100 antique gas engines and growing

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Collin restored this 1916 6 HP Galloway Masterpiece engine, though he hasn't put the decals on yet. In 1916, this engine, manufactured by William Galloway Co. of Waterloo, Iowa, sold for $98. 75.

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Collin Langanki has seen antique gas engines in many forms: A 1942 International Harvester Corp. 3 HP Interntional Model LB used as an elevator counterweight, a 1918 6 HP IHC M understrike with all the parts scattered around the shop, and the worst, a 1918 3 HP Stover found in the woods near Atwater, Minn., completely covered with green moss. "Just like you see on all the trees," the 68-year-old says.

To no one's surprise, the Stover was 100 percent stuck, but after considerable labor, and the help of his son, Dale, it's now in working condition, "Although it doesn't have quite the compression it should have," Collin says.

For many years, Collin could only look at gas engines, never able to rescue them, because he and his wife, Betty, were raising five children near Maple Lake, Minn., and never had extra money from Collin's factory supervisor job. The children eventually grew up and left home, and the yearning for the gas engines grew stronger. Ten years ago, Collin and Dale were picking up a calf at a neighbor's, and spotted the 1942 IHC 3 HP Model LB engine. That was the first; today the pair have more than 100 antique gas engines between them in their collection. "All kinds - two-cycle, four-cycle, flywheel engines, engines that mix oil with gas, stationary, portable, you name it," says Collin.

Finding antique gas engines
Like most antique gas engine collectors, Collin has acquired his in different ways. One time while Collin and Dale were gone for a couple of days, Collin's wife Betty found an advertisement in the local Drummer paper proclaiming a gas engine for sale. When they returned she asked them what a 1912 Waterloo Boy 2 HP air-cooled gas engine was, and Collin got all excited. He was worried it may have already been sold, so, Collin says, "I called him and said if he still had it he shouldn't sell it until I got there, and he didn't, so I bought that one, too." Collin notes that Betty is aware of every engine he's bought, "In fact, she has written the checks or handed out the cash."

A few years ago, Collin made a rare find in Wisconsin, by accident. The Langankis and another couple stopped at an antique store in Hayward, Wis., and while the wives paid for their items, Collin mentioned the store didn't have what he collected. When pressed, Collin said "gas engines," and the owner promptly pointed out a place where a pair were for sale. The engines' owner drank coffee mornings and afternoons at the coffee shop, and was only available during the noon hour. That's when Collin tracked him down and discovered a pair of Lauson engines, a 1916 1-1/2 HP and a 1914 1-1/2 HP Frost King Jr., and bought both of them. "That was a rare find, two at one time," Collin says.

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