One-Lung Marine Engines


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Posted by John Wilson on December 20, 2006 at 13:47:41 from 202.154.136.42 user hugo.

A book I picked up in the library: “Old Marine Engines: The World of the One-Lunger” by Stan Grayson (International Marine, Maine, 1982) details the old engines that powered fishing boats in the USA & Canada from the 1900s. A few (Atlantic brand) were still being made by the Lunenburg Foundry in Nova Scotia, though they were largely replaced from the 1930s by old car engines. Other makes were Acadia, Bridgeport (Conn) “The Motor that Motes”, Knox, Lackawanna, Mianus, Palmer etc. For the fisherman, they meant an end to rowing heavily laden skiffs & dories. An 8 hp one-lunger of 500 to 600 rpm with a 22 inch propellor would power an 23 or 24 foot New England catboat. And hoisting engines eg the Fairbanks Morse ‘Bulldog’ saved labour by powering windlasses and pumps on schooners.

The very basic engine was the single-cylinder two-cycle (two-stroke), either two-port or three-port (the third port replaced a one-way check valve). Most had make-and-break ignition which was low-tension and little affected by moisture though some had jump-spark or hot-tube ignition. The two-cycle engine could be reversed “on the switch”. While not trouble-free they could be repaired by the fisherman "with a piece of bailing wire and pliers", or as they said in Nova Scotia “a cod napper and a peavey” (ie a club for a codfish and a lever used by lumberjacks). There were some four-cycle and some of two, three or four cylinders. An “oil” engine was one that ran on Kerosene.



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