Energy Hall’s Machinery 5

A combustion engine is an engine that converts the energy from burning fuel into motion. This engine was initially ignited with petrol and during operation used kerosene. Similar engines were very common until the 1950s.

Bröderna Wickström Motorfabrik Ab. in Vaasa was one of the oldest engine factories in Finland. The company manufactured kerosene-fueled medium-sized engines for boats. In addition to that, they also produced engines for industrial and farming machinery, e.g. for threshing machines. The brothers John and Jakob Wickström founded the company in 1906 after returning to Finland from Chicago, Illinois, USA. The factory was initially located in a wooden hut in Palosaari on the shore of Onkilahti in Vaasa, but moved into better premises in Vaskiluoto in 1909, where new machinery was purchased from America. The Wickström factory remained in operation for about 70 years, producing some 28,000 engines.