Engine identification please

[charlie]

My latest acquisition is an Emery rotavator. The engine has no makers name but I think it could be a JAP. 4 stroke, air cooled, dry sump. Magneto is a Wico FW880. Carb is an Amal. Bore approx 63.5mm and stroke approx 76mm. Any help identifying engine model would be much appreciated as would any information about the engine. The only numbers I have found on the engine are a B and what looks like FS or HS 180.

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[stuart]

I thought Emery made there own engines Charlie but I could be wrong.

[charlie]

According to 70 Years of Garden Machinery it was a JAP engine, 2 1/2 or 3hp. Universal model was shown at 1950 Royal Smithfield Show, cost £85.

[andyfrost]

Charlie , I’m not overly convinced about the accuracy in the book you mention , not only of your machine and engine , but others also.
As far as I’m aware J.A.P. always had some form of stamping somewhere , whereby they could be identified , but like Stuart I would stand to be corrected.

Andy.

[trusty220]

According to my Wipac manual the FW880 was only fitted to JAP 2A’s with clockwise rotation. I’m very confused now, because Charlie’s photo’s show an engine very similar to the 2A in layout, but it doesn’t look like the 2A that is fitted to my Trusty mower.

More digging required, methinks (and no pun intended!).

[charlie]

I took the Emery to the Lotmead event and one thought was it could be a motorcycle engine, but no suggestions as to make.

[trusty220]

I can see why you think that because it has a circular crankcase. I had an old JAP engine some years ago which came off a Ransomes mower of unknown vintage which was a similar shape, but it had J.A.P. cast into the crankcase just below the barrel..
Have you thought of asking the OLC for information?

[charlie]

Trying to get a new spark plug I contacted The Green Spark Plug Company. The plug I have is an old Wipac F20 with 22mm thread. Steve from Green Spark Plug Co suggested JAP only used 14mm and 18mm plugs. This supports the suggestions that it is not a JAP and may well be Emery’s own.

[stevewoollas]

Hello Charlie,
I understand The Emery was produced in Halesowen, West Midlands and I worked for many years for a company based there. Despite numerous attempts I could not discover anything about this company or find anyone who knew of them.
Regards–Steve

[alan]

I’ve just looked up Emery in newspaper archives and info is a bit thin on the ground.

They did have a 14″ Universal Rotary Cultivator at Chelsea Flower Show in 1951. Apparently it was described as having a 3hp engine and a low price and was ‘just the job’ for nursery and market-gardening work.

A 1955 advert says that Loxhams of Lancaster were selling new and reconditioned Emery Rotary Cultivators (as well as new Singer and OTA 10hp tractors).

There are a few Emery adverts for lawnmowers, one attached here. But not much else!

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[charlie]

Thanks for looking Alan. Information about the Universal does seem a bit thin on the ground. I have a sales leaflet for the two way machine.

[trusty220]

It’s interesting to note that they appear to be using the JAP 2A on the lawnmower in the advert. If they made their own engine why would they be buying in another make?

[hortiman]

I would suggest that a 2A would not have enough power to run the Emery as a rotary cultivator, It would be ok for lighter work as fitted to the Troy Tractivator etc, which only fitted draught implements. I did quite a bit of research when I owned the Emery, but again without success. I only found a brief mention in Denys De Saulles book.

[charlie]

Thank you for all the suggestions and ideas. I think I will have to put an article in The Cultivator to see if that brings anything new.

[alan]

I’ve done a bit of digging and here’s a little more about Emery. It’s a few random bits in case anyone ever needs to chase up info on Emery.

A. J. Emery and Sons Ltd was a new company started in about July 1940 (image from 23rd July 1940 attached). Located at 7 Whitehall Road, Halesowen, it was to carry on the business of ‘general engineers, toolmakers and machinists etc’. The company capital was £1000, that’s £40K in 2017 money, it was a reasonable amount.

The company was A.J Emery and Sons Limited. The partners being A.J.Emery (father) and S.F.Emery (presumably the son). Their home address was only 250 yards away from the business premises so perhaps that’s why they opted for the Whitehall Road premises?

There are only a couple of adverts with the company details, in one private advert (image attached) advertised for sale is a centre screw cutting lathe in November 1940, this is only shortly after setting up the company.

On old maps, number 7 Whitehall Road was a large premises and certainly capable of large scale production – that is if they had the whole of the premises although they appear to be the only occupiers of the address. The premises no longer exist due to redevelopment, demolished in the 1980/90’s it seems, it is now the site of the Travelodge carpark. There is a photo of the road and premises with the red arrow pointing to the factory (image attached). A 1954 map states the factory to be ‘General Engineering Works’.

There doesn’t appear to be any adverts for recruiting staff, adverts for the products they made (apart from 1940’s mowers) and no real indication of what they did.

The Emery lawnmower was distributed through Holt, Whitney & Co Ltd, Birmingham who were major distributors and exporters at the time sending items to Canada and far afield, although there is no indication that the mowers went abroad.

Holt, Whitney & Co also dealt with sales of the Coleby Cultivator in 1948 as well as the Emery lawnmower at the same time. Would this have spurred Emery into creating their own cultivator?

We may never know.

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