The Witte Iron Works was a maker of

hit and miss engine A hit-and-miss engine or Hit 'N' Miss is a type of stationary internal combustion engine that is controlled by a governor to only fire at a set speed. They are usually 4-stroke but 2-stroke versions were made. It was conceived in the late 19th c ...

s. The company was started in 1870 by August Witte in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

. His son Ed Witte built the company's first crude gasoline engine in 1886. In 1894 gas engines would be the company's primary focus. They made the Witte's Junior

Headless engine A headless engine or fixed head engine is an engine where the end of the cylinder is cast as one piece with the cylinder and crankcase. The most well known headless engines are the Fairbanks-Morse Z and the Witte Iron Works , Witte Headless hit and ...

, Witte portables, and a

Dragsaw A dragsaw or drag saw is a large reciprocating saw using a long steel crosscut saw to buck logs to length. Prior to the popularization of the chainsaw during World War II, the dragsaw was a popular means of taking the hard work out of cutting w ...

. In 1911 they started manufacturing the Simplicity line of engines. These engines were the first of the Witte models to carry the walking-beam valve mechanism that characterized the entire line until November, 1923. Witte declared that their engines paid for themselves, making them practically free. Their engines could come with saws and mud pumps. In the 1930s Witte began to offer diesel engines. Witte was purchased by the United States Steel Company in 1944. In 1966, the company once again operated as a privately-owned entity.

References

{{Reflist Defunct manufacturing companies based in Kansas