighbor had a New Holland baler with a V4 on it,bought in the 50's and still used in the '70's and beyond.And did it have an incredible exhaust note when it was loaded up.
That’s awesome. Thank you so much for sharing your experience.
We had an old 50's era Wisconsin engine on a field sprayer. That engine was a beast. Year after year it just kept working. It had the old style starting pulley where you had to wrap a rope around it. That wasn't the safest thing in the world as it would backfire on occasion. I wish I still had that engine but it was sold at a farm auction after dad died. Dad also talked about the Wisconsin V-4 engine his dad had on a combine. It was a good engine he said, but if it died while hot he just crawled under the combine and took a nap until it cooled down, because it would NOT start while warm.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with these engines
Jay, since you brought up Wisconsin engines at some time you should consider doing a show on the Kissel Motor Car Company, from Hartford,WI. The Wisconsin Automotive Museum is in one of their repurposed bulidings. It has a nice selection of pre war cars. One of my friend's lives in one of the old Kissel Mini- Mansion across the street.
I want to do a Kissel car the goal is to cover at least one car from every manufacture in the United States. It’s a tall water I know and cover everything in between… especially the cars that never got covered. I really want to do a 59 ambassador wagon this year but I don’t have any leads on one would really love to cover a Rambler rebel as well same problem I don’t have any leads on one.
Back on the farm in upstate NY,we had a self propelled New Holland hay baler with twin Wisconsin 2 cylinder engines, one to drive, one to bale.It was a beast.
Awesome thank you so much for sharing your experience =)
The Centerpiece of our Family Collection is a 1918 FWD Model B 3-5 Ton Truck, with the Wisconsin Model A T-Head 4. It's been in the family since about 1922, was used to build the first paved roads in Southern NH, then was used to plow them until about 1950. In 1961, My Dad pulled it out of retirement (Parked in the woods), and we used it to plow our private road (About 5 miles) until 1964. With its Full Time 4 wheel drive, Limited Slip Axle and Locking Center Differentials, and Wisconsin Torque, it's hard to beat for moving snow. It's been in working retirement since, restored to its original Military Configuration. (MVPA Hall of Fame) The engine has been incredibly reliable - it's probably got a Million Slow Miles on it, over a century old, and all it has required is normal maintenance- (Mainly pouring and scraping a connection rod bearing). It's easy to work on, although hand cranking 400 cubic inches on a -30 degree day is a chore. The best compliment that I can make was by a group of fellow Truck Collectors, who were showing a beautifully restored 1916 American LaFrance Fire Truck - I noted that I wished that our truck looked as good as theirs. They replied with "We wish ours fan as good as yours."
As for the Stutz Bearcat, they're nice and all, but when you've broken down, or put it into the ditch, we'll come along and pull you out and haul you home.
Thank you so much for sharing your truck with us it’s so cool that you still use it same can’t be said for the stuff they make now
@@What.its.like. One of the great parts was, during a Military Vehicles show, we were doing a driving demonstration and heard some noises behind a small hill. We investigated, and found an Old Engine Show in progress. We checked out their engines, they checked out our truck, and asked if they could place us in their List of Participants. They said it didn't matter if the engine brought itself to the show. Much good fun.
Yeah... Do the whole story on the kohler- please.
Yes please 💯
Whole story it is just wanted to make sure they have a long history of making just about anything everything
Cool episode. I vote for the whole Kohler story.
Whole story it is =)
Wisconsin gained acclaim-good, not notoriety-bad. Engine lover and grammar police here. 😅
We had a New Holland bailer that had V-4 Wisconsin Robin, at some point I acquired a compressor that was a Wisconsin V-4 with one bank driving and the other compressing… not the smoothest running unit but it worked well.
Keep up the good work, I enjoy your content.
Awesome thank you so much for sharing your experience. I’m glad you dig this channel =)
I never knew about Wisconsin engines untill now Jay, so thank you
Last weekend I had to fly to California for a quick visit, and visited the Nethercutt museum - Wow!!!
All these beautifull cars in perfect condition.
I noticed many American made vehicles were built right hand drive untill around 1920.
Why were they built RHD ?
I couldn’t obtain answer at the museum last Saturday sadly
Awesome happy you dig this episode I was on the fence about putting it out because it wasn’t the whole story kind of unfinished in ways but spent so much time on it and needed an engine episode
Nethercutt is a museum that I definitely need to check out. I don’t know when I’m gonna go to California. I kinda wanted to go this year but it’s not going to happen this year maybe next year I definitely want to go to Pebble Beach that’s been a bucket list thing for me for at least 20 years now…
As far as the right hand drive cars go a lot of cars made in America were right hand drive just like Europeans.. here is an article on it
www.hcvc.com.au/forum/truck_Chat/18005-the-us-and-right-hand-drive
Good job, so happy to see people bringing out wisconsin history, I happen to know a little bit about them lol! Unfortunately they are not in business anymore, but there are companies selling the parts still
Great to know thank you so much for that information =)
Wisconsin ruled for many years.
The air-cooleds are great old engines. An unusual feature is that nearly every part has it's part number cast right on it. Often find a 70 year old Wisconsin still working. There are a lot of the same parts used on various models. Funny model designations, VH4D, THD, TJD, AGND, AENLD. Many more. Haven't deciphered those names, except that the D suffix means it has hard Stellite valves.
If my Dad was still around, he could tell you some stuff about them. He used to sell a lot of parts for small tractors like Massey T20s. Ford 2N, 8N and 9Ns. He also sold Wisconsin parts and I think they were for mainly stationary motors,
I would love to revisit this one I wanted to find more information that’s why it’s Thursday I tried to do more research with every article giving the same 8 letter line.
Wisconsin engines were also popular on many engine drive farm equipment like balers and forage harvesters where instead of using PTO (power take off) power from the tractor they had an engine mounted on the implement to provide power. About the only place you see that now is in Amish or Mennonite communities.
The all of it for kolher.
Sweet
All of Kohler . The full story would give better understanding on how the company changed over the years regarding products available .
Awesome it seems like that’s the general consensus of the community. They want to hear the whole story which I’m totally stoked to do. Not sure when that’s going to come.
But it’s one that I’ve been working on in the background. I also wanted to do first generation Harley, the twin and go through all of the different Harley engines. Maybe do some motorcycle stuff on here eventually..
Went to the Kohler Museum in Kohler Wisconsin while visiting friends at Christmas. Learned a whole lot about toilets, not kidding. Yes I would enjoy an episode about everything Kohler!
Awesome yeah they where in business ( still going strong ) for a long time
Yes I was born in 1980 I fell in love with the motors around 89, at that time they where owned by teledyne they sold ownership to nesco in 92 I remember the change that was when I started visiting the factory, and then in early 2001 v&l who made the sheet metal for the motors bought wis-con out and changed it back to wisconsin motor till 2018, sad time for me I would go see them every 2 years luckily they gave me that v4 around 2010 and I'm still going strong on them, I still can't believe I'm talking to the grandson lol! That's why I gave you my email would love to swap some info back and forth to add to my collection, thanks so much for your time!
Awesome thank you so much for all that insights and information. I’m not the grandson but he is in the comment section reach out to him. Maybe he’ll get back to you. He seems like a really cool guy.
Used to do a lot of work on Wisconsin engines. I gotta tell you, they weren't a bad industrial engine, but if they were a competitive race engine, it doesn't say a lot about the competition!
When i was a kid , we had 2 haybailers an IH, and the other a Case- the first was a 2 cyl, and the case a V4. All ways dreamed of a go kart with either-
Awesome
Heck I'm a engine guy. I'd like agricultural engines hit and miss, oil field engines, A series on the development of the diesel engine would be cool. Maybe more technical details if possible. Hall Scott engines in detail as well, and alternative engine designs also, free piston , liquid piston (inverted Wankel basically) it would all make great videos , then possibly go into non production engines. Things people built at home from scratch, even the new stuff, with scotch yoke reciprocating assembly, thanks for all the effort you put into the videos! 👍✌️
Thank you so much for the feed back so many different kinds of engines =)
I'm happy you dig this channel
Its not WESconsin, its WISconsin, wiss rhymes with miss or piss. We don't say skansin, when we say it fast it often sounds like 'skahhnsin. LOL. Milwocky, Wiskahnsin.
My father had a tiller with a water cooled Wisconsin. From the late 50s.
The first Wisconsin I think of is the V4 powering a concrete mixer we used at work in the mid 1970’s. I think most working men today never think about Wisconsin car engines.
Yeah I’ve looked to try to get some more information on the air cooled engine. There’s videos on the air cold engines, but there isn’t that many videos on the early engines.
@@What.its.like. Yep, data evaporates. The Wisconsin history is interesting.
Yup. Wis-can-son.
It would be cool to hear the Kohler story. An more about Wis-can-son engines.
I lived there for 10 years I remember Wi-scone-sin.
I definitely want to come back and hit this one again that’s for sure. I couldn’t find a lot of information on the later engines. The ones that were air cooled
Definitely going to cover some more en engine suppliers that’s for sure and I thought about getting in some motorcycle engines as well. There’s a couple other ones that I’ve been putting off like it’s going to take a long time to do Pontiac because there’s like 20 engines in that family… same thing with Cadillac but I want to cover the north way engines before I dive into the Cadillac engines and I guess I should’ve done the very first ford six cylinder before the flathead Ford because it came before it but we’re not all about keeping everything in chronological order here
Great video! Like to hear all about Kohler.
Awesome glad you dig this episode and totally will not sure when I kind of want to space it out a little bit. I’ve been thinking about doing Harley V twin the different families as well as the Indian start going into some motorcycle engines. I probably won’t ever cover motorcycles on this channel but we’ll see if it’s a popular thing, then maybe
A lot of experts believed a big 4 cylinder was the ultimate performance motor, around WW1. 6 cylinders had been tried but were disappointing in terms of power usually making less power than a 4 cylinder the same size. The first V8s were out but they had a 4 cylinder type crankshaft which meant they had no advantage over a good 4 in smoothness.
The secret of Stutz performance was good breathing through 4 valves per cylinder. This meant they had to use a T head design with 2 valves on each side. This was a costly way to make a motor, but was used by such luxury makes as Pierce Arrow as well as Stutz.
Later developments like the Ricardo head gave the L head a new lease of life but for a time, the Stutz T head four was the performance king.
Great insight and information
We had Wisconsin V4's when I worked at a marina. We never had a boat drift away.
Awesome thank you for sharing that story
I grew up repairing Wisconsin and kohler small engines ! Never cared too much for briggs tho ! Have seen some stutz's powered by Wisconsin engines ! i also like the lycoming family of engines !
Awesome definitely want to cover all those engine suppliers =)
Everything about Kohler would be great!
Awesome sounds great =)
My grandfather it was one of the first people on the South Shore of Massachusetts will the new Holland hay baler with one of them four cylinder Wisconsin's and it had a packer on top and when the bail spit out it would come up out of the hole and when you're a little kid it used to scare the hell out of you and I recently found out it still exists
Thank you so much for sharing that awesome memory
Hi Jay! An interesting fact about the 1915 Stutz racers. Stutz wanted to win the Indy 500 BAD, since they were based there. For the 1915 season they built a team of new racers to try and do just that. Yes, these cars had engines built by Wisconsin, but they were not the normal T head types they had been making for Stutz. This engine was SPECIAL. They sort of copied the design of the Mercedes racing engine (Oddly for Stutz, Ralph DePalma won the 1915 Indy 500 in an actual Mercedes!) A four cylinder with welded up water jackets and an overhead cam. This was a really advanced racing engine for the time, right before Harry Miller and the Chevrolet brothers advanced the art of the American Racing engine to untold heights. Gil Anderson managed a top ten finish at Indianapolis, and won quite a few races that year including at Sheepshead Bay. Most of these cars still exist and are a fascinating piece of US racing history. A strange fact is, that Stutz insisted of using their transaxle on these cars, which was fine for the production cars, but WAY too heavy for a racing car. Or they would probably won many more races than they did. Don't have any remembered encounters with the small Wisconsin engines, but MAN that Sig Haugdahl's Wisconsin Special speed record car was sure SWEET!
Thank you so much for sharing all that information and insight greatly appreciate it. I’m happy you dig this episode. It took a little while to put this one together and I was a bit bummed I couldn’t find the information that I really wanted for the air cooled engines but there were some videos on particular air engines from Wisconsin engine manufacturing, but I didn’t see any early ones
The Wisconsin-Subaru connection was Fuji heavy industries was providing engines to Wisconsin and they were sold as Wisconsin Robyn. I’m thinking the Teledyne name was added when they bought or merged with Continental.
Great information =)
During WW 2 cranberry growers in Grayland, Wa could not get hand pickers to harvest their crop. Herman Joutsen took his wife's Electrolux out on the bog and vacuumed the berries off the vines. Growers began using much larger variations powered by sawdust blowers driven by Wisconsin engines, 2 cyl, 12 hp and V4 20 and 32 hp. When they shut down to empty, with no cooling air the magnetos heat soaked and would not provide spark until they cooled down. Some growers used a Rockford clutch and never shut the engine off all day. The local mechanic, Jalmer Wirtanen, also known as the Flying Finn, converted our 32 hp to battery ignition, srarted every time.
Sig Haugdal set a world land speed record in the 1920's in a Wisconsin powered car but the AAA fought it's recognition because it was done with IMCA officials and not AAA. There was a photo of this car in the video. As to the "T" head engine it may actually have been more powerful than the "L" head but was was larger and likely heaver and more costly so it fell from favor as things went on.
Thank you so much for sharing all that insight and information =)
WYR: All of them.
If you do a video on Huber steam traction engines and steam shovels from the old century, talk to Mark Huber in Colorado. He works at the Colorado Railroad Museum and knows a lot about his family's history with those machines. You probably know him on UA-cam as Hyce.
Those are some good railroad videos
@@bparksiii6171 Yep.
Had a V4 Wisconsin converted into an air compressor, i have never seen another
The only story I have is about a TJD and when the crank came off when it started broke the guy's wrist and flew up and broke his jaw and that was the end of anything that cranked if it didn't have an electric starter it wasn't getting sold
Kohler... when I redid my bathroom (circa 1940) everything was Kohler. Tub, toilet, sink, faucets...
Yeah they made cast iron products and just about anything for every market
I had a Lincoln welder with a 2 cylinder in line air-cooled Wisconsin My dad had hay balers with v465 overhead valve Wisconsin air cooled they were good engines as long as you kept the fins blew out
Awesome thank you so much for sharing your experience
I like the idea of the Kohler story. I don't know how they went from making bathrooms to making all kinds of other things.
Awesome the whole kohler story it is
This should be an interesting series.
I worked on "WISCO)NSIN ENGINES" for years, infact I have a 1967 bolens tractor with a "TR10D engine on it( original engine rebuilt in 1990)., I also have a toro whirlwind mower with a "AKN WISCONSIN ENGINE " on it( original engine rebuilt in 1998) I know that the company has changed hands many times and now it is a memory. I was not aware that parts are still available for those engines. it would be nice if you could share that information!!!!!!!!!. with respect to the "KOHLER" company, it would be nice to cover all aspects of what kohler made. I really liked the "K/M series cast iron engines" that kohler made and are now discontinued in terms of production, parts are also becoming hard to get. I did get a large stock of new "BRIGGS & STRATTON" parts when those parts still had active part numbers( briggs is now in the hands of a holding company- fred stratton retired and gave the company to his daughter, and she ran the company in the dirt. the company was auctioned off)
Awesome thank you so much for sharing all that information =)
Id appreciate a several hours long video on Kohler for listening to on night shift! 😁
Awesome i’m gonna try not to make it that long. I apologize for not posting any episodes in the last couple days. I’ve been through a lot of stuff but tomorrow’s episode will be totally worth it at 1977 Chrysler cordoba.. the episodes going to be pretty long as well. It’s almost 30 minutes long now might be over that still working on it.
@@What.its.like. no need to apologize buddy! We're grateful for the videos when you're able to make em!
Run a Wisconsin v4 40hp on a regular. Thing will run forever!!!
A video history of Kohler engines would be very informative.
Engines please. On our farm we had a case pull type combine with a v4 a John Deare swather with v4 and a grain auger with 1 banger.
=)
J
😢, 😮@@What.its.like.
on the farm we have wisconsin engines. many were good enough to be considered to be heroic. that being said, that v4 updraft carb engine was found on many balers including our new holland 77. cold start, just like magic. hot start, forget it. how many men remember a thunder storm on the horizon, 200 bales of valuable hay in windrows and a hot v4 to start. we had a special glove we all shared, taking turns cranking. its not that it wouldn't start, but rather that it would almost start, run a few pops and not catch. 20 minutes was about the norm. the only thing hotter than the engine or the summer sun was the french used during this often repeated procedure. as for kohler, please give us the whole nut.
Thank you for sharing those memories…
Need more Wisconsin Engine videos!!! TRA-10D!
Thanks for this episode, maybe Hercules and Briggs & Stratton down the line next, don't remember reading if Briggs & Stratton ever made a car at one time like Maytag did "APPLIANCE ". Don't feel bad on the Wisconsin pronunciation, didn't know it was 2 different ways of pronouncing the name just like Arkansas , and Louisiana are pronounced 2 different ways. Even here in Texas we pronounce the word pecan different than the folks in Georgia pronounce pecan.
Briggs did make a vehicle, but it was more like a motorized skateboard, only bigger. Two passengers, and no body. Kinda like a home-made go-kart. I've seen them in pictures, but never one in person.
Definitely going to cover more engine suppliers that is for sure
Briggs did make a vehicle, but as you said it’s more or less skateboard with wheels and a seat and it’s powered by this weird wheel in the back. It has five wheels. Essentially there is a buckboard electric vehicle in the pipeline from 1924. That’s very similar in designed to the Briggs car. ..
@@What.its.like. Enjoyed reading the comments from the viewers on the great family stories on the Wisconsin engines, it added a lot to the episode. Put my vote in on a history on all Kohler products that you can find. After all Mr Buick started in the plumbing business before building cars.
Good machine very good beautiful and useful
It’s pronounced wis- con-sun from what I believe.
Thanks for your vids mate.
=)
I've had and have many single cyl. Wisconsin engines, you can't wear them out!
Awesome =)
I would like to see all of Kohler’s products, Jay.
Sweet that seems to be the general consensus
Yes please, all of Kohler!😃
Awesome will do thank you so much for the feed back
I did not know that Wisconsin engines were so prolific in the earlier days. I've seen the smaller, air cooled 1 cyl and V4 engines, but certainly none of the automotive engines. I'd like to see a video about Kohler. .And why haven't you pinned the Name That Tune winner yet?
Haha for some reason every time I hit pen it hasn’t been pinning people to the top. Andrea got it same thing with liking.
Anyway, glad you did the episode. I was a little bit on the fence about putting it out because it’s technically not finished. I was able to find a lot of information about the company in the early days but I wasn’t able to find anything about the air cooled units that they made after and the company exchanged hands a ton and that was very hard to follow. Probably gonna come back and hit this one again. The kohler episode is going to be super cool. just not entirely sure when that one’s going to come out I would love to cover the peerless V8 I think that’s might be the next one. It just depends on how much information can be found, etc. I thought about the Tucker even though it’s technically supplied by Franklin but there’s so much information on that engine that there could be an episode on it as well as talk about the other engine that was supposed to power tucker.. would also love to do an episode on the Chrysler turbine project. There was more than one Chrysler turbine car. There was only one car that the general public tried out…
Wow, I was thinking Jimi Hendrix...........something............
All of it from Kohler.
Awesome will definitely cover that whole story
Kohler's complete story 👍😉
Awesome will do
Cool ..... very ....cool
Happy you dig this episode
All of it for Kolher
Sounds great =)
Wisconsin engine on a minibike 😃👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🇺🇸
I believe you're wrong about Subaru owning Wisconsin engines. I know back in the late seventies an 80s they had a marketing agreement with Robin engines to bring them into the country. That is where the Wisconsin robins came from after the marketing agreement was finished with Wisconsin they became the Subaru Robin. And I believe now they're just marketed under Subaru.
The reason why they had the marketing agreement with Wisconsin and Subaru was so that Robin did not have to pay the liability insurance to come into the country
Subaru is one of the best cars on the road dude!!
Until they aren’t I had a fully loaded 2012 Outback when I bought it 35,000 miles at 94,000 I was driving the dash lit up like a Christmas tree and wouldn’t go anymore.. turns out the transmission went and took the AWD system with it.. NO ONE wanted to do the job but Subaru dealer and cost 10 grand that was ten years ago
Let's hear all about Kohler
A good one would be continental motors everything butt aircraft because they used to build car engines but I can't find it on the web anymore and I think you can find about anything
Funny, you should mention that I asked for the Continental book for Christmas to do an engine episode on Continental and I haven't done it yet
All of it!
Awesome thank you so much for the feedback
And Kohler still makes just about everything
Yes yes they do lol
Im from wisconsin. Im not trying to be a nitpick but its not Wes-Kohn-sin. Its Wis-con-sin. I can always tell people who arent from here just by how they say it. Other than that good video. I think our state is often forgot about compared to michigan and indiana.
Haha thank you so much for that
All of Kohler would be interesting
Awesome will do
Fiat (fix it again tony) Ford, fix or repair daily or found on road dead and today don't ask about Pontiac (not correct today to mention) !
Hahaha
HONDA hold on not done accelerating
JEEP just empty every pocket or just eats every penny
CHEVROLET cheap hardly efficient variables runs on every time.
Missed F Ed over rebuilt dodge
all of Kohler history! You'll geek out on it, will be great!
T-Head may be old, be was strong and in a Stutz they flew!
Don't over heat a Subaru and life is good...we've owned a few, own one now, kid killed one, by overheating it.... just saying.
Haha yeah definitely do all of it
We had a 2011 outback loaded I was driving to work the dash lit up like a Christmas tree and wouldn’t move the transmission went and took the AWD system with it.. the car only had 94,000 miles on it when it happened. Plus those are interfering engines which need timing belt service every 100,000 miles and that can be an expensive job..
So sense Continental and Wisconsin were the same company was Wisconsin the air-cooled engines and Continental the liquid cooled engines so they had two different lines
Yes but Continental did get into the aero engines..
I was just talking about that the other day somebody could make continental parts, because they totally abandoned all of their engines they made before the aero engines
Is that the same continental engine that Lincoln welders used for years and other industrial equipment because there's a bunch of them still running that people fix up all the time
All for Kohler!
Sweet
Knocked out my front teeth starting a v-4with hand crank.
Wow
KOHLER engines, their history including cars powered by the Kohler engines !
Awesome will definitely do not sure when but will do
Your Subaru observation is “dead” on. My triple S (Subaru Sub - Standard) made it to 76,000 miles before it blew the engine. Total loss since repair/replacement exceed the value of the car. At least I could make to a dictionary and learn how to spell Honda and Toyota.
Hahaha I’ve had a couple the one that really crapped the bed was 2012 or 2011 Outback limited top of the line for a stellar deal on it.. only had 35,000 miles on it when I bought it in 2016.. was driving it to work one day all the lights in the dash came on lit up like a Christmas tree.. the transmission went and took the AWD system with it and NO ONE wanted to work on it had to take it back to Subaru garage where they wanted $10k to fix it plus it was going to need a 100k service water pump and timing belt.. $1,000 generally.. they are great cars when running good but parts are more expensive than Honda Toyota parts and finding someone who wants to work on them ( depending on where you are in the world ) can be hard..
You can’t beat Honda and Toyota as far as reliability I had a odessey that had absolutely no oil in it drove it god knows how long ( and drive it hard until the light came on ) put more oil in it and drove for years after that incident
I'll take a wis caan sen engine over a stutz anytime
Haha nice
Oops, you just offended the cheese heads.🤣
Haha I hope not
all of kolher
Awesome thank you so much for the feedback
Whoops sorry
It’s all good I just didn’t want you to get the wrong impression he did comment though I wish I could share the link with you just look in the comment section you’ll find him
I did lol, I'm going to click on his tag the next time I didn't realize I hit your reply, by the way good job on video!
Need more cheese 🧀
WISS..consin, not WESS-consin.