A Westinghouse Farm Engine from 1890 The Westinghouse Farm Engine was a small, vertical-boiler

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be ...

built by the Westinghouse Company that emerged in the late 19th century. In the transition from horses to machinery, small portable engines were hauled by horses from farm to farm to give power where it was needed. It provided power to agricultural machines such as

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

threshing machine A threshing machine or a thresher is a piece of farm equipment that threshes grain, that is, it removes the seeds from the stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out. Before such machines were developed, thre ...

s, and corn shellers. Many small workshops used them as well. The farm engine was invented by

George Westinghouse George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was an American entrepreneur and engineer based in Pennsylvania who created the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry, receiving his first patent at the age ...

. Near the end of 1865, he created a rotary steam engine: the Westinghouse Farm Engine. He invented the engine at age 21. As a sideline to the airbrake products, Westinghouse made these horse-drawn, vertical-boiler, and horizontal-cylinder engines. The

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...

, steam chest, cross-head guide, and the boxes for the crankshaft bearings were all cast in a single piece to assure mechanical exactness and perfect alignment of piston and crank. The engine was made of brass and steel. The machine helped American farms transition from horse to machines. It came in 6, 10, and 15

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...

sizes. The Westinghouse Farm engine was said to have a short, quick stroke to make it lighter. This design helped to make sure that the engine did not rollover. The engines were equipped with Adjustable Governor, Pop Safety Valve, Steam Gauge, Feed Water Heater, Direct Acting Pump, Whistle, Blower, Brake, and a full supply of wrenches and fire tools. This helped keep the engine efficient, durable, and convenient. The engines were produced from 1886 to 1917 when they were superseded by larger, standard farm engines.

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When Westinghouse Meant Steam, Not Electric
Steam engines Engine technology {{technology-stub