40,000 lb F-M light plant engine

[Hallaran]

5 stars! Old engines that run is a wonderful thing, thanks for the excellent video!

[TheMan1510]

I want one of those to power my garage :)

[DrFruikenstein]

The sound of one of these idling is one of the most relaxing sounds on the planet.

[fireburst102]

would this fit in my moms prius?

[chaa94]

@fireburst102 i dont think soo XD

[pincoya44]

Take that polar bears...

[doubleboost]

very nice

a enviromentalists worst dream come true

thanks for posting

[haszeric]

I think that 4th cylinder is working. if you watch the limbs above it they are getting moved around by it. i could be wrong though.

[haszeric]

I think that 4th cylinder is working. if you watch the limbs above it they are getting moved around by it. i could be wrong though.

[waynebaize]

@o56kid there is no valve its a 2-stroke

[MrCordova2013]

One helluva four-banger.

[mjkwyo]

BADD ASS! Y'all !!~

[The1200sportster]

big beutiful and eco friendly

[o56kid]

Sounds like it has a bad exhaust valve.

[dbmartin60]

All the engines like this that were in the Coleman Texas light plant were scrapped,all 9 of them,and the building and everything is gone now.

Luckily the man in charge of the demoiition let me and my brother take A bunch of picture and even got some souvenirs.

David

[BNforever2009]

im speechless on that one!! Never evn heard of that engine before

[Redlod79]

Seen several of these in cities in Iraq. They were running pretty good too.

[mrshzzit1]

Thats 1 dead tree above. HAHAHAHA

[Loganp333]

The exhaust pipe on each cylinder is the same size as the exhaust system for a Kenworth!

[montey1017]

you want some horsepower with that torque?

[johndeere4300]

there is another video of this and it says that this engine runs on propane

[dixiewife47]

I love old engines, steam, kerosene, etc. Nice ! Thanks for the upload

[N0rthsideDonutz]

Ah, old machinery is always interesting.

[bertharogan]

Beautiful!

[Ebbeboy]

Love how not all cylinders fire in the beginning :D

[OSAMAxxxxxxxxxxyz]

is it a steam engine?

[montey1017]

@OSAMAxxxxxxxxxxyz diesel

[OSAMAxxxxxxxxxxyz]

@montey1017

ok but its producing white smoke. and diesel engines have black bulky smoke

[montey1017]

@OSAMAxxxxxxxxxxyz engines behave differently, I am not an expert on diesel, but I do know (like gasoline engines) unburnt fuel/air mix appears foggy, and diesels need heat to fire efficiently. as this engine is not warm, not all the fuel is burning, making it appear white. watch cyl. 2 at around 0:10 as it turns over and begins to warm, it shoots black (ish) smoke

[TheStalingrad2010]

Звук техно! TECHNO-SCHRANZ-SOUND! From Russia!

[pawello1000]

i got one of these in my motorcycle

[tyronesantikaTV]

there goes 2 years werth of polution in 0:52 seconds

[TheDeadhitman]

what were these engins used for?

[montey1017]

@TheDeadhitman large generators, for towns...

[kylethegreatguy]

what is that diesel or steam

[montey1017]

@kylethegreatguy diesel. to power generators.

[Learnthethingsido]

Sweet. Ima put that in my gokart! 8P

[riflelord2]

LIGHT THE SMOKE FLAIRES!!!!! cool engine sounds good

[monkeys1954]

fairbanks morse made a lot of engines for ships and trains and large boats

[bluemoondiadochi]

oh yes, a HOT BULB! a GIANT HOT BULB!!!

you can tell immediatelly!

AND it's the biggest HB engine i've seen so far.

and for lighter loads one doesn't have to activate all cylinders, so practical!

looove hot-bulbs!

[motherfucker669]

take that al gore

[The1200sportster]

globle warming ?

[daviddavid6000]

at first it looks and sounds like a bunch of potatoe guns going off

[chevyman8329]

if this is a light plant engine, what does a heavy duty one look like?

[TheBrokenWing1]

@chevyman8329 probably similar, but with more cylinders? thats my guess

[BigCrzyRdNeck]

ive seen this engine in person years ago when starting it you can feel the dud in the ground and in your chest its amazing in person when there i heard that it ran for like 40 year non stop at a power plant then once up dated it was a stand by for a number of years its been in thats spot for over ten years when i saw it it was back in maybe 01 or so

[jacktaylor2115]

i bet that sounds good standing that close to it

[stingraystud]

ale gore would love this engine :-} nice video

[JGMagoo]

My neighbor's Dodge diesel [ick up sounds just like this.

[rgadave]

Isn't that just magnificent ?.

[Badco14]

Fabulous, simply fabulous!

[kribar96]

looks like it is noob tubing in the beggining

[ARR016a]

heh, i'd love to see a ricer put THIS in their honda....

[4freespeech]

How much GASOLINE does it use, 500 gallons per hour?

That sucker gives the phrase "GAS HOG" a whole new meaning.

[Aussie50]

@4freespeech ROFL you could run it on waste veggie oil and keep the enviro nazi's happy :P

[Nightwing690]

how old is this beast?

[Torvikholm]

is this a diesel?

i think it sounded a bit like it

[teslapower220]

How is it started and what does it run on ?

[DESSLOCH101]

@teslapower220 it runs on diesel oil, and is started with compressed air. the hissing that you hear as the engine is started is compressed air being admitted to one cylinder to get the engine turning

[soverato3]

is that a 2stroke ????

[kakukp2]

the sound of the engine is a music

[oneor2ormore]

whats the bore and stroke on this lil guy?

[choatelodge]

@oneor2ormore 14 inch bore, 17 inch stroke. 75 horsepower per cylinder

300 rpm working speed. 2 stroke deisel

It's a Fairbanks Morse 32E14

[chevyman8329]

2-stroke?

[control177]

drools

[ifhous56]

wow

[tntbas]

sounded like a singlepiston rubb/rapp(old norwegian boat engines)E i had one of those in my old ,later they connected 3-4 of them for use as boat engines:)

[bruised]

Sounds like something from Willy Wonka...

[gr8fzy1]

40, 000lb LIGHT engine?

[cumminsfan]

@gr8fzy1 light plant as in POWER plant. it was a generator.

[XELA2T]

what an awesome starting noise,( I was near to run for cover), what a determined hum while running, - very nice.

These engines were used mainly on power sites right?

Were they supposed to be 24h/7d runners?

regards

[540Diesel]

Nice old engine. The exhaust pipes should go down into a made up manifold. then from there the exhaust goes into one large pipe going up. We have 6 of these engine in my town. from a 1 cyl to a 6 cyl.

[pumpkinheadedsob]

Fairbanks Morse never had a spec for exhaust, other that pipe size. Exhaust routing depended on who installed the engine, and what they had space to do. if up made more sense or worked better they went up, if down worked better they went down.

[ihelk]

@540Diesel how does a 1 cycle work or do you mean a 1 cylinder?

[balleroom]

It's a shame the 4th cylinder isn't working. Very nice though.

[3HaloODST]

how can you tell?

[cumminsfan]

@3HaloODST judging by the haze from the stack, low compression or a bad injector. cyl. #3 has some issues too. not bad once it gets going tho.

[Behigh2000]

it is working :)

[choatelodge]

@balleroom The 4th cylinder works just fine. That engine starts via compressed air. That cylinder is used to turn the engine over until it begins to fire, then the operator on the lower right moves a lever to stop the air and allow the cylinder to start firing as normal.

[creedrulz6000]

@balleroom if you rlly look you can see all 4 are working there is smoke from all 4

[Chevypower265]

@balleroom But it is working, watch it very close and you'll see the smoke come from it when it first starts firing then when it clears you'll see the leaves and limbs moving above it as its running and tad of smoke.

[justdoitasshole]

@balleroom True, but who wants to climb up there with a ninety pound sparkplug?

[nickolastd21]

@balleroom maby its working but running a bit cleaner look at the heat blur

[stingraystud]

@balleroom the 4th cylinder is working, this is an air start engine, witch means they use one cylinder to push air into to get it started once it starts on 3 cylinders they shut off the air on the other cylinder and when it gets fuel it will also start, just watch it closely it takes off in the end :-)

[herbgarratt]

@stingraystud

Matey, I've worked with (direct) air-started engines, and they can have the (air) starting valves in 2 out of 5 cyls, 4, out of 4 cyls, 6 out of 6 cyls, &c.

I have NEVER experienced an engine where only one cyl is the air starter.

[gus23a]

@balleroom

it is working. look closely at the tree over the exhaust. you can clearly see it moving from the exhaust gasses.

[kelbym07]

@balleroom I see smoke pouring at 0:14 Look close.

[Polybun]

@balleroom well, it's tough getting them to run on all cylinders with no load. Even a twin is tough to keep running on more than one with no load on it.

[dolich]

HELL YEA 100% CONTAMINATION this gona kill de nature jejejeje

[alex568plank]

I lived in a small town in sw Nebraska and they had their own light plant and the first engine was a 2 cylinder FM intalled in about 1913 and the 2nd one was a 4 cyl FM similar to this one intalled in the 1920's. Later they installed 2 16 cyl diesels similar to ones used in locomotives. They started on diesel and then would switch to them over to natural gas during operation. I will always remember the constant droning of those big diesels running 24 hours a day in downtown Curtis, NE!!

[GundamKnight07]

when i lived in arlington they had a hit n miss engine on a trailer that would run city hall when the power was out that thing was dangerous

[SANTACRUZDRIVER8]

thnx katana1150 ive heard of fairbanks morse but i didnt no if they were gas or diesel

[PUNCHARD800ftlb]

crazy

[SANTACRUZDRIVER8]

is dis a diesel or gasser

[katana1150]

Fairbanks-Morris is a diesel engine. you will find them in marine and rail applications as well

[jeffb8074]

i love the smoke rings :)

[oneor2ormore]

needs some flippers

[patrikasLTL]

thats what i call fuel efficiency

[SR722]

Great start-up!

[5point9straightsix]

I love the "performance headers" on it!

[derrickdrew17]

thats just south of dallas is it open to public to see?

[fishnhusker]

We have and FM model 33 4 cyl 2 stroke at the muni power plant that I work at. Installed in the late 1930's still runs like a top. Also have a 7 cyl and an 8 cyl. model 33. Neat old oil burners! Great vid.

[NathansBackwoods]

How low do they Idle, know its really low, my guess is 40 rpm but i don't know for sure, just thought id ask some one who might know...Thanks!

Nathan

[fishnhusker]

NathansBackwoods: Actually they idle higher than you might expect. They idle at around 250 rpm on the 4cyl and 300 on the 7 and 8 cyl.

Hope this answers your question.

[JAROSLAVAGINA]

wow... how did you come across this diamond?

[g502911]

Located on club property in Temple, Texas.  Not sure how they got it or its' history.

[teatotaler75]

@g502911

It was originally installed in Sealy, Texas, to produce electricity for the town. IIRC, it was installed by the TEDTEA about 15 years ago. When originally running, it would only be shut down once a year for normal maintenance.

[theonly9]

@g502911 where in temple im in killeen about 20 min away.

[backglassreprints]

At Roche Harbor Washington, there are 2 of these engines at the old generator plant down next to the waterfront store. They dont run, but are mostly there.

[W6Puller]

I went to the show yesterday for the first time. Really neat to see all the stuff they have and watch them run. I would recommend everyone to go if you ever have a chance.

[W6Puller]

Is this the motor located in temple, TX?

[g502911]

Yes

[Aussie50]

I imagine it would spin a larger version of my Westinghouse DC 110V lighting Generator?

[solrsman]

Good Good

[cd1306]

O SOM MAIS BONITO DO MUNDO.

[BOBKB3NZX]

they had block and tackles....and LOTS of labor and it can be completely torn down and built on site.

[dhipender]

thts really kool i do engine cylindr heads aswell but this one i think dont need any service

[zgrozkan]

Motor bu olsa gerek...

[scott93257]

Wow that thing sounds good :) That is one HUGE 4 cylinder..

[petrolhead1985]

just imagin regrinding the valves! ' ill have 5 gallons of you finest grinding paste please!....oh and a small team of people to turn the valves lol nice engine though.

what make is it and how old?

[wellsequipmentrepair]

no valves its a two stroke diesel

dates back most likely before 1920

[steamwally]

Don't tell Gordon Brown!

I love these engines, If I'm prime minister one day I wan't to make it as easy as possible for people to own amazing engines like this!

[flyingv567]

wow how much torque does that thing generate

[Jacksonkellyfreak]

well i tried to reply to someone who said it would have 5 million miles on it but youtubes reply sucks just like the videos wont ever load all the way.

[blackdevil9000]

how old is that thing? like over 100?

[NathansBackwoods]

its from the 1920s or 30s

[ANewNormalcy]

Judging by the location of the exhaust pipe origin low on the cylinder, I'd say it's a two stroke.

[gengnepal]

How many cylinders? 2 stroke or 4 stroke?

[Chevypower265]

Going by the four pipes I'm gonna say four cyclinder....Sort of sounds liek a 2 stroke but I'm not 100% sure.

[NathansBackwoods]

4 cylinders, 2 stroke.

[Marshall7302]

is that diesel?

[damightyaliendwarf]

I love the sound of the startup :P

[Hanglands]

Wow, and they call this a "light" plant engine???

[kopronko]

What is this engine suppose to work/drive ?

Thanx .

[g502911]

Electric power plant

[WoodwindGirl79]

I've never seen something like this before. What was it used for? Neat!

Cassy

[JtsGreene]

It looks like it was for generating power, either that or pumping water but probably the first one!

[ANewNormalcy]

I'm a bit sluggish upon startup, too.

[trawa35]

dejawu mam

[bghunter2009]

Nice I want one.

[Steamer15hp]

If this is a light plant engine, i would like to see a heavy plant engine...

[psycotronn]

hahahahaha

[ridespolaris]

lol!

[cd1306]

adoro este som

[johntdso]

I wish someone would make a video of starting a Fairbanks-Morse 38DD8-1/8 engine. Most of these engine/generator units run at 720RPM. One plant I saw had this engine/generator operating 600 RPM.

[Dougyelnats]

Keep on videoing cool old gen sets like that one, its nice to see some real history working.

[carmenlee87]

That is this? that is mean old machine!

[wb5oxq]

Is this the engine in Temple?

[g502911]

It is in Temple, Texas

[artgoat]

This engine ran 24/7 for decades. Most maintenance could be done without shutting it down. The only reason it was taken out of service is because it became cheaper to buy electricity off the grid than to generate it locally. If it were a truck, it would have over five million miles on it, and It's still in condition to run another fifty years.

[Jacksonkellyfreak]

If it were a truck it would have waaay more miles than that. lets just assume its geared to run at that rpm at 60 mph. thats a mile a minute.

60 x 24=1,440

1,440x365=525,600

525,600x10=5,256,000

Thats in a decade. Lets assume 3 decades

5,256,000x3=15,768,000

Thats one hell of a reliable engine.

[JtsGreene]

stfu idiots below, this engine has already lasted longer than any of your chevys or fords or dodges ever will. and it still runs

[lpv1899]

Gee wizz Dude,My grandfather owned an old 900 tons ww1 minesweeper that has been transformed into a cargo ship and I think that engine is the same.I only saw pictures since the ship finished its trades in the St Lawrence river (Gaspe coast)and got sold to central America.Now it rest at the bottom near Belize Honduras...

[MikeofWyoming]

Will you post more info about this monster. It grabbed my attention in a sick undustrial revolutionist kind of way!

[TECHKLEC]

It looks like it might be a two stroke.

[DESSLOCH101]

yes, this is a two stroke diesel, it is started

by compressed air on no. 1cylinder,

they usually insert a sulfer tainted wick to

aid starting

[TECHKLEC]

There is a similar FM unit on running diplay here in Virginia at the Powhatten County Fairgrounds and it shakes the ground around it at idle!!!

[choatelodge]

I believe it is a Fairbanks Morse 32E14.

A four cylinder 2 stroke diesel producing 300 horsepower (you can just imagine the torque) at 300 RPM. It was made in 2,3,4,5,6 cylinder form, from 1924 to 1955.

It starts on compressed air.

[BOBKB3NZX]

jesus and this is supposed to be a ligh engine? NEAT THO

[salemcripple]

It is a light engine compared to other stationary factory engines. Just the flywheel in some big engines (especially the old steam powered mine pumps) weighed as much as this whole engine. Besides, i think the term "light" is referring to light manufacturing (although i'm not sure).

[BOBKB3NZX]

yea i knew it, i was just being an ass :D as far as i know your right.

[salemcripple]

Ah, i see. It makes me wonder, how the hell did they get such heavy equipment in place back then without all the cranes and heavy lift trucks that we have now?

[Alisterwolf66]

Who says they didn't have 'em back then?

I can't say for F-M specifically, but many times big engines like these were assembled at the location.

[salemcripple]

They obviously did have cranes, and trucks back then, but they had nowhere near the capacity of the ones we have now. And i know they were assembled on site, i was talking about the parts that make up these huge engines. Just the flywheel on some big stationary engines weigh as much as 40 tons.

[Alisterwolf66]

Without trying to offend; again, says who? Even given the absence of the mega-machines we have now, it was quite common then, and still is now, to use several smaller machines in tandem to get the job done.

But I digress; 200+ton cranes (for example) existed as early as the 1890s, the direct result of the railroad industry. I'll dig out some of my old books and give you the info on 'em, if you'd like.

[toinze69]

hp?

[crywolfe210]

Thats either a huge 4 cylinder or those are midgets admiring a farm tractor engine :D

[artgoat]

From the ground to the top of the stacks, it's about twenty feet tall. It has a ladder and gantry to gain access to the upper part of the cylinders, for priming. The flywheel is six feet across, and to position it for starting, two men lever it with long pipes.

[togglenuts]

How in the hell does this vid have anything to do with Fords? Just another outlet for GM and Dodge guys to go to because they would get ripped on Ford sites due to they're failing companies. If you really think Ford engines suck remember the Hemi killer anyone? Yeah, the 427 cammer it buried the competition, and was legislated out of existance because the NASCAR fellas thought an engine that made upwards of 650hp and spun to 7500 rpm was an unfair advantage. Get over it lunchbox mod motors own.

[bonecrime]

Hahah classy comment! :D

[allenjanoch]

what years is it

[perano101]

haha the bigest ring machine :D

[wb5oxq]

I have either seen this engine or another one just like it.

[tommcattn]

According to the stamp on the motor it is 240HP@ 257 RPM