Iron Horse Engine In A Boat
#1 Box 86, Locke, New York 13092In 1987 I set out to learn as much I could about an engine Iacquired that summer. The person selling it said he thought it wasa Maytag.The engine was mounted on a lawn mower and was covered with aheavy layer of everything that had filtered down upon it from thecaved-in barn under which it had rested since about 1950.After scraping away much of this crud, I found a brass tag whichproudly proclaimed that this engine was a Utilimotor No. U15899built by the Johnson Motor Company of Waukegan, Illinois. In the time that has passed since then, all I have found outabout it for sure is that it was dark green, and that it was builtbetween 1927 and 1934.What I did learn about though was the company that had builtit.I have noticed a number of times that people have askedGEM's Reflector about Johnson Motor Company and the answer hasbeen the same- nothing.
Let me share with you what I havefound.There were four Johnson brothers whose interest turned to theinternal combustion engine. They were: Julius (born in 1886), whowas a machinist; Louis (1881), the designer; Harry (1884), thethinker and planner; and Clarence (1895), the mechanic.In 1903 Louis and Harry built their first engine in a shedbehind the family home in Terre Haute, Indiana.Since they lived right next to the Wabash River it was a marineengine of 2-cycle design that developed about 3 HP at 350 rpm.In 1904 they built their second engine, also with a singlecylinder and 2-cycle, with a 5 inch bore and 5 inch stroke.1905 was the big year for the Johnsons. They were ready to offertheir engines for sale. All were 2-cycle inline engines.
Engines with a 3 inch bore and 3 inch stroke were built with 1,2, and 4 cylinders.Engines with a 4 inch bore and 3 inch stroke were also offeredwith 1, 2, and 4 cylinders.The line shaft in their little shop was powered by theiroriginal 1903 motor which had been converted to hit and missgoverning.By 1908, in need of more space, they moved to a brick factorybuilding at 1602 Hulman Street in Terre Haute, where theyimmediately roared into production of their massive 'V'engines designed for aircraft and racing boats. These engines were2-cycle, water cooled with a 5 inch bore and 4 inch stroke, andvery light. It came in four sizes: V-4, V-6, V-8 and V-12.In 1910 they built America's first single wing airplane andpowered it with a V-4.In 1911 they built their second airplane with a tricycle landinggear (the first had been a tail dragger).
Iron Horse Engine In A Boat Pictures
The frame of the machinewas the radiator. It was called the Johnson Aerial Motor. A modelof this craft is in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington,D.C.In 1912 the company was named the Johnson Brothers MotorCompany.Among the most famous racing boats to be powered by the Johnson'V' engine was the 'Black Demon III.'
It was neverbeaten in a race and set many speed records. It was powered by TWOV-12's!On Easter Sunday, March 23, 1913 disaster struck!
A storm thatbrought about tornadoes and flooding destroyed the south side ofTerre Haute with the loss of many lives. The Johnson factory was inthe center of the devastated area.
Nothing was saved.The Johnsons were out of business. They never again built thebig engines.During the winter of 1914-15 Clarence Johnson, working at home,built a lightweight, air cooled, opposed twin engine that firedsimultaneously. Two-cycle, of course, with a 2 inch bore and 1?inch stroke.Sounds a lot like an engine that another company built in 1936,doesn't it?To test this engine, Harry and Louis helped Clarence mount it ona bicycle. It worked great and the Johnsons were back inbusiness!The only problem they had to overcome was that the magnetowouldn't hold up at speed. They needed something different.They were approached by a young man named Dick Oglesby.
Dick wasan inventor, a magneto inventor.He had assigned his patents to the Quick Action Ignition Companyof South Bend, Indiana and he was out to sell his magnetos. Heoffered the Johnsons four magnetos to try on their engines.A representative of Quick Action then went to Terre Haute to seehow things were going. He was very impressed by the demonstrationhe was given of the motor bike and asked the Johnsons to move toSouth Bend.Quick Action Ignition Company was a successor to the oldercompanies of Knobloch-Heideman and Miller-Knobloch.Mr. Knobloch was the builder of the magneto for the WrightBrothers Kittyhawk aircraft.
It was then headed by Mr. WarrenRipple.The Johnsons did move to South Bend and opened the Johnson MotorWheel Company. In January 1918 Johnson Motor Wheel and Quick Actionmerged, with Warren Ripple named as president of both operations.Quick Action patents became Johnson patents as well.The magneto that was first built for the Motor Wheel engine alsohad a new customer. Maytag started using it on the 'fruitjar' and continued to use it or license built copies until thelast Maytag was built.I don't know how many times I have read in reply to a querythat the Johnson Utilimotor was a 'cheap imitation of aMaytag.' How can this be if the Maytag was half Johnson anyway?Before you Maytag folks yell too loud, send for Patent Nos.1,279,750, 1,300,637 and 1,390,376.
Facts is facts!By 1921 the Johnson Motor Wheel Company of South Bend, Indianahad built over 17,000 units and had set racing records of up to 58MPH on a half-mile dirt track, but sales were falling off.Henry Ford was selling his model 'T' for only $370.00and the Motor Wheel was no longer profitable.The air cooling fins on the Motor Wheel twin were replaced witha water jacket and a lower unit was built for it. The Johnsons wereready to get back into the water with outboard motors.The Motor Wheel was sold to Edwards and Krist of Chicago, who inturn sold it to a British company, where it became the'Economic.'
At Johnson, magneto manufacture continued for Maytag andFairbanks Morse.The name of the Johnson Motor Wheel Company was changed toJohnson Motor Company. Julius Johnson left the company in 1918 andwas replaced by Warren Con-over, his brother-in-law. Johnson'snew outboard motor was named the model 'A' and was offeredfor sale in 1922.Throughout history, the sellers of merchandise found that one ofthe best ways to show off their wares was by entering theirproducts in nose to nose public contests. The winner of eachcontest always got the sales. The loser either went out of businessor went home and improved on his product for the next contest.From the time that humans found ways to get from one place toanother without the use of their own feet there have been races.Tractors have had their trials, so too have boats and motorcycles.These competitions caused the rapid development of these productsand quickly blew away the chaff.
This, then, is why racing wasnever far from the Johnsons.In 1922 a high performance carburetor was designed and patented.The competition at that time was still using simple mixers.In 1923 the Model 'J' was built. It was exactly one halfof the model 'A' and, therefore, one half of the old motorwheel engines. This engine would one day become the Utilimotor.It is not known when the first Utilimotor was built, and until Ihear of one with a South Bend nameplate on it we cannot go earlierthan 1927. The model 'J' was the first outboard to haveJohnson's new patented anti-cavitation plate cast into thelower unit. No outboard motor today is without this plate.In 1925 the P-30 was built. A real race winner!By 1927 sales had exploded to the point that the South Bendplant could no longer hold the Johnson Motor Company.
WarrenRipple's family owned property in Waukegan, Illinois and a newfactory was built there. The K-35 was introduced. It was now TheJohnson Motor Company of Waukegan.In 1928 a new factory was opened in Canada. The K-40, P-40, andTR-40 were brought on the market.At Waukegan, work on the Utilimotor continued. As I said before,this little engine was an adaptation of the model 'J' powerhead. From what I have seen, it would seem that Johnson was neversatisfied with the Utilimotor. I have never seen two that wereexactly alike.
It never really progressed out of the developmentalstage. The early ones used the same Quick Action magneto andflywheel as Maytag.One of the first big changes was the use of an iron flywheelwith the use of a Wico type 'F' magneto. This magneto isinteresting in itself in that it was built using both Wico patentsAND Johnson patents. It was a joint venture, and the only place Iknow of where both the Wico patent numbers and Quick Action patentnumbers share the same space is on the Johnson Utilimotor equippedwith the type 'F.' The type 'F' was used heavily byBriggs and Stratton. Utili-motors were built in two models afterthe introduction of the type 'F' magnetos.
Iron Horse Engine In A Boat Trailer
They were theU-11 foot start and the U-13 hand start.Changes continued on the Utilimotor in the area of carburetion.Simple mixers were first used and finally progressed to the use ofthe Johnson patented carburetor.Choke systems went from a slide gate to an automatic choke thatconsisted of a spring and rod connecting the foot start pedal tothe slide gate. Each time the pedal was depressed the choke wouldclose. Since the Utilimotor did not have an anti-flood valve, asdid the Maytag, I have never seen one of these engines with thisfeature intact. The final move was to an automatic style butterflychoke operated by cable.The last Utilimotor was built in 1934 when it was replaced bythe 'Iron Horse.' The tooling for the Utilimotor was sold to the Jacobson Companyof Racine, Wisconsin.
In 1928 the Johnson Motor Company was'riding a wave.' They were the largest manufacturers ofoutboard motors in the world.It was decided that they would also start building their ownboats and sell them as matched units with their motors. Theworld's first inboard-outboard stern drive was also beingprepared for these boats. Timberland and manufacturing facilitieswere purchased and then the bottom fell out.
The Stock Marketcrashed and sent the world spinning into depression. Johnson MotorCompany was over-extended and had to cut back immediately. Theboats would have to go and so would the outdrive unit. Only four ofthese units are known to exist today. Three are in museums.As the depression deepened, Johnson Motor Company slid closerand closer to receivership but was saved from that fate by beingbought by Outboard Motor Company, headed by Evinrude, in 1936.The new company was named Outboard Marine Corporation (O.M.C.)which is a thriving business today.Johnson Motor Company continued as a division of O.M.C.
Underthe leadership of Clay Conover, the Johnsons' nephew, until hisretirement in the 1950's.The 'Iron Horse' continued to be built by O.M.C. Some of these engines were fitted with Evinrude nameplatesand put on the first production Lawn Boy lawn mowers. The 'IronHorse' was the only 4-cycle engine ever built by Johnson.The three Johnson brothers who were still with the company in1935, Louis, Harry and Clarence, all slipped quietly intoretirement before the merger was finalized.Louis passed away in 1963, Harry in 1967 and Clarence in 1976.Julius passed away in 1974.
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