[tndonor]

Off the topic from anything.....

A while back I was at my local Cummins dealer and saw a hat with a Cummins badge that appeared to be old looking. I inquired (and bought it).
I was told that the first Cummins "oil" engines were catalog sale only and that every unit sold was returned it worked so poorly!

IF that story is true, is kinda funny and glad they stuck it out.

 

[gold79TA]

I read somewhere that cummins got started selling 1 cylinder stationary engines through the sears catalog under the "thermoil" brand. They ran on Kerosene using compression ignition which was a big selling point since kerosene was much cheaper than gasoline at that time. Automobiles were becoming popular, driving the cost of gasoline, and, the refining techniques in use at the time produced a lot of un-needed kerosene as a by-product. These engines did not have high pressure injection pumps, rather, they allowed fuel to enter the combustion chamber at low cylinder pressure around BDC by gravity feed. The fuel was ignited by the air heating in the subsequent compression stroke. The timing must of been all over the place depending on ambient and engine temperature and everything else.
Because Sears had an unconditional money back guarentee, farmers would keep them thru harvesting/processing them return them creating a big problem for cummins. Do a search on 'Thermoil stationary engine' or Hercules engine company' if you are interested in this. These engines are very collectible now if you can find one.