Old Engine Sparks New Hobby

By Cary Rideout
Published on May 2, 2013
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Willard Giberson's Acadia make-and-break marine engine, built by Acadia Gas Engines Ltd., Bridgeport, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Willard Giberson's Acadia make-and-break marine engine, built by Acadia Gas Engines Ltd., Bridgeport, Nova Scotia, Canada.
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This 5 hp engine was built by George B. Miller Co. Waterloo, Iowa.
This 5 hp engine was built by George B. Miller Co. Waterloo, Iowa.
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Willard at his workbench, consulting the source: American Gasoline Engines by C.H. Wendel. A long-time member of the Old Flywheel Guys, Willard says interest in antique engines is fairly strong in New Brunswick.
Willard at his workbench, consulting the source: American Gasoline Engines by C.H. Wendel. A long-time member of the Old Flywheel Guys, Willard says interest in antique engines is fairly strong in New Brunswick.
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This air-cooled 2 hp vertical International Harvester Famous gas engine is considered quite rare.
This air-cooled 2 hp vertical International Harvester Famous gas engine is considered quite rare.
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A 6 hp Canadaian-built Fairbanks-Morse Model Z (left) and a 5 hp Empire Cream Seperator Co. engine, also built in Canada.
A 6 hp Canadaian-built Fairbanks-Morse Model Z (left) and a 5 hp Empire Cream Seperator Co. engine, also built in Canada.

Standing in his hay barn in Bath, New
Brunswick, Canada,
Willard Giberson recalls his first engine. “Dad used a 6 hp International
dating to the 1920s. I helped him cut wood and thresh grain all over Carlton County. Nothing to it,” he says. “Hook
up a belt, turn her over and go to work.” But in the years following World War
II, newer power sources soon overshadowed the old hit-and-miss engines.

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