On Mon, 5 Oct 2015 09:48:29 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
On 05 Oct 2015 02:36:11 -0300, Mike Spencer
wrote:


Ed Huntress writes:

OOohh...you have an Acadia? You mean one of the old make-and-break
engines? That must be fun.

Yeah, it is! It's a 10 HP. They were made in Bridgewater, about 13
miles from me and I was in the plant in the early 70s when they were
still making them. They had a contract from the government to make
them for government wharves -- wharves built in many small fishing
villages, owned and maintained by the feds for the local fishing
fleets. Those 10HP Acadias came equipped with a sprocket and a
chain-driven winch to haul boats out on a skidway. That ended in
the
70s and many of the engines were vandalized or stolen.

Mine is the same size but isn't one of those. It's equipped with a
flat-belt pulley. Shortly before the plant was closed, the manager
gave me a photocopy of the "manual" for my engine. I've put it on
line:

http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/acadia/index.html

Those old beasties are pretty cool to watch running. They had lots
of
folks bring their running engines to the old Vista, CA Gas and Steam
Engine Museum during the Fair days. Ditto the Pottsville shindigs
in
Merlin, OR up here. Everyone called them "hit & miss" engines. I
got
to help a few guys get theirs running (mostly grunt work, but fun),
but never tore one down. The centrifugal governor grounded the
spark
and kept the exhaust valve open during overrev. Simple yet
effective.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXkNqjUPL_M Running engine


I timed a large one idling at a show. It would fire two or three
times, then coast for 45 seconds.

600 HP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcjt0uQDbxw

Bear in mind that a "hit-and-miss" engine is not the same thing as
these Canadian "make-and-break" engines. The Acadia fires on every
cycle; it doesn't idle for multiple revolutions, like a hit-and-miss.
And hit-and-miss engines were 4-strokes; the Acadia type
make-and-break is a 2-stroke.

Hit-and-miss engines could have either spark plugs or the low-voltage
"igniter" ignition, which was a pair of points that opened and created
a spark (actually, an arc, but we won't quibble). The make-and-break
always has that type of ignition, and is named for it.

As Mike says on his webpage, there were other brands, which were once
very popular for working boats in Mike's neck of the woods.

Here's one, an Atlantic, in operation on a boat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxGw...eature=related

As you can see, it moves that boat along pretty darned well for 4 hp.
The low rpm was well matched to the low speed of those displacement
hulls, which results in efficient propellers.

--
Ed Huntress