Maxwell Tecumseh Canadian aka Spartan 5

[bill-loveland]

quote Mumbles:

OK, I was just over there but I’ll try and get back in the next day or two. One or two days wait shouldn’t matter if it took twenty years to ID this motor! 😀

By the way, would you know of any Spartan 5 donor motors? The cracked inertia wheel on mine is holding me up from trying to start it.

Is that a part you’d find on a lawnmower engine?

[Mumbles]

I don’t think so. The motor does have a small flywheel on top but this thing goes on the bottom of the crank and probably replaces the weight of a mower blade. It’s fairly heavy and might be cast of zinc.

[kevinrude]

Hey Bill, if you look at the advertising provided by Mumbles, you’ll notice that there is a triangle labelled "4 stroke". Is that how the triangle on your tiller handle reads?

[bill-loveland]

You’re close – one says "4 CYCLE" and another says "4 CYCLE SPARTAN". I could be convinced that my handle says "4 CYCLE SPARTAN".

Mumbles, when you take a look at yours, see if you can read what your handle says.

[Mumbles]

OK, I’ll go over in the morning and take a peek. I’m curious to.

[Mumbles]

quote bill_loveland:

Mumbles, when you take a look at yours, see if you can read what your handle says.

I just looked at my Spartan and I can make out a 4 and Spartan inside the triangle cast into the tiller but the rest is kind of vague. It would need beading to make it any clearer.

There’s no decal saying Maxwell anywhere on it but it does have an ID plate fastened to the front identifying it as a Lauson four stroke powerhead. This outboard truly is a ‘mower on a stick’ and going by the serial number, there must have been close to ten million of them made!

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[bh]

quote bill_loveland:

…long-time Canadian collectors thought it might have some connection with the Montreal Triton/Arrow motor, but I don’t think so now.

Bill; -did u klnow that our friend Doug Overbury was the Chief Engineer in Montreal @Arrow ? [bh/]

[bill-loveland]

I didn’t – was he at Tack’s?

[bill-loveland]

quote Mumbles:

quote bill_loveland:

Mumbles, when you take a look at yours, see if you can read what your handle says.

I just looked at my Spartan and I can make out a 4 and Spartan inside the triangle cast into the tiller but the rest is kind of vague. It would need beading to make it any clearer.

There’s no decal saying Maxwell anywhere on it but it does have an ID plate fastened to the front identifying it as a Lauson four stroke powerhead. This outboard truly is a ‘mower on a stick’ and going by the serial number, there must have been close to ten million of them made!

Thanks Mumbles – I suspect the serial number reflects the number of engines made in all applications, not just outboard

Now to find somebody who can solve the "MAXWELL" puzzle. As it happens, I have a Canadian friend who is a Lauson (outboard) expert, as well as having a strong interest in lots of other mechanical things.

Would a junk Lauson outboard be a donor source of an intertia wheel?

[Mumbles]

quote bill_loveland:

Would a junk Lauson outboard be a donor source of an intertia wheel?

I’m not sure but that’s a good idea! 💡

Without any schematics or Lausons in my pile, I don’t know what they are composed of.

[Author]

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