Miineapolis Moline RE engine

MNGB

Well-known Member
Hi all can anyone tell me the thinking behind the MM cross valve/ side head engine? They must have had some thought to this different design I know it was a good engine and produced good power My Dad farmed with a Z for many years and it was a good tractor and I have more than a few hours standing on it
GB in MN
 
The MM adds said that the engine had 140 fewer parts than traditional designs. Fewer parts, less maintenance.
 
seems to me that Lamborgini or one of the exotic car companies used that design early on, can't remember which one
 
I know several other engine manufacturers did embrace this design early on, many of the old farm engines had the headless design with the walking beam valve train, the big notables were Fairbanks Morse, Witte, and several Waterloo gas engine company spin offs. (pre John Deere Era)

In early Fairbanks Literature it says it was a simple design with less parts to maintain, but the downfall was that this method was noisy and the Fairbanks dealer memos say it was prone to constant adjustment. I really do not know about this, but shortly after this memo all Fairbanks Morse Farm engines with this design were abandoned.

Again in the industrial realm of this design, pre 1910 there were several Gas Engine Producers that used this design like Snow, Buffalo,and several other side shaft engine builders, one notable was the Munzel. Munzel was an engine that was built by Minneapolis Steel and Machinery under license of the G Luther Company of Braunschweig Germany. Munzel visited MSM several times and these visits were Printed in the Minneapolis Journal newspaper one printing noted in April 29, 1905 this revolutionary design was to be built exclusively by MSM.

I have never seen a Munzel engine nor have I ever heard of one existing, this engine was the designed replacement to the Twin City Corliss Patent Steam Engine.

I have several books from the turn of the 20th century about this engine style used. It is fascinating to see where engine design has taken us in just over 100 years.


14652.jpg
 
From an article in the July 29, 1937 issue of "Farm Implement News", MM Chief Engineer A. W. Lavers had this to say about the new Model Z's engine. "It has literally 140 less motor parts, and it can be serviced from a milk stool with no drip in the eyes. In fact, you can put the Z in the parlor and it won't smear the rug. It has no oil pan at all. The crankcase is one solid casting without a gasketed joint below the plane of the shaft." He goes on. "How is an engine serviced from a milkstool? Sit down on your stool with a suitable wrench, back off the bolts on the camshaft side of the block and two plates come off. Before you are the connecting rod bearings and the tappets for any needed adjustments. Go around to the other side, sit down comfortably, remove those bolts and off comes the spark plug cylinder head cap. And, there are your valves open for grinding."

These engines were designed to be easily serviceable and repairable by the farmer who owned one. They have also proven to be very durable. I still have the tractor I grew up on. It's a 1950 ZA. When I overhauled the engine last year, the cylinders and pistons were still standard bore and within dimension. New rings restored the compression and I pull it in antique pulls, 60 years after I drove it plowing the fields.
 
Hi thanks to all for the replies very interesting I've been going to ask for sometime but never go it asked, I didn't realize that the headless hit & miss use a similar configuration but then again I'm not to familiar with hit & miss engines.
My brain is trying to figure out what all the saved are push rods for sure cam follower / lifters would they be counting that there's no pan and the associated gaskets and bolts & washers?
GB in MN
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top