Australian Engines
Research on just when Fuller & Johnson sent their first engine to Australia has been difficult. It seems that sometime in 1912 they were first imported into the country. The South Australian Farmer's Co-operative Union imported a very large number of engines until 1926. At this time Australia began charging a high import tariff. Perhaps because of this, the successful Fuller & Johnson line of engines was reproduced in Australia. I have noticed some minor differences between the "original" and the "copy" but they are basically the same. Even most part numbers are the same. It appears the smaller engines were the most popular, along with the Farm Pump Engine as far as reproductions go. Engines labeled 2A were 2 hp and had hit & miss governing. Engines designated 2B were 2 hp and had throttle governing; Same goes for the larger engines. The 2 and 4 hp engines were the most popular and the hit & miss style of governing saw the most widespread use. Igniter ignition was present only on the very early engines. A Splitdorf or Fellowes magneto supplied ignition for these early engines. Later engines had a sparkplug replacing the igniter and used either the popular Wico magneto or a gear driven Lucas magneto. Farm Pump Engines also used a sparkplug and could be equipped with the Wico EK or Lucas rotary magneto. The Lucas RS1 magneto was used on many engines from 1937 to presumably the end of engine production.
Copied engines were made by a variety of manufactures and sold under even more names. Buzacott labeled engines were made by the Roseberry Engine Works, NSW. They were sold under the name Rosebery, Champion, New Record, Lightning, Goldsborough, Moffat Virtue and Waugh & Josephson. All the above engines came from the same plant at Rosebery! Southern Cross of Toowoomba in Queensland also made copies of Fuller & Johnson engines. Bruce and McClure are again, just another company that also reproduced the American engine. As I can gather more data on these companies I will update the listings. As an educated guess, I would say original Fuller & Johnson engines were imported from around 1912 to about 1926. From then on until around 1950 the engines were copied and sold under various names in Australia.
The following is copied from a Southern Cross master parts list dated 7/18/1957.
Master Parts List
Mark 'J' Farm Pump Engine
Farm Pump Engines were originally manufactured by the Fuller and Johnson Company in America and up till about 1926 the Toowoomba Foundry Co. were distributors for this engine. Some time before this the Roseberry Engine Works in Sydney decided to make a copy of the Fuller & Johnson Engine and market it in Australia as the Roseberry Farm Pump Engine.
The Roseberry Engine was made almost the same as the Fuller & Johnson except that they used a rotary magneto direct gear driven from the driving pinion on the crankshaft, and mounted on a flat on the top side of the crankshaft main bearing.
Roseberry Engines were fitted with Fellows E.A.1, ML.CMA, BTH, M1F2 and Bosch, and Wico Magnetos.
Fuller and Johnson engines were originally supplied with Battery ignition, and then with an American Bosch Magneto mounted on a cast bracket on the right hand side of the crankcase and then finally by means of a Wico Magneto ignition from the driven gear shaft on the engine.
During 1926, on account of the high tariff on the American imported engines, we decided to make our copy of the Fuller & Johnson engine, and so the Southern Cross Engine was produced.
This engine was the same as the Fuller & Johnson engine except for the following variations.
1. We fitted with a rotary magneto drive similar to the Roseberry and used a B.T.H. M.1 Magneto.
2. Instead of using the Fuller & Johnson and Roseberry style of side arms and cross head for the pump, we used wooden side arms and the standard Fig.1092 crosshead. This crosshead was a distinct advantage over the previous Fuller & Johnson and Roseberry type in that it gives a satisfactory guide to the pump rod instead of letting the pump rod rub against the side of the pump pipe.
During 1932 the Southern Cross Engine was converted from a petrol engine to a Kerosene Engine by altering the compression ratio and including the Southern Cross Patented Petrol Starting Cup in place of the existing needle valve, and it is possible to convert any existing petrol engine to kerosene by supplying the set of standard parts.
The first engine to be supplied as a Kerosene Engine was No. 2057.
Then at the end of 1933 the magneto was changed to a Wico and instead of using the Fuller and Johnson form of drive we arranged an eccentric drive from the camshaft gear.
Then, in 1936, the magneto was changed to a genuine German Bosch and the drive changed back to the same as before with a gear drive from the crankshaft, and in the middle of 1937 the bevel pinion and bevel gear were revised to improve the strength of the teeth on the both parts.
At the end of 1956 the crankshaft was altered and was made from a high tensile cast iron instead of from a steel forging. The governor pinion, J81 and driving pinion J82, were cast integral with the crankshaft instead of being separate parts keyed on.
Also at the end of 1956 the magneto was changed from a Lucas Model NIL to a Lucas Model SR1.