Vintage Stationery Engines

Before gasoline-powered tractors arrived on Australian farms, they were well established in other industries, much reducing the work previously done by horsepower or man power. There was many businesses importing and manufacturing stationary engines on the West as well as the East coast of the continent from around the 1870s to well into the 1970s. The golden era in their usage was between the War years when most farms were not connected to the electricity grid, yet they required small engines to supply all forms of motivation: pumping water, grinding grain, separating cream from milk, churning butter, sawing wood, lighting generators and washing machines, to name just a few.
The early big engines in use in Australia were predominantly made in the United Kingdom. They were typically difficult to start due to the requirement for a blow lamp to heat the top of the motor until it was hot enough to ignite the kerosene used to power the engine.
The Museum has an excellent example in the Wilson Oil Engine plus an extensive range of the Australian-made McDonald engines.
The Museum’s collection of large petrol engines is supported by a good selection of the small hit-and-miss and throttle-governed farm engines which were collected from around the local district. They range in power from ¾ horse power (hp) to 11 hp.
Unfortunately, the manufacturers of these slow revving, heavy cast iron engines with large flywheels are no longer around, because these engines have been replaced by cheaper, higher-horse power alloy versions, but their legacy can be still admired in the Museum where volunteers passionately maintain and run these engines on occasions such as group tours and Open Days.