Wisconsin Motor Manufacturing Company

The Wisconsin Motor Manufacturing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, manufactured internal combustion engines. The company was incorporated in 1909 and in its early years made a full range of engines for heavy construction equipment through cars down to garden tractors. After 1930 it focused on small air-cooled engines.

Wisconsin passed through the hands of a number of owners and production seems to have ceased in 2017.

Subsequent names for the same business under different owners
  • Wisconsin Motor Corporation
  • Wisconsin Motor Division of Continental Motors Corporation
  • Teledyne Wisconsin Motor Division
  • Teledyne Wisconsin Total Power


Products

Small air-cooled engines

Wisconsin's fame came from its small air-cooled engines, such as AEH (used on generators and garden tractors), AEN, and VF4.[1]

  • Howard Gem Rotavator with Wisconsin THD engine
  • Wisconsin auxiliary on a White M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage

In the 1950s they were able to claim they were the world's largest manufacturer of heavy-duty air-cooled engines. All Wisconsin's products were 4-cycle and they had power outputs from 3 to 30 hp. There were one, two and (V-type) four cylinder models. The engines were designed for outdoor field service in industries including agriculture, construction, oil-field equipment and railway maintenance[2]

Designation — Displacement — Cylinders — HP

  • Wisconsin (Air-Cooled) Models
AENL-3 23 cu. in. (377 cc) 1 9.2
V465D 177 cu. in. (2901 cc) 4 65.9
W4-1770 107.7cu. in. (1765 cc) 4 35
VH4D 107.7 cu. in. (1765 cc) 4 30
VG4D 154 cu. in. (2524 cc) 4 37
  • Continental (Liquid-Cooled) Models
TME27 164.7 cu. in. (2700 cc) 4 74
TM27 164.7 cu. in. (2700 cc) 4 72 [3]

Engines for construction equipment and cars

Their four and six cylinder engines were used in heavy construction equipment, for example that made by Bucyrus-Erie but new automobile companies bought them for their big cars. The Stutz Bearcat car was available with either Wisconsin's four-cylinder Type A or their six-cylinder engine. Both engines were rated at 60 horsepower. Stutz began to build their own engines in 1917. Pierce-Arrow was among other customers for Wisconsin engines. Wisconsin engines also powered the trucks made by The FWD Corporation.[1]

1917 Type A
  • 1914 Stutz Bearcat
  • 1917 Pierce-Arrow 48
  • FWD military truck WWI
  • Bucyrus draglines
    1917 and 1929
  • 1930 shunting locomotive for Finnish Railway

Owners

Wisconsin Motor was incorporated March 12, 1909 by Charles H. John and Arthur F. Milbrath. By 1912 they employed about 300 people.

Wisconsin Motor merged with Continental Motors Company in 1937 but retained a separate identity.[1]

  • Ryan Aeronautical bought 50 per cent of Continental Motors Corporation in 1965[4]
  • Teledyne Technologies bought Continental Motors Corporation in 1969
  • 1971 Fuji Heavy Industries owner of Subaru appointed Teledyne Wisconsin Motor US agents for their Robin engines
  • Teledyne Total Power sold out to Nesco Incorporated in August 1992[5]

In late 2017 Subaru Corporation ended production and sale of their small multi-purpose engines.

References
  1. Belt Pulley Magazine, September/October 2004. Accessed online September 16, 2018
  2. Wisconsin Motor Corporation. New York Herald Tribune (European Edition) (Paris, France), Monday, Feb. 4, 1952
  3. 1917 Type A Source
  4. Leyes, Richard A., and William A. Fleming, The History of *North American Small Gas Turbine Aircraft Engines, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 1999: p.143 ISBN 1-56347-332-1
  5. Automobile Quarterly, Volume 40, Issue 1, Page 97. 2000
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.