Desjardin 5 /6 HP Engine

Charles-Alfred Roy Desjardins began his business career as a shipbuilder. About 1865 he founded La Compagnie Desjardins at St. Andre - de - Kamouraska, Quebec in Canada and began producing  a variety of farm implements. His product line continued to expand and by 1911 it included gasoline engines and a small threshing machine that could be powered by an engine as small as one rated for four horsepower. These small threshing outfits held a lot of appeal for small farm operators because it freed them from depending on contract thresher men.

Around the turn of the last century Arthur Stanley Jones emigrated to the western provinces of Canada from England and established himself as a farmer. A farmer who lived nearby owned one of the Desjardins threshers and when Jones saw it, he realized the potential it held as a business opportunity. By 1912 Jones had become the agent for Desjardins in a territory that included Ontario, the western provinces and the northern states that bordered Canada. He sold Desjardin products in this area that were rebranded Call of the West. He was so successful in this enterprise that these engines are better known today than those that carry the Desjardins name.

By 1919 Jones had expanded his operation in Saskatoon to include offices, warehouses and a factory that made assorted farm implements and a blower for the threshing machines that Jones had deigned. An economic downturn in the early twenties hit the area hard and Jones was unable to meet the debt obligations his expansions had incurred. He sold his interest in the operation to Desjardins at what he claimed was a great loss. A few weeks later the factory mysteriously burned to the ground. Disputes soon arose over the insurance settlement, among other things, and both parties lawyered up. By the time the torts had settled, both sides were the worse for wear, but Jones seemed to have come out on top. He received a settlement from Desjardins and packed up and moved to California, never to be heard from in the manufacturing business again. Desjardins plodded on into the Great Depression and filed for bankruptcy in 1930.

You don’t see many Desjardins engines in my neck of the woods. In fact, this 5 or 6 horsepower 1918 example that Dennis Lamb brought to the 2016 Steam Expo at Cumming, Ga. is the only one I’ve seen.  There are a few photos posted online including one that Aumann Auctions sold for $971.25 back in 2016. Add a few video clips and that’s about it. They may be more common in Canada or out west where Jones sold them as Call of the West Engines. 

Sources: 

www.gasenginemagazine.com  Nov / Dec. 1987 article on A. Stanley Jones by Markham W. Hislop 

www.tonysengines.com/des-jardinengine 

http://buzzcoilbrinkster.net 

www.smokstak.com 

https://bidaumannauctions.com