These are a good running little engines. A lot of them had an attached gear reduction on the PTO end. There were a lot of them made so I don't know about the claim of it being rare. The REO name is actually the initials of the founder of the company, Ransom Eli Olds. He was also the inventor of the Oldsmobile automobile but sold the rights to it to GM and along with it the name Oldsmobile so he could no longer use that name. So when he started his new company he used his initials and called it REO. He built a lot of cars and trucks under that name.
tom S,just purchase one last summer and is a very good runner. yes engine pto shaft is geared down. i believe 2 to 1 and the pto shaft runs off the cam? you can see in the picture pto shaft is not center with the crankshaft. the engine only puts out 1 3/4 hp.
here are couple pictures and you can see what the pto shaft looks like(small) and a video of it running:thumbsup:
YouTube - reo engine
here are couple pictures and you can see what the pto shaft looks like(small) and a video of it running:thumbsup:
YouTube - reo engine
