1900 4 HP Lennox

Fresh Air

By Christian Williams
December/January 2011
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Bill Winkler's 1900 4 HP Lennox gas engine.
Photo by Christian Williams
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1900 4 HP Lennox
Manufacturer: Lennox Machine Co., Marshalltown, Iowa
Year: 1900
Horsepower: 4
Additional info: Company became Lennox Industries, specializing in heating and air conditioning

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For such an interesting engine, Bill Winkler’s 1900 4 HP Lennox has spent a lot of time indoors.

“I got it from a local collector and he never took it out or showed it,” says Bill. “It just sat in his shed for the past 10 years.” Though Bill can’t say for sure why the previous owner was shy to show the Lennox, he has a theory. “It had a tin water hopper on top of the cylinder when I bought it,” says Bill. “A lot of people probably didn’t have any interest in it because it looked gaudy.”

Fortunately, the tin water hopper was the only knock against the engine. “It took just a little bit of work to get it going but not much,” says Bill. “I found it the way you like to find them.” Once he knew it ran, he built an appropriate cooling tank and put trucks under it.

A household name 
From what the previous owner told Bill, the Lennox came out of a feed mill in LeSueur, Minn. Other than that, Bill’s knowledge of the engine and the company comes from C.H. Wendel’s American Gasoline Engines Since 1872. According to Wendel, the Lennox Machine Co. of Marshalltown, Iowa, began marketing gas engines in 1894. Bill’s 4 HP example is the smallest of a line of engines that went up to 30 HP. The company also manufactured grinders, scales, electric lighting plants, dynamos and washing machines, as well as furnaces. The company exists today as Lennox Industries, which specializes in heating and air conditioning.

With the correct water tank and trucks, Bill’s Lennox gets plenty of deserving looks from folks these days. “I’m just real pleased with it,” says Bill.

Contact Bill Winkler at 9416 Irish Ct., Elkhart Lake, WI 53020 


 



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