Tell us something we don’t know.

[airbiscuit]

My Bobcat 642 skidsteer had a 4 cylinder Ford Inducsrial engine in it. Many Ford 8ns were converted to a Ford flathead V8

 

[Jstpssng]

Ford inline 6 engines were used to power a lot of wood chippers in their day.

 

[BravoXray]

Quite a few auto engines are used in non-automotive applications. The old Mopar slant 6s were used in many applications, GM 4.3l V6s (converted to propane) were used to power standby generators.

My father had a jet boat that was powered by a slant six back in the 70s.

 

[WinterDeere]

A lot of pool and concrete companies used to use Ford 302 V8's as air compressors. I was told by a friend who used to work on equipment for a company that sprays gunnite concrete, that they would configure them so one head is firing four cylinders and the other is being driven as a compressor.

I guess half a 4-stroke 302 CID engine at 3000 RPM would be generating 3000*302/2/2/12^3 = 131 CFM at 0 PSI. I'm no chemist, but if I remember Boyle's law correctly from school, that'd translate to something like 131 CFM * 14.7psi/(30+14.7)psi = 43 CFM at the 30 PSI required to spay gunnite, if we ignore the smaller changes due to gas temperature. Obviously a bit lower than that if storage is at a higher pressure, regulating down 30 psi at the nozzle. Of course, you could always burst those engines up to 6000 rpm, but I think their continuous rating is probably somewhere closer to 3000 rpm with standard oilers and cooling.

 

[ultrarunner]

A guy around here did sand blasting with a compressor manufactured with Model A Ford engine… ran on 2 and the other 2 pumped.

Apparantly the only mod to make the conversion is the camshaft.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Quite a few auto engines are used in non-automotive applications. The old Mopar slant 6s were used in many applications, GM 4.3l V6s (converted to propane) were used to power standby generators.

I recall my high school Buddy's father's Gleaner combine had a Model A four cylinder, and the Broce Broom, used to sweep roads and in construction, uses a Ford six.

 

[MossRoad]

 

[BravoXray]

I guess half a 4-stroke 302 CID engine at 3000 RPM would be generating 3000*302/2/2/12^3 = 131 CFM at 0 PSI. I'm no chemist, but if I remember Boyle's law correctly from school, that'd translate to something like 131 CFM * 14.7psi/(30+14.7)psi = 43 CFM at the 30 PSI required to spay gunnite, if we ignore the smaller changes due to gas temperature. Obviously a bit low if storage is at a higher pressure, regulating down 30 psi at the nozzle. Of course, you could always burst those engines up to 6000 rpm, but I think their continuous rating is probably somewhere closer to 3000 rpm with standard oilers and cooling.

I think those engines had a special cam that let the compressor cylinders operate as a two stroke instead of a four stroke, so the output would be double what you figured.

 

[WinterDeere]

A guy around here did sand blasting with a compressor manufactured with Model A Ford engine… ran on 2 and the other 2 pumped.

Apparantly the only mod to make the conversion is the camshaft.

I used to own a very large table saw that was powered by a flathead Ford engine for part of it's 120 year life. Its original source was a steam-powered line shaft, then a smaller line shaft powered by the Ford flathead, then eventually conversion to a flat belt off a large 3-phase motor, before I finally converted it to single-phase.

When I say "big", the saw plus motor weighed over 2600 lb. I couldn't even move it around my own shop on wheels, without having a neighbor or two help me.

 

[ponytug]

I used to own a very large table saw that was powered by a flathead Ford engine for part of it's 120 year life. Its original source was a steam-powered line shaft, then a smaller line shaft powered by the Ford flathead, then eventually conversion to a flat belt off a large 3-phase motor, before I finally converted it to single-phase.

When I say "big", the saw plus motor weighed over 2600 lb. I couldn't even move it around my own shop on wheels, without having a neighbor or two help me.

Wow! How big was the blade, and what did you use it for?

All the best,

Peter