The Eska Outboard motor was manufactured from 1961 to 1987 in Dubuque, Iowa. Motors were sold under numerous brand names. Most all Department Stores, Hardware Stores and some Auto Parts Stores sold these outboards, at one time or another. Some were sold under the Eska name and some under a private brand.   The Power Heads were all manufactured by Tecumseh (Tec) Engines. These Power Heads were all Air Cooled, except the 9.9 through 15 horsepower Twin Cylinders. Most all of the Eska outboards had water cooled exhaust columns using “ram tubes” just aft of the propellers (small engines) or rubber impeller pumps (larger engines).

Hard core parts for these outboards are getting more difficult to find as time goes on. Many older outboards used common Ignition and Carburetor vendors for that period.

More from www.discount-marine-parts.com.

History

Lavern Kascel and Bud Essman formed the ESKA Company in 1945. The name of the company was created from the first two letters of Essman and the first two letters of Kasel.

Frederick Ertl and his Toy Tractors

Until the mid-1950s, Frederick ERTL worked in the die-cast department of the JOHN DEERE DUBUQUE WORKS. He bought a small, used die-casting machine, which he installed in his garage on Asbury Road and made the small die cast parts for model tractor toys (not the riding pedal versions that came later) for ESKA. ESKA sold these to the toy industry as well as to farm implement dealers. In these early years, ESKA manufactured the first die cast pedal tractors.

ESKA planned to provide Ertl farm toys to companies with the ordering company’s original equipment manufacturer’s logo. Under an agreement of the three men, Ertl products were delivered to ESKA which then shipped them. Another agreement was that Ertl made tractors and ESKA manufactured implements, but not tractors.

The agreement continued until 1948 when ESKA began producing steel-stamped farm implements in its factory at 32nd and White. In 1950-51, Carter Tu-Scale took over the ESKA manufacturing operation and moved it from Dubuque to Rockford, Illinois. The acquisition allowed Carter Tru-Scale to expand its farm toy production under the Carter Tru-Scale and ESKA brands. When Ertl discontinued the production of large sand-cast riding, or pedal, tractors, ESKA gained another product. ESKA made several varieties of John Deere pedal tractors and trailers. In 1950 Eska also made cardboard farm buildings.

Bud Essman sold out to Lavern Kascel sometime around 1955. Around 1960, William A. Wright, Jr. (Vice President of Manufacturing) and Luke Sapan of Long Island, NY (Vice President of Sales) each bought 1/3 of Lavern Kascel’s shares and the three became equal partners in The ESKA Company.

At around the same time, ESKA, which had begun manufacturing lawn mowers and chain saws in the mid-1950s, added the Eska Sno-Flyr snowblowers to its line and lost interest in the toy industry. In 1960-61 Ertl obtained Eska’s licensing right for Deere, International Harvester, Case, Oliver, and Allis Chalmers.

From Encyclopedia Dubuque.

William A. WRIGHT, Jr.

William A. Wright, Jr. who passed away in 2012, made a big impact on fishing.

Born in Maryland, Wright moved to Dubuque, Iowa in 1950, following a stint in the Army Air Corps and a few years of college, where he studied engineering. He worked for two years at Dubuque Stamping and Manufacturing, then earned an economics degree at University of Dubuque.

He began work at The Eska Company and, within a few years, became a partner. Among his work were innovations for lawn mowers and snow blowers. With that technical expertise — and an interest in fishing — Wright developed an affordable outboard motor by mounting a small, air-cooled lawn mower engine onto an old Evinrude lower unit.

By the early 1960s, the product had become fine-tuned enough to market. Fishermen were the primary audience for the 3.5 hp and 5 hp models, the latter selling for $99. When 1,000 were sold in the first two weeks, the company knew it had a winner.

Eska outboards eventually became the world’s best-selling motors under 10 hp, thanks in part to Sears Roebuck & Co., their largest distributor. Eska also sold engines through several other retailers and under dozens of other brand names, which are listed further down this page.

Wright and his partners sold The Eska Co. in 1970.

In the early 1970s, baseball Hall of Famer and Sears spokesman Ted Williams paid a visit to Dubuque to honor Wright and the Eska team with The Sears Award of Excellence in manufacturing.

In 1980 Eska, by then a subsidiary of Talley Industries of Mesa, Arizona, purchased the Clinton outboard motor product line from the Clinton Engines Corp. The purchase was to consolidate area manufacturers to maintain a strong hold on the market which had dropped due to the lagging economy. Some later engines were built by Tanaka.

Eska’s various Dubuque, Iowa locations are listed as follows:

The 1948 Dubuque Classified Business Directory listed the corner of Jackson and E. 32nd.

In 1957 through 1967 the company was located at 100 West Second Street.

The 1970 – 1986 Dubuque City Directories listed The Eska Company Inc. at 2400 Kerper.

Eska Outboard Motors went out of production in 1986. Engine stocks continued being marketed with the 1986 model numbers until exhausted in 1987.

From Encyclopedia Dubuque

Contact Information

Eska Company > Out of Business 1987
2400 Kerper Blvd.
Dubuque, IA 52001
Toll Free: 1-8
Phone:
Fax:
Website:
Contact Form:
Email:

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Eska’s Private Brands

AquaBug
Barracuda
Blue Jet
Coast to Coast
Colt
Explorer
Federals
Fury
Golden Arrow
Golden Jet
Hanimex
Hiawatha
Pathfinder
Sea Hawk
Seabreeze
Seaco
Seacruiser
Sears Canada
Skipper
Sportfisher
Superbug
Voyager
Wiljo

Other Brands made by Eska
(These brands assigned their own Model Numbers)

JC Penny
Sea King (Montgomery Ward)
Sears (including Ted Williams)
Wizard (Western Auto)

Eska Model Numbers by Year
(CID = Cubic Inch Displacement   —   TG = Twist Grip Throttle)

From Eska Model Year Guides by Discount Marine
1961-1966
1967-1970
1971-1973
1974-1975
1976-1979
1980-1983
1984-1987

Eska Model Guides

1101 – 1734B
1745A – 14034D
14035B – 14241B

Specifications For Eska
2-Stroke Cycle Gasoline Outboard Engines
Features: Vertical Crankshaft and Horizontal Cylinders

TABLE KEY:
^ Data: ⊗ = Data Not Available from Data Source. ¿… = …? = Data in Question/Unconfirmed.
BASE ENGINE: Manufacturer/Vendor & Model of Base Engine followed by Specifications.
^ CYL: Cylinder Configuration – (Dash w/no spaces) Number of Cylinders:
^ ^ Cylinder Configuration: …S = Single Cylinder. …T = Twin Cylinder.
^ BORE & STROKE: …mm = Millimeters. …in = …” = Inches.
^ DISPLACEMENT = Swept Volume: …cc = Cubic Centimeters (cm³). …L = Liters. …ci = Cubic Inches (in³).
^ DS = Data Source: Click DS Link to view DS. ⊕ = Data Compiled from Multiple Sources.
MODEL RATINGS: Base Engine Model, Duty Ratings, Power Ratings, Years Produced, etc.
^ A-F: Aspiration-Fueling: Intake Air uncharged – Petrol.
^ ^ Aspiration: N = Naturally Aspirated (uncharged).
^ ^ Petrol Fueling: C = Carbureted.
^ DR = Duty Ratings: P = Pleasure Craft)
^ POWER: kW = Kilowatts. HP = Horsepower. MHP = Metric Horsepower.
^ RPM = Power Ratings @ Revolutions Per Minute.
^ YEARS: Beginning-Ending. Trailing “–” (Dash) without an Ending Date = Still in Production/Available.
^ ^ Vendors usually market products after production ceases, often until stockpiles are exhausted.
^ DS = Data Source: Click DS Link to view DS. ⊕ = Data Compiled from Multiple Sources.

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NOTES:

Eska
Engine Duty Ratings

Marine:
P = Pleasure Craft.

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FROM Roger: I have a model 1973-A that I’m trying to find a carburetor for. I did not see that model on your list. Can you help me? {180314}

FROM Editor: Model 1973A is now listed under “Models by Year” and “Model Guides”. See the Parts Catalogs in the “Product Documentation” section. Carburetor Kits are still showing as available, but complete carburetors are becoming a lot harder to find. {200728}

FROM Spencer: Hello eska family, I have a working Ted Williams 5.5 and broke the gas bulb mount screw while trying to stop leaky bulb .  Argh. So I need a new carb.  Serial numbers are all nearly rubbed off the motor. The carb is stamped with  ? L2 390.  Searches come up with  tecumseh  stuff in will a lawn mower carb work if the holes line up? {200517}

FROM Michelle: My dad has tons of eska parts and a couple of non working motors. Any idea of how to sell the parts or what to do with  them.  Any info will help. Thank you Michelle. {200726}

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