Grasshopper beam engine

The first recorded example of a grasshopper beam was William Murdoch's model steam carriage of 1784.

[2] The beam offered negligible mechanical advantage and appears to have been used primarily instead of a crosshead, for what was effectively a return connecting rod engine.

A few exceptions, those of the Americans Oliver Evans' boats and Phineas Davis' Grasshopper locomotives, reversed this and placed the cylinder in between the pivot and crank: a third-class lever.

A few notable early steam locomotives used beam engines, all of which were of the grasshopper pattern.

This gave a low centre of gravity for stability and a high crankshaft, suitable for driving paddlewheels.