Minnie combines

[Anonymous-0]

I was looking at the continental engine in my minnie type S,combine,
It put's out 75 HP,
I saw a Graham trtactor with the same engine in it, the guy strated it up and I was smitten,ohhh man ,, did it sound good, all low , and throaty like an older industrial six would sound,
it's a flathead but alot of the time, they had hot spot's around the valve's and water passeges
so,, maybe il have to get in this thing and maybe it'll be ok,
I hope so,

 

[noncompos]

Kirk, can you fill me in a little on that Graham, just off the top of your head?? The only Graham I find in my notes is the Graham-Bradley, built by Graham-Paige in the late 30's and pre-war 40's, sold as David Bradley's for awhile, and they supposedly came with Graham-Paige 6cyl L-hd 31/4x43/8 engines. Did the man say he'd re-powered his?
There was also a Graham proposed in the early 20's (Graham Brothers, Washington, Indiana) but supposedly only a prototype or two were built.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Hi Non,
No He didnt say he redid his but it was a Graham -Bradley though
Red and with the 40's type lettering on the
side grille's,
I thought he said it had a continental 6 in it?
But I could be mistaken,
It sounded good though,
It was on RFD TV,about 3 week;s ago, too,
and I think Max was interviewing him,
I was getting excited cause i was thinking if it had a conti 227 6 in it,
that Minnie of mine has the same engine in it, with a straight pipe,
an early combine that sounded like that would be really cool,

 

[Anonymous-0]

Hi Noncompos,
did the older flathead continental;s have hot spot's in the head, and did they have valve guide problem's where they would pump oil up into the plug's sometime's?
I thought they did,
But im not sure?

 

[Anonymous-0]

Bid: I used to drive a Graham-Bradley when I was first out of high school. It was a Chrysler engine. J

 

[Anonymous-0]

One comment on that. The older Oliver combines had either a 226 or a 244 Continental. When the Cockshutt designed combines replaced them they used the Chrysler. The Branfort service manager stopped in one time and said "you will have less valve trouble with the Chrysler" in that service and that turned out to be true. Now in a forklift truck I would not make that statement as they ruled that market for a long time.

 

[Anonymous-0]

J,are you sure? I used to own a nice 1938 Graham Bradley tractor and it had a 226 Continental flathead 6 in it.Sold it to a collector at Chase,KS in the mid 1980's.

I do have original GB literature somewhere in the house.

 

[noncompos]

Kirk: Many thxx for the replies. John"s the real hands-on and use expert; my info is 99% on paper. In the days I was actually driving I couldn"t tell a Hall-Scott from a Cushman (and didn"t care); I just turned the key (or pulled the compression release) and drove.
John: Thxx for the comment re" the Chrysler engine.
The Graham car engine was the same b/s as given for the tractor, 217.8ci, but there"s an interesting point: the Graham trucks used some engines "...designed by Dodge but built by Continental..." in the late 20"s, before Dodge took their truck company over. Graham was dying in their tractor years, and may well have used a stock Cont or had Cont build their design. There"s a Graham owners Club; if they have a website I"ll see what I can find. (There"re always more interesting things to run down than the time to do it!).

 

[Anonymous-0]

alrigt , totally cool, I knew there was something to this,
I knew it was conti and not graham that did the engines for trucks and other thing's,

 

[noncompos]

Well, it does appear the "Graham-built" engines were Continentals. The Graham owners website (very nice, except it doesn't seem to have a forum) has a considerable history, in which is a statement re' engines. Apparently still a little hazy, it says it's understood Graham bought what amounts to Cont short blocks, adding their own aluminum head, carb, etc. It wasn't stated whether they were stock blocks or made to any Graham design or specs. It says in 38, "as a cost cutting measure" cast iron heads were used. A Fed-Mogul catalog shows some of the Graham engines and some Cont's having the same bearings and rods, so at least some seemed to use stock Cont blocks. The catalog says the 37 tractors used the 31/1x4 (same bearings and rods as in the car) (I wonder if the 37 tractors had the aluminum heads, too, or if they get the "new" CI heads?); the 38-45 used the 31/4x43/8 (same bearings as some of the car engines, no rods listed for either). I wouldn't be surprised if a stock Cont 226 wasn't also available, as 1206 recalls, or might've fitted right in. Learn something new every day!

 

[noncompos]

Oops: forgot to add: the Graham history said that "Continental" was "...often obscurely stamped on the block..." but, natch, neglected to say where...
ALSO, it said engines were upgraded in 1938 to apply more water to the valve seats, so it sounds like at least some were developing hot spots or having some kind of a problem.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Hi J,
My Minnie type S, has the F227 Continental
flathead six in it,with a straight pipe,
so,,, It outta sound pretty good,
when I get it home, and start it,

 

[Anonymous-0]

Big 6 cylinder power units all sound great to me. The other day a kid told me he could out pull my w-40 with his w-d9. He he. I told him i may just take him up on that. Mine has a red diamond 504 in it (504?). Lotsa throttle. :^D