Wisconsin 4 cylinder air cooled

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

mlavalley

ArboristSite Member
Joined
May 16, 2006
Messages
69
Reaction score
7
Location
Western MA
Got an opportunity to pick up a wisconsin 4 cylinder air cooled engine (30 or 40hp) electric start, hand clutch, 1959 model model V4fd or somthing to that liking. It is a NOS government surplus .1hrs !!! complete and it runs. Guy wants $500 for it, still in the crate. It is truly "brand" new. I was pondering picking it up and building the mother of all splitter or something with it? Like a 18gpm single stage or something. I have a 6.5" x 36" piston that would compliment it quite well.

Anyone got thougts or has anyone played with these engines? I know they are common in chippers, concrete saws etc.
 
If it is a V4, and is the same one I am thinking then it is 35HP. They are durable engines that have had the same design for decades. I used to build stump cutters that used this engine. They last under pretty harsh conditions. Not the most complicated design either! Price sounds real cheap for the quality of a powerplant that it is. They are probably close to 2-3K new (well at least in 2002). My neighbor had a couple of them on various equipment on the farm, and I don't ever remember him having any problems with them.


I'd buy it!

-Steve
 
Nice, sounds like it'd be a mean one on an old circular-saw type rig just for the halibut. How big is it? (I mean size and weight, just curious), nm, VF4D I think is what you might mean, 25hp @ 2400rpm, manufactured from 1940-1976, seems to be lots of parts and collectors out there. Might even be a cool engine for a picnic launch type thingy (boat), ya never know. Would be a power-house on a splitter I bet. I don't know of what sort of worth it'd have but I bet a modern replacement would run you 10X the cost for the same thing. Here is a good vintage gas engine resource fer ya> http://www.asecc.com/data/wisconsin-models.html
Keep us terminally curious sorts posted on whatcha do! I'd scoop it just because... :blob2:
And yes to steve, they seem to be an L-head V design, nice call!
 
Beam

Everyone I talk to says the Wisconsins are great with the exception of their magnetos (which are easily rebuildable). I gotta think about this a bit cause the only beam I got left is an 8"x8"x1/2" H beam. I was gettin excited so I measured the ram I had (think it's from a dozer) 6.5" bore, 5" rod, 35.5" stroke. If I couple that to 35hp your talking some serious tonage. Do you think the beam would hold up? I saw some guy talking about a similar setup a while back with twin I beams. I would need a rig to tow that around plus a beam like that is close to $40 a foot now.
 
How 'bout a couple of chunks of railway track? Or some sort of hardwood beams with a plate for the spliting bed? Just a passin' thought.....k, it passed.
:)
 
Railway track

Godd thought sprig. So happens I no where to get Lots of railway track. I will have to look into this.
 
Two problems come to mind right now, the motor is awsome!!!! I was going to go with the single stage pump, buut was talked out of it just due to the speed factor, 28gpm 2 stage vs. 16gpm single, the two stage gives you the cycle times!!
Cutting the railroad track can be a real bear!!!!!!!!
You mentioned that the cyl. came off a dozer, a lot of the dozer cyls. have a relief valve built in, you reach too much pressure, it opens, you put way too much pressure, it stays open. Just something to think about and certainly check on!
I am getting educated on all of this myself, I am in the proccess of building a beast myself.
Andy
 
mlavalley said:
Godd thought sprig. So happens I no where to get Lots of railway track. I will have to look into this.
Because of the hardness of the railroad thack you will need a special welding rod. I can't remember the number off hand. If you use 7018 rod it will look like you are getting good penatration but in most instances a small amount of pressure is needed to break the weld.Your asking to get hurt using the rail. Just my opion.Gary
 
mlavalley said:
Everyone I talk to says the Wisconsins are great with the exception of their magnetos (which are easily rebuildable). I gotta think about this a bit cause the only beam I got left is an 8"x8"x1/2" H beam. I was gettin excited so I measured the ram I had (think it's from a dozer) 6.5" bore, 5" rod, 35.5" stroke. If I couple that to 35hp your talking some serious tonage. Do you think the beam would hold up? I saw some guy talking about a similar setup a while back with twin I beams. I would need a rig to tow that around plus a beam like that is close to $40 a foot now.

A bit of shade tree engineering here. The beam is plenty enough for the job but may not be stiff enough. Any flex will be in the verticle orientation, i.e., under pressure the beam will try to bow up. You get more bang for your buck by adding 'depth' vice mass. Thus on my (mod 7 of 8 in the run) homebuilts using square and slip tubing for the armiture, it wasn't stiff enough. We cured it by adding another piece of square tube under the running armiture. You can get more stiffness by using tube or another I beam under yours - you don't need excess mass (such as RR track).

Harry K
 
They are Killer engines!!!!!!


The HP range is from 35-60HP depending on certain factors ie, Carb, compression, crank design etc.

The Mags are fine and will outlast most distributer systems with proper care, but most people dont know anything about them and they can cause fits if your impatient.

You can easily hand crank that motor with a mag but will never fire one with a dist by hand.

$500.00? You stole it.
 
Only problem I have with the V-4s is that parts, except tune up parts, are both hard to find and expensive. The military ones are double tough as they share nothing with the civilian motors. You wont get parts for it from any regular source but parts abound on sites that sell surplus. That being said my Morbark chipper was repowered with a new military Wisconsin and I am very happy with it, hard to buy that kind of power new for $500. Have fun with it.
 
keep up on oil changes and filters. They have four jets in the crankcase, one for each rod and piston unit. They have a gauge to tell you if the system is pressurized, but one of those jets can plug without a warning due to crud and you will tear up a cylinder or rod bearing. Learned this from working on a 610 Bobcat that had recieved poor upkeep.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top