Petters Limited
Encyclopedia
Petters Limited were a maker of stationary petrol and diesel engines
from 1896 onwards.
In 1915 Petter founded Westland Aircraft Works
(renamed "Westland Aircraft" in 1935).
In 1986 Petters Limited merged with one-time rival R A Lister and Company
to form Lister Petter.
. It was there that Ernest and Percival, his twin sons, designed and built a self propelled oil engine in 1892. Three years later they designed the first internal combustion engine
d motor car
to be made in the United Kingdom
. The car, using a converted four-wheel horse-drawn phaeton
and a 3 hp (2 kW) horizontal oil engine
, had a top speed of 12 miles per hour (5.4 m/s) . The vehicle was constructed at the Park Road carriage works of Hill and Boll. It weighed 9 cwt (457 kg) including the 120 lb (55 kg) of the Petter engine with its flywheel and side bars.
A contemporary report said:
The twins continued to develop vehicles, the twelfth of which they entered to a competition at Crystal Palace
in 1897, without success.
, powered by a 30 horsepower (22 kW) horizontal oil engine.
The first engines made by Petter were Petter Standard oil engines which were horizontal open crank engines made to very high standards.
With commercial production under way, the family launched a private company called J. B. Petter & Co. Ltd. in 1902.
Around 1903 cheap American imports, including the "Jack of all Trades" manufactured by the Fairbanks Morse Company, threatened the English stationary engine industry, and unlike most companies at the time Petter decided to produce a cheaper engine of their own to combat the threat. This engine was called the Petter Handyman which was sold around 20% lower in price than the 'Petter Standard' and was sold in batches of 50 or more.
From 1920s onwards Petters made two-stroke and four-stroke engines. Such models as the M-type and the A-type were highly successful and were competitors for Lister's
D-Type.
The last two-stroke design was the "SS", introduced in 1938. It was available in two-cylinder to six-cylinder versions and delivered from 125 to 375 horsepower. The "SS" was described as a "superscavenger" engine. The meaning of this is uncertain but it may indicate that it used the inertial supercharging effect
. These engines ran at low temperatures, due to their patented oil-cooled piston, and spherical smallend bearing. This engine was used in British Rail 15107
and British Rail Class D3/14
number 15004 .
Petter also manufactured the two-stroke M-type (petrol), the S-type stationary diesel, the A-type, and the A1-type, the only noticeable difference on the previous two being the position of the magneto: the A magneto jutted out, and the A1 magneto was tucked away underneath. The A range was aircooled. Petter also produced another 'handyman, a 'cheap' version of the M-type. Petter went on to make a comprehensive range of air-cooled diesels, such as the PAZ1, AVA range, and the 3.5 hp AA1.
Its workforce of 500 men produced 1500 engines a year. In 1919 the company bought the Vickers factory in Ipswich and was renamed Vickers Petters Ltd.
In 1937, Petters joined the Associated British Oil Engine Company
. After the war the group was obtained by British Electrical Group, with Petter spun off in 1949 joining another engine manufacturer, J&H McLaren & Co.
, at the old Lagonda
works in Egham Hythe
near Staines, Middlesex, employing over 1,000 people at its peak. In 1957 the company was acquired by Hawker-Siddeley
and some production was moved to Hamble
as the reorganized company was split into four groups within Hawker-Siddeley Brush Group--Petter Staines (small engines), Petter Generator Divisions, Petter Marine Division, Petter Service Division and Thermo-King Division (building refrigeration units under license from the US firm Thermo-King). In 1984 Petter was merged with Lister to form Lister Petter Co. Ltd. The Staines site was sold in 1988 and all production was concentrated at the former Lister factory in Dursley
, Gloucestershire
.
s. The company obtained a patent on calculator technology in 1923 and two more in 1930. Guy Bazeley Petter then took out equivalent US patents and assigned the rights to the company. The company subsequently sold its calculator designs to the Bell Punch
company.
to Petter design. While rural contraptions in work used for casual heavy transport in Indian Punjab are known as "Peter Rehra
s" after the brand of engine that gained popularity there in days gone by.
Stationary engine
A stationary engine is an engine whose framework does not move. It is normally used not to propel a vehicle but to drive a piece of immobile equipment such as a pump or power tool. They may be powered by steam; or oil-burning or internal combustion engines....
from 1896 onwards.
In 1915 Petter founded Westland Aircraft Works
Westland Aircraft
Westland Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer located in Yeovil in Somerset. Formed as a separate company by separation from Petters Ltd just before the start of the Second World War, Westland had been building aircraft since 1915...
(renamed "Westland Aircraft" in 1935).
In 1986 Petters Limited merged with one-time rival R A Lister and Company
R A Lister and Company
R A Lister & Company was founded in Dursley, Gloucestershire, in 1867 by Sir Robert Ashton Lister , to produce agricultural machinery. The family was originally from Yorkshire but Ashton's father relocated to Dursley in 1817....
to form Lister Petter.
Car
James Bazeley Petter, an agricultural engineer and iron founder, had premises in the Borough, YeovilYeovil
Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140...
. It was there that Ernest and Percival, his twin sons, designed and built a self propelled oil engine in 1892. Three years later they designed the first internal combustion engine
Internal combustion engine
The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
d motor car
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
to be made in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The car, using a converted four-wheel horse-drawn phaeton
Phaeton (carriage)
Phaeton is the early 19th-century term for a sporty open carriage drawn by a single horse or a pair, typically with four extravagantly large wheels, very lightly sprung, with a minimal body, fast and dangerous. It usually had no sidepieces in front of the seats...
and a 3 hp (2 kW) horizontal oil engine
Oil engine
Oil engine may refer to:* Hornsby-Akroyd oil engine* Hot bulb engine* Hesselman engine...
, had a top speed of 12 miles per hour (5.4 m/s) . The vehicle was constructed at the Park Road carriage works of Hill and Boll. It weighed 9 cwt (457 kg) including the 120 lb (55 kg) of the Petter engine with its flywheel and side bars.
A contemporary report said:
- The carriage is intended for two persons, with which a speed of ten miles an hour [16 km/h] is obtained on level road. It will mount the hills of the neighbourhood with two persons, but larger power would be used for four persons … The exhaust is, we are informed, quite invisible, and the engine almost noiseless'. The removable handle (indicated in the plan drawing) was used to start the engine 'in the first place, and an arrangement is made so that the handle, when put in position, automatically opens the exhaust valve which closes instantly when, a good impulse being given, the handle is withdrawn and the engine starts … Tube ignition is adopted, and a small heating lamp is used … The engine starts in ten minutes and runs, we are told, without attention.' The larger road wheels of the vehicle were 42 in (1.07 m.) in diameter.
The twins continued to develop vehicles, the twelfth of which they entered to a competition at Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...
in 1897, without success.
Engines
Failing to achieve the commercial success that they hoped, they adapted the engines for agricultural and industrial use. In 1902 they produced the first agricultural tractorTractor
A tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction...
, powered by a 30 horsepower (22 kW) horizontal oil engine.
The first engines made by Petter were Petter Standard oil engines which were horizontal open crank engines made to very high standards.
With commercial production under way, the family launched a private company called J. B. Petter & Co. Ltd. in 1902.
Around 1903 cheap American imports, including the "Jack of all Trades" manufactured by the Fairbanks Morse Company, threatened the English stationary engine industry, and unlike most companies at the time Petter decided to produce a cheaper engine of their own to combat the threat. This engine was called the Petter Handyman which was sold around 20% lower in price than the 'Petter Standard' and was sold in batches of 50 or more.
From 1920s onwards Petters made two-stroke and four-stroke engines. Such models as the M-type and the A-type were highly successful and were competitors for Lister's
R A Lister and Company
R A Lister & Company was founded in Dursley, Gloucestershire, in 1867 by Sir Robert Ashton Lister , to produce agricultural machinery. The family was originally from Yorkshire but Ashton's father relocated to Dursley in 1817....
D-Type.
The last two-stroke design was the "SS", introduced in 1938. It was available in two-cylinder to six-cylinder versions and delivered from 125 to 375 horsepower. The "SS" was described as a "superscavenger" engine. The meaning of this is uncertain but it may indicate that it used the inertial supercharging effect
Inertial supercharging effect
Inertial supercharging effect is the result of incoming fuel/air charge developing momentum greater than intake stroke would generate alone. It is achieved by a combination of head/port configuration, and cam profile/valve timing....
. These engines ran at low temperatures, due to their patented oil-cooled piston, and spherical smallend bearing. This engine was used in British Rail 15107
British Rail 15107
British Rail 15107 was a locomotive commissioned by the Great Western Railway, but delivered to British Railways after nationalisation. It was a diesel powered locomotive in the pre-TOPS period built by Brush Traction with a Petter 4-cylinder engine....
and British Rail Class D3/14
British Rail Class D3/14
British Rail Class D3/14 was a diesel-electric locomotive built by the London and North Eastern Railway at its Doncaster Works. It had a Petter engine, and Brush Traction electricals...
number 15004 .
Petter also manufactured the two-stroke M-type (petrol), the S-type stationary diesel, the A-type, and the A1-type, the only noticeable difference on the previous two being the position of the magneto: the A magneto jutted out, and the A1 magneto was tucked away underneath. The A range was aircooled. Petter also produced another 'handyman, a 'cheap' version of the M-type. Petter went on to make a comprehensive range of air-cooled diesels, such as the PAZ1, AVA range, and the 3.5 hp AA1.
Re-organization
In 1912 the company went public and began engine production in a new factory named the Nautilus Works (after the fire grates that had made James Petter's fortune) in Reckleford.Its workforce of 500 men produced 1500 engines a year. In 1919 the company bought the Vickers factory in Ipswich and was renamed Vickers Petters Ltd.
In 1937, Petters joined the Associated British Oil Engine Company
Associated British Oil Engine Company
The Associated British Oil Engine Company was a British engineering company. It started life as a combine, similar to Agricultural & General Engineers. Petters Limited joined ABOE in 1937 . J&H McLaren & Co. was sold to ABOE in 1943, although it may have been a member from an earlier date...
. After the war the group was obtained by British Electrical Group, with Petter spun off in 1949 joining another engine manufacturer, J&H McLaren & Co.
J&H McLaren & Co.
J&H McLaren was a British engineering company in Hunslet, Leeds, England, that manufactured traction engines, stationary engines and later, diesel engines....
, at the old Lagonda
Lagonda
Lagonda is a British luxury car marque, founded as a company in 1906 in Staines, Middlesex by a former opera singer from Ohio, but of Scottish ancestry, named Wilbur Gunn . He named the company after a river near the town of his birth, Springfield, Ohio, United States...
works in Egham Hythe
Egham Hythe
Egham Hythe is a place between Egham and Staines in Surrey, England, extending south of the River Thames towards Thorpe Lea , and includes the area surrounding Pooley Green...
near Staines, Middlesex, employing over 1,000 people at its peak. In 1957 the company was acquired by Hawker-Siddeley
Hawker-Siddeley
Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of only two such major British companies in the 1960s. In...
and some production was moved to Hamble
Hamble-le-Rice
Hamble-le-Rice is a village in the Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, UK. It is best known for being an aircraft training centre during the Second World War and is a popular yachting location...
as the reorganized company was split into four groups within Hawker-Siddeley Brush Group--Petter Staines (small engines), Petter Generator Divisions, Petter Marine Division, Petter Service Division and Thermo-King Division (building refrigeration units under license from the US firm Thermo-King). In 1984 Petter was merged with Lister to form Lister Petter Co. Ltd. The Staines site was sold in 1988 and all production was concentrated at the former Lister factory in Dursley
Dursley
Dursley is a market town in Gloucestershire, England. It is under the North East flank of Stinchcombe Hill , and about 6 km South East of the River Severn. The town is adjacent with Cam which, though a village, is a community of double the size...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
.
Calculators
In the 1930s the company manufactured mechanical calculatorCalculator
An electronic calculator is a small, portable, usually inexpensive electronic device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic. Modern calculators are more portable than most computers, though most PDAs are comparable in size to handheld calculators.The first solid-state electronic...
s. The company obtained a patent on calculator technology in 1923 and two more in 1930. Guy Bazeley Petter then took out equivalent US patents and assigned the rights to the company. The company subsequently sold its calculator designs to the Bell Punch
Bell Punch
The Bell Punch Company was a British company manufacturing a variety of business machines, most notably several generations of public transport ticket machines and the worlds first desktop electronic calculator, the Sumlock ANITA.-History:...
company.
Petteroid
"Petteroid" is a nickname given to engines built under licence in IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to Petter design. While rural contraptions in work used for casual heavy transport in Indian Punjab are known as "Peter Rehra
Peter Rehra
Peter rehra, ਪੀਟਰ ਰੇਹੜਾ is a homemade vehicle used in rural Punjab. It is made by assembling a diesel engine,, removing the pumset assembly from it, and joining it with a framework made steel angles and woodenplanks, and finally completing it all by putting four moveable wheels, two are steerable ...
s" after the brand of engine that gained popularity there in days gone by.
External links
- Farm Collector - Recalling Petter's Past
- St Paul's, Egham Hythe (see history page)