Johnson HA questions

[Alan]

Hello to all;
I’m currently attempting to lowball a local CL seller on this old Johnson.

I know not one thing about this particular motor, except it looks interesting. I don’t have one of these!

What can y’all tell me about these?
Any consistent design flaws? Any quirks, or negatives?

I’d probably just dump tons of money into it, and maybe run it an hour a year. So, I’m not looking to cross the Atlantic or anything.

Any info, and all opinions welcome.
Many thanks, and happy motoring!
Alan

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[Mumbles]

I don’t know much about them but I believe they were the predecessor to the post-war HD line of motors which were similar to the TD-TN motors but smaller.

[stanley]

Mumbles is correct.They use the same carb as the hd,so in all probability you’ll need to buy some leather washers from a member and go to the Poche family website for directions.(you can do all the carb work without taking the carb off the motor.Taking it off is a pain.They are fun to use and pretty strong for their small size.

[joecb]

Looks like a pretty nice unmolested motor, even a bit of decal remaining, I’d say go for it!

Joe B

[garry-in-michigan]

Take a compression test. It doesn’t take long for those small pistons to ware out with cheap oil. I have seen one that would only run without a propeller. It was 48 on top 45 on bottom. Should be 65 or higher. . . 😉

[nali]

It looks like a AT-10 1940 I had.

[fisherman6]

They are really neat little motors. I just bought a HS-15 at Suter’s AOMCI meet on the 15th. It is a great running little motor just like the young man I bought it from said it was. The HS-15 is the same motor without the rewind starter. Here is a video of it running on my pond in case you want to see one running.
-Ben

https://youtu.be/EkwokfkpGs0

OldJohnnyRude on YouTube

[bkrsdoz]

That motor looks to be in very nice condition. I think most of these were used and abused quite a bit, as nice originals are not very common.
I recently picked up an HD-15 in decent shape.
I had been looking for one to go with my DT-10.
You will find the magneto/points system to be a bit unusual, with brushes and springs that wipe the inside of the top of the flywheel to create spark.
After I had figured out mine was missing the brushes, it has a great spark.
Good luck with it, I would pick it up in a heartbeat!

[garry-in-michigan]

I thought the system was ingenious. They use the same ignition coil as the apposed twin, but it is only firing one plug so the spark is twice as intence. There is the extra expense of two extra magnets in the flywheel, but it is in almost perfect balance. The wiper shorts out the plug you don’t want to fire. The down side? When you do a tune up and are cleaning and adjusting the points – you also have to clean the inside of the flywheel. A second modern charging coil and rectifier could be installed for lights or accessories. . . 😆

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