The "Ball" oilfield engine was built in Butler, Pa. in early 1900 by the Butler Engine and Foundry Company, which had moved there from Bradford, Pa. in 1888 to manufacture "Ball" oilfield engines, boilers, and other foundry products while also handling repairs, supplies, and steam and gas engines for the oil business and operating iron and brass foundries. The "Ball" gas engine was a two-cycle design, producing a power stroke on every revolution of the crankshaft, which made it more regular in speed and more powerful than four-cycle engines. Experience in the early oilfields showed that this design better met oil country needs and similar work, while also requiring less experienced and skilled operators during the oil industry's boom years in the early 1900s. "Ball" gas engines were made in sizes from 12 to 35 horsepower, and this one is a 12 HP model. Thousands operated in oil fields across the United States and in other countries, typically powering oil well pumping jacks by flat belt.