I remember the distinctive sound of the blower from my childhood days, otherwise it was a sound only from vintage cars. I was then lucky enough to own a 1968 TS3 horse box in the late 1990s, a wonderful vehicle to drive with a 6 speed gear box but only needing 5th & 6th on the flat! In addition to the distinctive noise, the engine would de-coke from time to time, alarming following motorists with a shower of sparks thrown out just in front of the rear wheel ! Most TS3s had double headlights.
@kawa7900 My father was a diesel mechanic, and even as a boy in the 70s I remember him working on Commer 2-strokes. I think they kicked out somewhere around 145 hp, though the torque was the real reason to buy one. Even now, not far from where I live, a retired driver has taken to restoring old Commer knockers. He has 2 complete and running, and a third undergoing a makeover. You can hear him coming a mile off!
So does this truck have 3 or 6 cylinders? I read it has 3 pairs of cylinders. Is it a opposed cylinder engine likes some old Fairbanks-Morse Submarine diesel engines?
Some clarification would be much appreciated! Thanks!
@Xx69roadrunnerxX The TS3 is based on the Junkers patent, 3 cylinders with the 3 pair of Pistons opposed working through rockers onto the crankshaft, basically the same principle as the Napier Deltic used in English Electric Class 55 BR locomotives.
The TS3 is a two-stroke opposed-piston engine with three cylinders and six pistons. It has one lower-mounted crankshaft sitting on a plane line dividing the engine longitudinally, and the pistons are connected to it using a series of levers. The arrangement allows for a very compact engine block.
Further corrections. Lister had nothing to do with the TS3! There was an agreement with Lister to use the TS3 on Lister generator sets and water pumps. Amazingly some of these even found their way to America. A person from Arizona has contacted me about his father having one pumping away outside his irrigation business for day after day. He is building a 3/4 scale working model of a TS3. There is a Lister TS3 water pump displayed at shows in Victoria, on the back of a Commer.
Can we please clear up a few bits of misinformation. The engine was first released in late 1954 and Lister had nothing to do with it. It was designed and developed by a team of 10 people at Tillings Stevens at Maidstone, Kent. Don Kitchen, who's story is on the website and who was the draughtsmen / engineer on the project is still alive at 85 in England and is an amazing guy to talk to about the TS3 development. The engine revved to 2600 but was a torquey motor that refused to die.
Can someone explain how the lever rockers are arranged in this engine so the pistons travel on the same axis but the rods are attached to the crank at two different positions?
The rockers are just like oversized rockers for the valvetrain in a regular 4 stroke engine.
But one side is a small connecting rod that goes to the piston, and the other on the bottom side, is a larger connecting rod which goes to the crankshaft.
The crankshaft is just like a boxer engine in a porsche/vw with adjactent journals that are 180 degrees to each other. So they both push outwards at the same time, pushing both pistons towards the center (exhaust first by a smidge to close port)
another thing about the Commer was its contentment with poor quality fuel oil: if it was smooth enough to pump, it was good enough to be burnt. Accompanied in the poor quality range by clouds of clag, esp. on starting.
But don't try biofuels and frying oil on them - it just gums up the injector nozzles.
unlikely, main problem with biofuels is they break injection pumps through lack of penetration/lubrication and if the vernishings of part burnt bio get into sump it can make oil set into jelly!
The TS3 was a three-cylinder six-piston horizontally-opposed water-cooled unit with both banks of pistons operating on the same crankshaft directly below them via rocker-shafts. One bank provided the inlet pistons the other the exhaust pistons. The three fuel injectors were central. Intake air was blown by a Roots supercharger. The principle is found also in the Napier Deltic engine used on the railways.
This only happened with the prototypes. After the driver of the one TS3 motor in a truck for development testing got a hell of a fright at some traffic lights when he stalled the engine and then took off backwards on restart, Don Kitchen designed a spring loaded dog drive so that when the TS3 stalled and went out of phase, the ratchet locked and re-phased the engine so that it started the right way. This seems to be a well known 'myth' as my father used to talk about it too!
Running backwards after sem- stalling at lights was a quite regular occurence with production TS3's in normal service, seen Gardner engines do the same first hand, likewise once with a RR 265 eagle. Normal procedure with a reversed TS3 was to stall it in top gear and start again, no power running backwards as the injection timing was retarded greatly.
Can someone tell me if these are a diesel that loves the revs? They sound like they crack on really hard when you give them the gas. I hadn't heard of these engines till a couple of years ago. They are a great concept i reckon! The NZ site has been a great thing to read through too.
Not really, the Rootes-Lister produces max power at 2,800 rpm, which is fastish. But all twostrokes sound busy, diesels get away without popping and banging on the overrun as petrol twostrokes do. They sound more serious.
I suppose it is really sounding like its doing 5600 rpm at peak power with twice as many power strokes as a 4 stroke. No wonder it sounds like it does!
Is this one fitted with an original exhaust system? TS3 are always raucous, but this one seems exceptionally so. Perhaps an original one couldn't be obtained, and this is the result. It's delightful, anyway!
I remember the distinctive sound of the blower from my childhood days, otherwise it was a sound only from vintage cars. I was then lucky enough to own a 1968 TS3 horse box in the late 1990s, a wonderful vehicle to drive with a 6 speed gear box but only needing 5th & 6th on the flat! In addition to the distinctive noise, the engine would de-coke from time to time, alarming following motorists with a shower of sparks thrown out just in front of the rear wheel ! Most TS3s had double headlights.
rosmeartoo 9 months ago
god i,m 5yrs old again my dad drove a tipper.that sound just takes me right back..god bless him..
lukeydoeslikey 10 months ago
Too bad the video ended right when it was sounding good!
kb1gni 1 year ago
back in the 50s/60s in Lancs UK , Bridges Express Transport ran 50 of these trucks, reason they were fast and reliable and bloody noisy to boot,
Often 20 trucks would leave the yard and race down the street, the sound was unreal!!
cpmcintosh1 1 year ago
TS3 engines have three horozontal cylinders with six pistons. 2 pistons to each cylinder.
tarpsman4life 1 year ago
what sort of hores power did these trucks make as they sound fantastic
kawa7900 2 years ago
@kawa7900 My father was a diesel mechanic, and even as a boy in the 70s I remember him working on Commer 2-strokes. I think they kicked out somewhere around 145 hp, though the torque was the real reason to buy one. Even now, not far from where I live, a retired driver has taken to restoring old Commer knockers. He has 2 complete and running, and a third undergoing a makeover. You can hear him coming a mile off!
ThePotstillbill 1 year ago
The Commer Avenger coach used the same engine. I can't imagine what the passengers must have thought of a long tour with that racket.
TommyWylie 2 years ago
So does this truck have 3 or 6 cylinders? I read it has 3 pairs of cylinders. Is it a opposed cylinder engine likes some old Fairbanks-Morse Submarine diesel engines?
Some clarification would be much appreciated! Thanks!
Xx69roadrunnerxX 2 years ago
@Xx69roadrunnerxX The TS3 is based on the Junkers patent, 3 cylinders with the 3 pair of Pistons opposed working through rockers onto the crankshaft, basically the same principle as the Napier Deltic used in English Electric Class 55 BR locomotives.
brossen99 1 year ago
@Xx69roadrunnerxX
The TS3 is a two-stroke opposed-piston engine with three cylinders and six pistons. It has one lower-mounted crankshaft sitting on a plane line dividing the engine longitudinally, and the pistons are connected to it using a series of levers. The arrangement allows for a very compact engine block.
douro20 1 year ago
Never heard of this trucks or engine before, but now Im hooked!! Its a new diesel engine for me, so I HAVE to know more now!!
Great vid and truck!!
Xx69roadrunnerxX 2 years ago
Cool old truck. The TS3 engine has alot of power for a 3 cylinder.
neurocytohemotoxic 2 years ago
Further corrections. Lister had nothing to do with the TS3! There was an agreement with Lister to use the TS3 on Lister generator sets and water pumps. Amazingly some of these even found their way to America. A person from Arizona has contacted me about his father having one pumping away outside his irrigation business for day after day. He is building a 3/4 scale working model of a TS3. There is a Lister TS3 water pump displayed at shows in Victoria, on the back of a Commer.
CommKarr45 2 years ago
Can we please clear up a few bits of misinformation. The engine was first released in late 1954 and Lister had nothing to do with it. It was designed and developed by a team of 10 people at Tillings Stevens at Maidstone, Kent. Don Kitchen, who's story is on the website and who was the draughtsmen / engineer on the project is still alive at 85 in England and is an amazing guy to talk to about the TS3 development. The engine revved to 2600 but was a torquey motor that refused to die.
CommKarr45 2 years ago
Can someone explain how the lever rockers are arranged in this engine so the pistons travel on the same axis but the rods are attached to the crank at two different positions?
eebeh 3 years ago
The rockers are just like oversized rockers for the valvetrain in a regular 4 stroke engine.
But one side is a small connecting rod that goes to the piston, and the other on the bottom side, is a larger connecting rod which goes to the crankshaft.
The crankshaft is just like a boxer engine in a porsche/vw with adjactent journals that are 180 degrees to each other. So they both push outwards at the same time, pushing both pistons towards the center (exhaust first by a smidge to close port)
pbgd3 2 years ago
What an awesome noise
daverave2204 3 years ago 5
What an amazing sound!
It sounds pretty frantic (2 strokes always do), but in places it reminds me of some road-going Merlins I've heard.
marsgal42 3 years ago
another thing about the Commer was its contentment with poor quality fuel oil: if it was smooth enough to pump, it was good enough to be burnt. Accompanied in the poor quality range by clouds of clag, esp. on starting.
But don't try biofuels and frying oil on them - it just gums up the injector nozzles.
Marcomanseckisax 3 years ago
gums up nozzles?
unlikely, main problem with biofuels is they break injection pumps through lack of penetration/lubrication and if the vernishings of part burnt bio get into sump it can make oil set into jelly!
tpvalley 2 years ago
The TS3 was a three-cylinder six-piston horizontally-opposed water-cooled unit with both banks of pistons operating on the same crankshaft directly below them via rocker-shafts. One bank provided the inlet pistons the other the exhaust pistons. The three fuel injectors were central. Intake air was blown by a Roots supercharger. The principle is found also in the Napier Deltic engine used on the railways.
Marcomanseckisax 3 years ago
Apparently, If you stalled one of these and "bumped" it by dropping the clutch, they would run backwards.
Kokoots 3 years ago
This only happened with the prototypes. After the driver of the one TS3 motor in a truck for development testing got a hell of a fright at some traffic lights when he stalled the engine and then took off backwards on restart, Don Kitchen designed a spring loaded dog drive so that when the TS3 stalled and went out of phase, the ratchet locked and re-phased the engine so that it started the right way. This seems to be a well known 'myth' as my father used to talk about it too!
CommKarr45 2 years ago
Running backwards after sem- stalling at lights was a quite regular occurence with production TS3's in normal service, seen Gardner engines do the same first hand, likewise once with a RR 265 eagle. Normal procedure with a reversed TS3 was to stall it in top gear and start again, no power running backwards as the injection timing was retarded greatly.
brossen99 2 years ago
Can someone tell me if these are a diesel that loves the revs? They sound like they crack on really hard when you give them the gas. I hadn't heard of these engines till a couple of years ago. They are a great concept i reckon! The NZ site has been a great thing to read through too.
davepax982 3 years ago
Not really, the Rootes-Lister produces max power at 2,800 rpm, which is fastish. But all twostrokes sound busy, diesels get away without popping and banging on the overrun as petrol twostrokes do. They sound more serious.
Marcomanseckisax 3 years ago 2
I suppose it is really sounding like its doing 5600 rpm at peak power with twice as many power strokes as a 4 stroke. No wonder it sounds like it does!
davepax982 3 years ago
Is this one fitted with an original exhaust system? TS3 are always raucous, but this one seems exceptionally so. Perhaps an original one couldn't be obtained, and this is the result. It's delightful, anyway!
grumpyoldsoandso 3 years ago 3
Aaah, music to my ears.
sognol 4 years ago
At long last, i finaly heard one running!!!!
boostedblackcar 4 years ago 2
me too! been wanting to hear one of these for years!!
mrspivvy 3 years ago