PINT-SIZED POWERHOUSE

THE FARYMANN LDS

- JIM ALLEN

While small diesels are relatively common in North America today, many decades ago they were found mostly in Europe. Such was the case for the Farymann diesel from Germany—once one of the best-known small diesels in Europe and elsewhere.

Farymann started in 1947 as Farny & Weidmann when Paul Farny and Ernst Weidmann joined forces to produce small industrial diesels. They soon changed it to “Farmann,” a combination of both names, but after some confusion with a French company named “Farman,” they changed the name to “Farymann” in the early 1950s. Both men had worked at Moterenwerke Mannheim (MWN), an engineering and engine manufacturing firm founded by Carl Benz in 1871. They worked there from the 1930s until the end of WWII. MWN was owned by Deutz from 1985-2007 and is now Caterpillar Energy Solutions.