This maker originated 1902 as the Hercules Buggy Co., founded by William McCurdy. They became the major supplier of buggies to Sears, Roebuck & Co. At the same time, Sears' supplier of gas engines was Holm Machine Manufacturing Co. There were some problems around that company, and Sears asked McCurdy if he could supply gas engines. The result was the Hercules Gas Engine Co., which was formed in late 1912 and began manufacturing engines during 1914.
Between 1920 and 1922 the two companies merged, with the result being the Hercules Corp. In about 1927 the company became Servel Inc., with the division for gasoline engines and related products using the name Hercules Enterprises, Inc. or Hercules Products, Inc.
At some point, Servel lost the right to use the Hercules name on engines to the Hercules Motor Co. of Canton, OH.
Hercules was known primarily as a maker of gasoline engines, but beginning in 1921 they also made drag saws; these continued until at least 1931. The saws, like the engines, were primarily sold through Sears. A later flyer shows a Hercules drag saw and a "cord wood saw" which was a large circular crosscut saw.
Parts and information on Hercules
Thanks to the effort of Hercules enthusiast Keith Kinney there is a Hercules web site that acts as a clearing-house for pictures, manuals, flyers, parts info, etc. for Hercules products.
Information Sources
- Most of the information here came from Keith Kinney's Hercules web site.
- 1920 letterhead from Hercules Gas Engine Co.
- An article on Hercules trademarks was written by Glenn Karch and published in the 1995 issue of Hercules Engine News.