YANMAR Small Horizontal Diesel Engine, Model HB

The Yanmar small horizontal diesel engine, ‘Model HB’ is a diesel engine that was successfully designed for downsizing and commercialization for the first time in the world. Around 1930, among compact internal combustion engines, oil engines were at the height of their prosperity. Magokichi Yamaoka, the founder of Yanmar, was captivated by the superior energy efficiency and safety of a diesel engine he saw at an exhibition in Leipzig, Germany, and he made great efforts toward the development of compact diesel engines.

After overcoming various technical problems, he successfully commercialized the ‘Model HB’, which was without parallel in the world, in December 1933.

The downsized diesel engines were widely employed as power sources in various industrial fields, including agriculture, and contributed to mechanization and modernization not only in Japan, but also various countries around the world.