The Titan side shaft holds significant allure for collectors of antique engines. This is a low production model built by the International Harvester company from 1916 to 1918. It is a horizontal, single-cylinder engine that operates with a side shaft running down one side of the engine.
This side shaft drives the mechanical oiler, the fuel pump, controls the governor, trips the magneto and igniter, and opens and closed the valves. The valves are in the top and bottom of the cylinder head with the intake valve on top and the exhaust valve on the bottom.
This unique, mechanically complicated engines was doomed to fail. They were built in two sizes 4 and 6 horsepower with the largest percentage being hopper-cooled. Harvester initially intended to manufacture larger sizes, but disappointing sales and elevated production costs led to the abandonment of those plans.
We are aware that International progressed to the design stage, as assembly drawings for the larger sizes exist in the original digitized blueprints held by the Wisconsin Historical Society as a part of the McCormick Collection.
0