Now this isn't something you see everyday: A 16-foot trailer featuring seven belt-driven pumps powered by a 15 HP Otto gas engine.

Peter Brach is the curator of this portable display that required research, planning, an engine rescue and care. You can read more about this display in the April/May 2012 issue of Gas Engine Magazine.

Greg Ackerly really lucked out when a former collector decided to part with more than 200 old Briggs & Stratton engines. Greg's bounty included many engines, including this extremely rare Briggs & Stratton FC with short breather. In the video below, Greg explains what he's done with the engine since he acquired it.

You can see more videos of Greg's collection on his YouTube channel. 

Everyone here at Gas Engine Magazine is very impressed with Owen Williams, the 8-year-old collector featured in the April/May 2012 Young Iron. While he's the youngest person we've ever featured in Young Iron, he's been collecting for years and his collection already totals 19 engines.

And on top of that, he's taken his collection online by making and sharing videos on YouTube. Below, he gets his Briggs & Stratton 5S with straight pipe running. 

You can see more of Owen's videos at the Recoil Kid Channel on YouTube.

It’s hard to believe, but Christmas 2010 is just around the corner. I’m already being asked by my wife and family for my Christmas gift ideas. I don’t know about you, but answering that question is only getting harder the older I get. Truth is, if there’s something I need or want and I have the extra money, I’ll just go ahead and buy it. I’ve never been known to be patient, but forcing myself to make a Christmas list has helped.

Anyhow, if you’re like me, you appreciate a little assistance in satisfying that yearly question of “What do you want for Christmas?” And while I’m sure each one of you has a child-like fantasy of waking up Christmas morning and finding your dream engine sitting in the garage with a big bow on it, allow me to offer some realistic last-minute gift ideas:

• The first item is definitely more of a “need” than a “want.” I mean, how else will you know where to go next show season unless you have the handy 2011 Farm Collector Show Directory? Packed with maps of each show location, detailed listings, club advertisements and commercial resources, the directory is your personal guide to the world of antique farm equipment shows. Your loved one can pre-order a copy for $14.95, with the first copies shipping on Feb. 28.

• I’m guessing that somewhere in your garage or shop there sits a very rough engine that you’ve been meaning to restore but simply keep neglecting for one reason or another. Well, gas engine restorer Peter Rooke knows exactly what it’s like to turn a basketcase into a work of art, and he shares that expertise through his step-by-step book simply titled Gas Engine Restoration. If you’ve hit a roadblock in your restoration it’s likely that Peter has run into a similar problem and has come up with an interesting solution. Order his book for $19.99.

• This last idea isn’t gas engine related but it definitely taps into that interest we all have in old tools and machinery. Our sister publication, Farm Collector, has  a monthly feature called “What Is It?” where readers try to identify mystery tools and their original purpose. Well, the editors of that fine magazine recently compiled more than 150 of the most interesting tools they’ve come across over the years and published The Farm Collector Field Guide to Mystery Farm Tools. Loaded with 96 pages of information and full-color photos, the Field Guide is the definitive resource for identifying an old tool. There’s even a chapter featuring tools that have never been identified, offering you a chance to shed some light on a mystery. Order it for just $7.99.

Whatever it is you find under your tree this year, we hope it’s just what you wanted. From our family at Gas Engine Magazine to yours, Happy Holidays!

As you know, I attended the New York State Two Cylinder Expo held July 9-11. 2009.

Below is a clip from the show video, where I'm attempting to give the viewer a little overview of Farm Collector and Gas Engine Magazine. I’m no Barbara Walters or Katie Couric, so bear with me!

The Expo VII videos are now available. They have been professionally produced and contain clips from everything that was featured at the show. For info on ordering a DVD or video from the club, call 607-776-3592.

See you down the road!

Aside from being a beautiful engine, the interesting thing about the cover photo of the June 2009 issue of Gas Engine Magazine is that you, the reader, chose it.

The cover of the June 2009 issue of Gas Engine Magazine.

Tom Winkler’s 1904 6 HP C.P. & J. Lauson was one of four cover images we had to choose from, and to help us decide which one to go with, we surveyed more than 2,900 GEM subscribers by e-mail in late April. We also asked them to rank their interest in several articles based on headlines and brief descriptions, and you’ll find many of those articles in this issue.

Many subscribers took advantage of the opportunity to share their thoughts on GEM through the open comment portion of the survey. Most of the comments were very helpful, and some of you asked a question that I’d like to answer here. That question was, why are we surveying our readers? Shouldn’t we know what to put in the magazine without asking?

Considering the content in GEM depends on reader submissions, we think it just makes sense to ask the readers for their opinion on other aspects of the magazine. Surveying also helps you contribute to the magazine if you don’t have time to submit an article.

Lately, each issue has had more content planned for it than we have pages to fill, which has provided a perfect opportunity for us to get the reader involved in the process of making the magazine. And while it doesn’t happen too often, we found ourselves with four very strong cover images for this issue, again providing the reader with the unique opportunity to "build-your-own" magazine.

At this point, I should note that if you chose some of the articles that you don’t see in this issue, don’t worry – we’re planning on running them in future issues of GEM. We just thought that since we had such a strong set of options for this issue that we’d give you a chance to weigh in.

As I’ve already stated, we sent out the survey by e-mail to more than 2,900 subscribers but we’d love to send it out to thousands more. If you have an e-mail address and you’d like to participate in our next reader survey, just send a message to my e-mail and I’ll add you to the list. That will also give you the opportunity to sign up for our weekly newsletter, which will show up in your e-mail every Tuesday.

Thanks to everyone who participated this time around!

In the February 2009 issue of GEM, we ran an article titled “Using their Heads” submitted by Ben Romich. It was a short piece about how Ben and his neighbor, Elmer Sherwin, restored an old headless Fairbanks-Morse and made some creative modifications along the way.

Elmer Sherwin, who helped Ben Romich restore the Fairbanks-Morse engine featured in the February 2009 issue of GEM.

In the process of editing that story, we inadvertently changed the meaning of a few of Ben’s sentences, and cut a few more for length. At the time, we were trying to fit the story and photos on one page and save what we thought were the important details. Instead, we ended up omitting details that Ben found important, such as the few lines giving public credit to Don Irvin for giving him the gas engine “bug.” Needless to say, Ben was disappointed and embarrassed when he read his article in the magazine. And most of the time, the story ends there without us knowing we made a mistake.

But thankfully, Ben sent us a letter expressing his disappointment and asked us to take his letter as constructive criticism. He pointed out our editing mistakes and suggested that we include a guide to contributors for readers to consult before submitting articles. This is a great idea that we’re going to work on and implement in the next couple issues.

Ben’s letter also motivated all of us here at GEM to reevaluate our approach to editing your articles. As editors and writers ourselves, there’s a delicate balance required when you read someone else’s work. Any edits we make to an story are solely intended to help make the article understood by all of our readers. The truth, though, is everyone has a unique voice when they write and sometimes, we don’t realize that we’re making changes to articles simply because we prefer different words or phrasing. It’s never intentional or malicious, but it does happen.

I also mentioned in the February issue that we’re encouraging all submissions large and small and your response to that request has been outstanding – keep ’em coming! You’ll notice in this issue that five of the stories are reader submitted and we’ve got a growing list of stories ready to run in future issues. And with Ben in mind, please know that if you submit an article and we need to make significant changes, we’ll be consulting you first, so please make sure to include your e-mail  address or phone number with your submission. 

Finally, we apologize for our mistake, Ben. Happy 89th birthday, and thanks for helping us make GEM the best it can be.