Meet the V16, Our First Nordic-Style Stationary Engine Model. Should We Made It?

A century ago, farms and workshops across Scandinavia ran on tall single-cylinder engines with open frames, brass fittings and a flywheel turning beside them. They pumped water, drove threshing machines and powered small mills, often running for hours with little more than an oil can and a watchful eye.

The V16 is our take on that style: a working stationary engine model with a vertical single-cylinder gasoline engine, an A-frame, an open crankcase and an automatic flyball governor on top. It's currently in development, and whether it goes into production depends on you. If you'd like to see it on the shelf, let us know in the comments.

Built in the Spirit of Vintage Stationary Engines

Many early Nordic stationary engines were built in what Danish makers called the "open type." Instead of sealing the moving parts inside a housing, they left the crankshaft, connecting rod and valve gear fully exposed. Operators could see, oil and adjust everything by hand, and a good mechanic could tell how an engine was running just by watching it.

The V16 follows that idea. It isn't a replica of any single historical engine, and it runs on gasoline with spark ignition rather than the hot bulb ignition many of its ancestors used. What it keeps is the character: tall, open, mechanical, and meant to be watched.

What Old Farm Engines Did in the Nordic Countryside

Before small engines arrived, a farm that needed mechanical power usually had to wait its turn for a portable steam engine, hauled from farm to farm on wheels, mostly for threshing after the harvest. Owning one outright rarely made sense for a machine that stood idle much of the year.

The small single-cylinder engine changed that. In Denmark, where the first factory dedicated to these engines opened in Copenhagen in 1893, they spread quickly. They were compact, affordable and easy to install, and simple and reliable enough for a farmer or smith to run on his own.

Once installed, these engines became the workhorses of rural life:

• On farmsThey drove threshing machines and grain grinders and pumped water. Some kept going for decades. One Danish farm engine, now in a museum collection, powered its farm's water supply until 1973, when the farm finally switched to electricity.
• At windmillsMany millers installed an engine to keep the millstones turning when the wind was too weak.
• In smithies and small workshopsA modest engine of just a few horsepower could drive the machinery for the whole shop.
• At seaFishermen used them to haul winches and power their boats, saving hours of hard rowing.

Demand grew so fast that engine factories sprang up all over Denmark, more than 250 of them over the years. Makers freely borrowed each other's ideas, so many engines of the period look strikingly alike: tall, open, brightly painted and trimmed in brass. That shared family look is exactly what the V16 is built around.

Starting an Engine Was a Ritual

Many of these engines were hot bulb engines, and getting one going took patience. The operator heated a cast-iron bulb on the cylinder head with a blowlamp until it glowed, which could take five to ten minutes. That waiting time wasn't wasted: it was the moment to top up the oilers, lubricate the moving parts, and check the cooling water and fuel level. Once the engine was running, the heat of combustion kept the bulb hot on its own.

Hot bulb engines had another quirk. Many of them could run in either direction, and if one started backward, an experienced operator knew how to bring it back to forward without even stopping it.

From Hot Bulb to Gasoline

Old engines didn't stay frozen in time. As technology moved on, some owners converted their engines from hot tube or hot bulb ignition to electric spark ignition, fitted a carburetor, and ran them on petrol instead.

The V16 follows that later path. It uses a spark plug instead of a hot bulb, so there's no blowlamp involved, while the look and the open mechanism stay true to the older engines.

Why Open Engines Are So Satisfying to Watch

With an open-crank engine, nothing is hidden. You can see the piston travel, the crankshaft turn and the valves open and close, and even if you've never worked on an engine, you'll quickly get a feel for what's happening and why.

They're a pleasure to listen to as well. A slow-running old engine has its own set of sounds: the click of the valve gear, a soft hollow note as the piston returns, a low rumble from the bearings, and the steady rhythm of intake and exhaust.

And they were built to be looked at. Engine makers of the era wanted their machines to be reliable and long-lived, but appearance mattered too: shaped bases, brass handles, copper pipework, flyball governors, oilers, and a careful paint finish over castings that had been ground smooth by hand. The V16 is built with the same idea in mind: every moving part in view, and details worth a close look.

A Walk Through the V16, Top to Bottom

• At the top

  How the flyball governor works

  At the very top sits a polished brass flyball governor. Its job is to stop the engine from running too fast. As engine speed rises, the weighted arms swing outward under centrifugal force. That movement lifts a sliding collar, and a linkage connected to the collar reins the engine back in. When the engine slows, the arms drop again.

  It's one of the oldest automatic controls in engineering, made famous by James Watt on steam engines in the late 1700s, and it works without a single sensor or wire.

• Below the governor

  The crossbeam and valve gear

  Just below the governor, a crossbeam carries the rocker arms. Pushrods run down the sides of the engine, and as they rise and fall, the rockers tip back and forth to open and close the valves. Coil springs snap each valve shut again. On the V16, this whole sequence happens in plain view, so you can follow the engine's timing with your eyes.

• On the crossbeam

  The float fuel regulator

  Mounted on the crossbeam is a float-type fuel regulator. A float inside rises and falls with the fuel level, keeping the supply steady so the engine runs consistently.

• In the cylinder head

  The spark ignition

  A spark plug in the cylinder head ignites the fuel-air mixture on each power stroke.

• Beside the cylinder

  The cooling tanks

  Two tanks stand on the base, one on each side of the engine, connected to the cylinder by copper pipes. They hold the cooling water or coolant for the engine. Separate cooling tanks beside the engine were a common sight on old stationary engines, and on the V16 they add to the working, farmyard look.

• Under the cylinder

  The A-frame and open crankcase

  The cylinder stands high on an A-shaped frame, the classic support structure of early vertical engines. Below it, the crankcase is left open, so you can watch the crankshaft turn and the connecting rod drive the piston up and down.

• On one side

  The curved-spoke flywheel

  On one side turns a large flywheel with sweeping curved spokes. Its weight carries the engine smoothly between power strokes, and at speed the curved spokes create a striking visual effect.

• All over

  The livery

  Red body, green flywheel spokes and polished brass fittings. It's the kind of color scheme you'd expect on a well-kept engine that has spent a hundred years being looked after.

Tell Us What You Think

The V16 at a Glance

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What About a Diesel Version?

Some readers have asked whether the V16 could run on diesel, like many of the heavy-oil engines that inspired its look. We're exploring the idea, but a diesel V16 is not confirmed and may never be released. A diesel version would also cost more than the gasoline model. If it's something you'd want, tell us in the comments. It helps us decide.

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