The Motor of Lamb IV [1909]

A Twelve-Cylinder V-Type Racing Engine Which Has Been Very Successful

The accompanying photographs [not available at this time — LF] show a special type of racing motor built by the lamb Boat & Engine Company, of Clinton, Ia. It is an Antoinette type motor, having twelve cylinders. These cylinders have 5 ¼ inches bore by 6 inches stroke. The valves are 2 ½ inches in diameter, both intake and exhaust valves being of the same size. The cam motion is the same as in the regular stock motor built by the Lamb Company. The crank in this motor is a six-throw crank, with two connecting rods on each pin. The crank is 2 1/8-inch diameter. The weight of the motor on the scales is 2114 pounds. The clutch is the same as used on the regular stock motor, except that a positive drive has been added. This positive drive is thrown in after the boat is under way, and is only used to assure the clutch holding during very high speed. The motor is equipped with two ¾-inch rotary pumps for water circulation. Six Kingston carburetors are used, one to every two cylinders. These carburetors are controlled by a small lever leading aft to the steering wheel. The motor is also equipped with two Kurtz magnetos, one for each six cylinders, both controlled by a lever on the same quadrant. The lubricating system consists of a 12-feed Crandell oiler which lubricates the pistons, and the bearings are lubricated by the same system which lubricates the stock motors. This system feeds oil from a reservoir to each bearing in a steady stream. The oil then works through the hollow crank shaft and is thrown out at the crank pins by centrifugal force.

This motor has been installed in the Lamb IV, which is a boat 32 feet long by 4 ½ feet beam, and while the boat is very much over powered, yet her recent showing in the Burlington races was remarkable. On account of the size of the boat, the operators were unable to turn the motors more than 825 r.p.m. The boat attained a speed of 28.8 miles an hour. This is a perfectly balanced motor and is operated without a flywheel.

(Transcribed from MotorBoat, Sep. 10, 1909, p. 39)

[Thanks to Greg Calkins for help in preparing this page --LF]