Hercules 3 cylinder gas

[Kevin Aschenmeier]

Hi. I am just new to your forum. It looks helpful.

Two quick questions.

One. How expensive would you say a complete rebuild of the Hercules 3 cylinder gas engine is compared to the four cylinder used in the OC3? I am thinking of gaskets, rings, bearings. I have rebuilt the four cylinder and found it quite expensive. I hope the three cylinder is cheaper.

Second. What is the firing order? I figure it is either 1-3-2, which would make sense, or 1-2-3 which would make no sense.

Thank you.

Kevin

[John Schwiebert]

Well you need to tell me more. There are 5 distinct versions of those 3 cylinder engines. So start in. Is there an engine tag on the tractor? A tractor serial number will also help.

[Kevin Aschenmeier]

Hi.

The tractor is an OC46 - 3G

The serial number is  1WR - 420

I do not know the engine serial number. I will find it.

I am hoping to be able to purchase engine parts from a jobber shop rather than a specialty shop for this engine.

Thanks, Kevin

[walter hudson]

They are not much more expensive to do a basic rebuild  than a 4cyl IX motor .There are a couple of versions of the GO130 . The differences are  the size of the connecting rods and the later engines have sleeves

[Kevin Aschenmeier]

Walter:
Hi. The later engines have sleeves? Oh. I was hoping that they all had sleeves. This makes it easier, at times. The machine, according to the serial number, should be from 1958.

I have no idea of the condition of the engine. I hope to get it started soon, and test it. Trouble is this christmas thing seems to be coming soon and it is cold here. I hope to move it into the shop, but christmas and boxing day are the only days I get off.

Do you know when they started using the sleeved engine?

Kevin

[walter hudson]

The later engines had the larger rod and sleeves . Some had small rods but were sleeved . If you are planning too replace the sleeves and pistons ,your rebuild cost will increase tremendously .

[John Schwiebert]

Here you go. There may be several options. Jerry Biro may have oversize pistons, Bearings for the 2 inch crank engine see Jerry. In fact Jerry is going to be your best parts source. I will get you his phone number later. He is North America's largest dealer for obsolete Hercules parts.

[Kevin Aschenmeier]

John:
Thank you. I look forward to getting Jerry's phone number.

Merry Christmas to all.

Kevin