I think lots of strimmer engines would fit that size. larger ones are 35cc. Be sure to leave lots of room for the silencer, and another silencer, and another one.

Hi Terry ,

Might be both more productive and more fun to make the engine yourself .

There is nothing in a basic petrol engine that’s any more difficult to make than in a steam engine .

There are many published designs .

You don’t have to accept published designs exactly as is – you can for instance scale up or down and make single cylinder ones as twins or even 4 cyl .

With an adapted published design and a bit of enginuity you could actually make an engine which was has at least a passing resemblance to a full size locomotive engine .

Amsbury built a diesel hydraulic with his own engine in and I can remember that others have built petrol electrics .

Bob Symes built a petrol electric in Gauge 1 – that was described in MRN circa early 1970’s .

Search of old ME’s 1960 to 1980 or so should yield useful articles .

Also have a look at Westbury 1831 design petrol mechanical locomotive articles in earlier ME’s

Regards ,

MikeW

Edited By MICHAEL WILLIAMS on 07/01/2014 14:01:22

Edited By MICHAEL WILLIAMS on 07/01/2014 14:03:31

90 cc is big for a strimmer, but is the size of the little Villiers that powered many lawn mowers, I'v just decommissioned a Villiers powered alternator, with any load on it, it used to seize after 20 minutes, problem, no forced cooling. New alternator is being built at the moment with a 3hp Kawasaki industrial motor, but it would be too big for your use.

It would be nice if you could find a small 4 stroke, it might sound better than a 2 stroke, and easier to silence. MikeW is right about building your self if that were possible. Ian S C