Avance
AB J.V. Svensons Motorfabrik / AB
Avancemotor, Augustendal, Sweden
History
Russian-language
advertisement for Avance oil engines and other products (click on
image to enlarge)
 | J.V. Svensons Automobilfabrik was founded in
1901 at Augustendal (Nacka) near Stockholm by Johan Victor Svenson,
who had already established a reputation for building a
highly-successful design of paraffin stove. The new factory was
intended for automobile production, although this never
materialised, and the company focused instead on building two-stroke
crude oil (hotbulb) engines based on the Mietz & Weiss system
and carrying the "Avance" name. These engines won numerous prizes
and were adapted to marine as well as stationary use. As a result of
all this the companychanged its name to AB J.V. Svensons Motorfabrik
in 1907. J.V. Svenson soon became the largest private employer in
Sweden and the leading producer of stationary engines in
Scandinavia. Russia was the main export market, and Avance engines
were used to power the some of that country's first tractors.
J.V. Svenson subsequently turned their own
attention to tractors, and the first Avance motor plough appeared
around 1912. It proved a great success and was produced in various
forms until the mid 1920s - one even took part in the 1921
Shrewsbury tractor trials in England. Meanwhile, political uphevals
in Russia and the resulting loss of that important export market
were having a serious effect on the company's finances, which
culminated in AB J.V. Svensons Motorfabrik being declared bankrupt
in 1922. After reorganization, however, they emerged once more as AB
Avancemotor, and turned their attention to more conventional
tractors. The first Avance tractor emerged in 1924, a bonneted
design with two-cylinder hotbulb engine, and a modified version
followed in 1928. Many Avance tractors were exported as far afield
as Australia and South America. In 1929 the company merged with
Munktells Mekaniska Verkstads AB, although the Avance tractor
continued to be built until 1932. The J.V. Svenson factory finally
closed in 1937 when production was shifted to Eskilstuna.
Model Details
Avance motor plough
(1912-1922?)
Avance motor plough
(click on image to enlarge)
 | The Avance motor plough was powered by a
centrally-mounted, single-cylinder vertical hotbulb engine, cooled
by what appears to be a cylindrical radiator and fan mounted in
front. At the rear was a fixed plough frame with three hinged bodies
that could be raised or lowered using a cable. Two speeds forward
and reverse were provided.
Avance tractor
(1924-1932)
The Avance tractor, which appeared in 1924, was
initially powered by a 30 hp two-cylinder vertical hotbulb engine
running at 625 rpm, with the cylinders cast in a single block. This
was later replaced with a 35 hp power unit but still operating at
the same speed. An electrical heating system was provided for
pre-heating the hotbulbs before starting, but this could also be
done using a blowlamp. An initial batch of 20 tractors was sent to
Australia in 1927, where they were sold by A.H. Mc Donald & Co.,
but almost all of these had problems with broken crankshafts. Avance
responded by producing a housing containing an extra bearing that
could be fitted between the engine and gearbox. This seemed to solve
the problem, and the feature was included as stanfard in the
redesigned tractor that appeared in 1928. It is interesting to note
that for the Argentinian market, the tractors had "El Sueco" (The
Swede) cast into the radiator rather than "Avance", due to the
latter name being already in use in that country.
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