Perkins Engines Company Limitedis primarily adiesel enginemanufacturer for several markets includingagricultural,construction,material handling,power generation,andindustrial.It was established inPeterborough,England in 1932 and has been a subsidiary ofCaterpillar Inc.since 1998. Over the years, Perkins has expanded its engine catalogue, producing thousands of different engine specifications including diesel and petrol engine automatives.
 | |
 Perkins headquarters inPeterborough | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Machine industry |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Founder | Frank Perkins |
| Headquarters | Eastfield, Peterborough,England |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Diesel engines Gas engines |
| Parent | Caterpillar Inc. |
| Website | www |
History
editHigh-speed diesel engines
edit
F. Perkins Limited, established on7 June 1932,was founded byFrank PerkinsandCharles Wallace Chapman,on Queen Street,Peterborough,to design and manufacture high-speed diesel engines.[1]Chapman was the design engineer (technical director) and company secretary and had a ten percent shareholding in the company. He continued working at F. Perkins Limited for more than a decade[2]before re-joining theRoyal Navy Reserve,[3]though remaining a consultant to the company. Frank Perkins obtained further initial support from directors Alan J. M. Richardson and George Dodds Perks.[2]
Before Chapman and Perkins, the diesel engine was considered a heavy and slow-revving workhorse, lacking performance. Chapman's concept was the high-speed diesel – an engine that could challenge petrol-driven ones as the primary motor power. The company's first high-speed diesel engine was Perkins' four-cylinderVixen,which made its debut in 1932. In October 1935, Perkins became the first company to hold six world diesel speed records for a variety of distances, set at theBrooklandsrace track in Surrey. Sales were strong and by the time ofWorld War II,the company made two series of engines, P4 and P6. Soon after the war, the company went public,[1]and established a number of licensees for local manufacturing and sale.[4]
Massey Ferguson
editF. Perkins Ltd was purchased by its largest customer,Massey Ferguson,in 1959, with Perkins keeping its separate identity and branding. In 1990, Massey Ferguson took overDorman Dieselsof Stafford merging it with Perkins to form Perkins Engines (Stafford) Ltd. In 1984, Perkins acquiredRolls-Royce DieselsofShrewsbury,continuing to supplyBritish Railwith engines for itsdiesel multiple unitsuntil the site closed in 2002.[5]In 1986 Perkins acquiredL Gardner & Sonsto complement their line of lighter diesel engines.[6][7]Gardner exited the truck engine market immediately,[8]although production for the bus, coach and marine markets continued under the Gardner brand. In 1994, the whole of Perkins was bought byLucasVarity,[9]who immediately closed down the Gardner brand and sold off the Barton Hall Motor Works inPatricroft,Eccles, Manchester.[10]
Development continued and Perkins updated its engines to meet stricter emissions rules while developing new engine series for power generation and forklift trucks. Manufacturers such asDodge,Ford,Grosspal, and Ranquel used Perkins engines in their diesel-driven products for more than two decades. Other manufacturers including GEMA, Araus, Bernardin and Rotania used Perkinsimpellersfor harvesters at length.[11]
Argentina and Perkins Argentina/Pertrak
editPertrak was founded in 1961 as a licensee of Perkins Engines of England, and was dedicated to the manufacture of engines for pickups, trucks, and tractors. The most productive period for the company was in the 1970s when they produced 200,000 engines. In 2010, the last engine was made in Ferreyra, Córdoba, when the licence was dropped. Throughout this period of almost 40 years, more than 500,000 engines were produced. The factory continues to make engine parts for other makes such as Fiat and Scania.
Caterpillar
editFrom the early 1970's onwards Perkins was major supplier toCaterpillar Inc.,who was a major customer for Perkins's smaller and mid-sized engines; Caterpillar was a major producer of large diesel engines for stationary and mobile applications.[9]In 1998 Caterpillar Inc bought Perkins from LucasVarity forUS$1.325 billion,creating what they claimed was the world's largest diesel engine manufacturer. Perkins now had manufacturing facilities in the United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, China, India, and a joint venture withIshikawajima-Shibaura-Machinerycompany in Japan.
On 1 June 2018, Steve Ferguson became President of Perkins Engines, replacing Ramin Younessi, after having worked as the general manager of Caterpillar's Advanced Component Manufacturing Department and overseeing operations at 15 global facilities. Ferguson is a vice-president of Caterpillar.[12]
Discontinued products
editVarious Perkins diesel engines have been made for industrial, agricultural, construction, material handling, marine and power generation markets, and Perkins gas-based engines (natural gas,landfill gas,digester gas,bio gasandmine gas) are used for continuous power generation.
Perkins' 4.99 1.6 litre (99 cubic inch) and the P4C engine [192 cubic inch], producing 45 or 60 hp (45 kW), were popular in Europe and Israel for taxis and commercially driven cars during the 1950s and early 1960s; many cars, including American imports, were retrofitted with these engines for taxi use, with kits made by Hunter NV of Belgium. Perkins engines were also used as standard factory equipment inJeepsandDodgetrucks in the United States in the 1960s. They also continued to be popular in European trucks from their original customer,Commerand other companies.[13]
The Perkins 6.354 medium duty engine was designed to be compact enough to replace petrol/gasoline V8 engines in trucks, despite itsin-line six-cylinderdesign. Producing 112 horsepower (84 kW) in early years (later rising to 120-hp), it had a smalljackshaftdriven by thetiming gearsfor the auxiliary drive, with the oil pump driven by aquill shaftso it could run auxiliary equipment at engine speed with simplecouplings.
Until the 2010s Perkins manufactured engines forJCB,[14]but since then JCB manufactures their own engines.
Current users
editPerkins engines are installed in tractors, generators, industrial tools, and other machinery. Their biggest customer is their parent company,Caterpillar,particularly for excavators and diesel generators. Perkins Marine also produces small engines for marine propulsion.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abF. PERKINS LIMITED (Incorporated under the Companies Act, 1929).The Times,23 July 1951; pg. 9; Issue 52060
- ^abZ Yaakov Wise, Manchester Papers in Economic and Social History, Number 63, Manchester University, March 2008
- ^Obituary, Mr C. W. Chapman.The Times,3 December 1979; pg. 14; Issue 60490
- ^"Perkins Heritage Timeline".
- ^"Perkins shuts Shrewsbury engine plant".Farmers Weekly.3 January 2002.Retrieved31 August2023.
- ^Barden, Paul, ed. (June 1986). "Truckmonth: Perkins snaps up Gardner".TRUCK.London, UK: FF Publishing Ltd: 31.
- ^Perkins R/RCommercial Motor24 March 1984
- ^Barden, Paul, ed. (December 1986). "News: Gardners go up".TRUCK.London, UK: FF Publishing Ltd: 25.
- ^abThe Massey Legacy,by John Farnworth,ISBN978-0-85236-403-1
- ^Donohue, Simon (9 August 2004)."End of an era for Manchester manufacturer".Manchester Evening News.Archived fromthe originalon 30 September 2016.
- ^Dl, Esteban (11 January 2015)."Camión Argentino: Anexo: Especiales Perkins".camionargentino.blogspot.ar(in Spanish).
- ^"CATERPILLAR ANNOUNCES NEW INDUSTRIAL POWER SYSTEMS DIVISION VICE PRESIDENT".cat.
- ^"Perkins diesel engines and the Perkins Ltd. company".Allpar.Retrieved16 May2008.
- ^"JCB - Latest News".31 March 2006. Archived fromthe originalon 31 March 2006.Retrieved16 June2019.
External links
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