October 2001
PARAFFINALIA No 13
Hello All!
Saying of the month: "The key point
is to be proud of what you have, save what you can and keep it in the area
where it worked"
Robertson Show. Johan Stemmet asked us to make a strong showing
of Stationary Engines at this year's show in his home town. He led by example,
bringing the Ruston & Hornsby 3X HR from Deon Jordaan
which he has restored, and which is looking magnificent now. See Right: He also had all the engines which were
featured in a recent Stationary Engine Magazine article titled Mini Swat,
and more, besides other exhibits, including a mock-up of a butcher's shop
counter (his wife runs a butchery!) with a mincer powered by an International
LB, and a Husqvarna sausage filler. (Who said they only made chainsaws and
sewing machines?). He also brought his Wolseley powered 32V generator set,
which was connected to a washing machine and wringer. This went well
with the old Singer sewing machine and a meat-safe. All this was a hard
act to follow, but the rest of us brought what we could to complement his
impressive display. He had brought my Ruston & Hornsby 2Y HR powered
Electric Light Machine on one of his lorries all the way from Elgin, so
the two 
Rustons thumped away together, while Peter 'the Petter' Boast
had brought his model M, Philip and Ryan Gray-Taylor brought
along their Fairbanks Morse ZC52-powered generator set, and recently
completed Norman twin, with the flywheel which was kindly sent over from
England by Norman 'Helpline' contact, Philip Gallimore.
All the way from Heidelberg, Cape was Derick Kleynhans,
who brought along his recently completed IHC LB/pump-jack combination. See Right: Johnny and Pieter Verreynne
had their Southern Cross Farm Pumper, which, like Hendrik v d Berg's
one, starts so well that it just 'takes the handle out of your hand!', and
their Coborn. Throughout the three days of the show, a hopper-cooled Deutz
MAH-powered 'Stamp-boor' drilling rig was hammering away over the same bore-hole
which it started last year, and the operator said that on the Friday, they
had gone down 30 feet. One day they might find water! Needless to say, the
Deutz didn't miss a beat. Gawie van Schalkwyk had brought
along Kleinplasie Museum's McCormick Deering 'Blikbak' threshing machine,
which he had belted up to one of his John Deere tractors. 
From time to time, he would run it up and do some threshing, which has made
Philip and I realise we must get our machine going! The organisers did their
best to make us welcome, from morning to night, (those of us who had got
up before 5am qualified for breakfast!) and there was a slap-up lunch for
all exhibitors on the Saturday. I have been a bit one-track-minded, and
haven't mentioned the splendid array of vintage lorries, cars and tractors
which were also on display, and which did a road run on the Friday, and
an arena appearance on the Saturday. Special thanks must go to Johan and
his merry band of helpers, and to the organisers for making the show enjoyable
for us all!Villiersdorp Show [& Engine Clinic :-)]
This show was well attended once again, not only by exhibitors but it was
pleasing to see members driving long distances just to be there. Eniel
Viljoen had worked wonders preparing what had been a scruffy backwater
of the show-grounds into a cosy corner, well visible to the passing public,
with the tractors first, then the engines and machinery behind. Twice during
the morning, the tractor wallahs went off for a jaunt in the town and left
us to do our thing in peace. Registration was done in the morning, and a
modest R20 covered that, and a cap, and a lunch for whoever was in the party.
Good value! After lunch, the tractors were again outside in the fields next
to the show grounds, ploughing or cutting the crops. My comments about the
'Engine Clinic' above, concern the wonderful cooperation that was shown
during the show, in getting firstly Steven Sokolic's big
6HP Fairbanks ZC to run properly for the first time, so now all he has
to do is fit the fuel tank he has made and connect it up, and
the same treatment to Darryl and Trevor Bailey's Wolseley.
It was fun to see Arthur Wilding, Oom Flip Viljoen, Darryl and Steven
grovelling in the sawdust, attending to the engine, while a crowd of Pieter
& Carolyn Fourie, John Bull & Caroline, and Gordon Riley
looked on. Peter Boast also brought along parts from the
Deutz 2-stroke which he has been playing with, and we were able to explain
how things like the indirect injection work. The internal condition of the
engine is remarkably good, and If I can get some life out of the fuel injection
equipment, I think we'll have her running fairly shortly. Mike &
Mary Thurgood were there with no less than 4 scaled-down Hot
Air engines, all running sweetly. As the day warmed up, so they ran even
better with Mike reporting that one looked as though it was running
at 400RPM. Out with the mechanical rev-counter, and that was confirmed!
The Stemmet family came from Robertson with some engines
including a Lister B dating from 1953, which they had only obtained the
day before, minus fuel tank. Grandpa Stemmet had whipped-up
a tank the day before, which really thought was a genuine Lister part, until
I remembered he's a tinsmith! (I saw this engine also receiving clinical
treatment at one stage, too!) Oom Flip and Petrus Roux
both had impressive displays. Two missing regulars were Philip and
Ryan Gray-Taylor, whose plans to attend had been thwarted too many
times on the Friday, and they were forced to stay at home. Not wishing to
miss out on all the fun, they phoned us at lunch time to report that they
had no less than four engines and a mill out on the lawn
at home! Talk about a conference line! My own Electric Light
Machine enjoyed being towed to Oom Flip's yard for the night behind Eniel's
Landini Cv 20-25 Hot Bulb tractor, the only one in the country.
NEWS: Rob North wrote
in to Old Glory Magazine a few months ago, reporting on a water wheel which
had been saved by Eddie Meyer, who uses it to drive his
spit braai (barbecue)! The maker? R A Lister, who initially denied ever
having made such a thing, later admitting that it was indeed one of theirs,
dating from 1883!
On our Clayton & Shuttleworth Trusty engine front, Mike Thurgood
has kindly offered to make us a pattern to have the cover cast for the cylinder
head/ vapouriser chamber. I was intending to machine it out of solid cast
iron, but that would have meant the top face would have been blank, where
the original would have had the words 'Clayton & Shuttleworth Patent
Automatic Ignition' in raised letters in a recessed ring around the top.
Mike has tracked down suppliers of foundryman's letters which he hasl put
on the pattern, and make it thereby more authentic. With only one of this
size C&S Trusty known to exist in the world, it's unlikely that there
will be much demand for the pattern to be re-used, unless, of course,
I make a flop of machining the casting! Wayne Timms from
near Melbourne, Australia, whose family owns two similar, but smaller Clayton
& Shuttleworth Trusties, kindly sent on a photocopy of a cross-section
of the vapouriser and cover, taken from a book originally published in 1902,
which will help with the machining. Further good news is that Roy
Hirsch of Hirsch Hydraulic Works has ordered the long-awaited sleeve
he promised for the engine! Watch this space!Chris Dry advertised recently, looking for
a carb for his Crossley. I am pleased to report that Hendrik v d
Berg was able to help him by sending him one, free of charge, from
a similar engine. That sort of generosity goes a long way in our Society!
However, Chris is still looking for a magneto for it. See below in 'Wanted'.
He also wrote in with the following news: I received an old single cylinder double flywheel Bamford Diesel with no markings on, as well as a green engine
with a yellow flywheel that
I haven't the foggiest what it is. I
would like to send you photographs as I am convinced that you might know what they are.
Last newsletter, I mentioned that Herman Neethling
knew of an engine which, as he described it, sounded like a Fairbanks
Morse. This has encouraged him to collect it, and examine it. It turns out
to be a Ruston & Hornsby PB 6½HP, Serial No 191376. It turns,
the compression is good, and, as usual, the mag and its bracket are missing.
Again, Oom Flip Viljoen has offered to help him, with surplus
parts from his collection of PB's. On condition that he restores
the engine to the standard he does with his tractors!
Pete Hundy reports from the Cederberg that
although he has still to collect the remainder of the Crossley from Oom
Martinus Klein (the blacksmith in Nico Lubbe's
threshing video), he hasn't been wasting his time. He has restored not one
but two Lister A's which Yuri Peila gave him. He's come
up with a novel idea, by belting the two together, and running the hopper
cooled one as an engine, and the other as a compressor! He's disabled the
valves, and has fitted an inflator attachment to the sparkplug hole of the
driven engine, and says that a carb-full of petrol will pump any tyre!
Rodney Thackwell reports that the Fendt tractor
which he has been helping to restore is running again! He brought two very
badly worn pistons and 'wet' sleeves to me, and I took them to helpful Hennie
Smal here in the village for resleeving. He was worried about shudder
developing in the lower part of the bores while machining them out on his
boring machine, to fit reborer's sleeves. We decided to have them bored,
sleeved and rebored to nearly size on a lathe with a big throat. This done,
Hennie honed them to suit the piston diameter, allowing a suitable clearance.
That left the ring grooves, and after much searching catalogues and making
a nuisance of ourselves with the parts suppliers, we came up with a set
of narrower rings with the right bore. Hennie then machined the ring grooves
wider to accommodate two rings in each groove. So now we have a Fendt two
cylinder, running with a full set of 4-cylinder Isuzu rings! It just shows
what you can do if you just won't give up! It worked out expensive, but
worthwhile!
John Higgs wrote in to say he's involved with the Bathurst Agricultural
Museum, and has taken over as editor of their newsletter. He reports that
they have got over the recent set-back caused by the disappearance of the
caretaker, along with a month's takings. They have now a retired person
living on the premises, who will be pleased to show you around, any time.
(Well, almost!) They have 90 tractors there, and about
80 engines!Hendrik v d Berg in Douglas reports that his
latest project is a small 6 hp MAH diesel Deutz, dating from 1956. He's having
a spot of bother getting her going, as it seems that someone has been 'at
it' before, and seems to have messed up the valve timing. Good job it hasn't
started, otherwise some expensive noises might have come from inside, with
valves hitting the piston! See right:
Last newsletter I reported that Peter Boast & Lindsay
Madden had found an old Deutz on its original trolley, lying on
its side in the Karoo. They recently went back to collect it, with Philip
Gray-Taylor's trailer. The trolley had been thrown over to remove
the rear axle at some time. Philip also lent them an old axle to fix under
the chassis, so the trolley could be moved around. They have it back in Cape
Town now, and restoration is progressing fast. I went to look at it, it appears
to be from the early 1920's?, is a single cylinder, vertical, two-stroke
diesel engine, with four-way mechanical lubricator, and piston type water
circulation pump. Peter has approached Folcker Streitberger
from Deutz Dieselpower to help date it, Flocker has kindly forwarded the
engine number to Deutz Museum in Cologne, and shown Peter his collection
of books of old engines. On the trolley is also the fuel tank and stand,
the tank having a glass level gauge built in. In front of the tank over the
front axle is space and holes drilled in the chassis, where a driving seat
might well have been. Having looked at and photographed the engine from
all angles, we decided to investigate some Steam Portables they had seen
from the top window of Philip Wheeler's house. There we
met Fraser Howell, who, apart from having no less than
three steam portables, or parts thereof, has the remains of a Ruston &
Hornsby 5HR, and a National Oil Engine of about the same size, which appears
to be complete, needing painting and assembly. On the smaller side he has
a Wolseley tank cooled, a nice early Massey Harris open crank, missing,
unfortunately its Wico EK magneto, but modified to take a rotary mag, and
from Denmark, made by ABC (Stands for Anglo-Belgian Company, I'm told) Hansen,
a 1952 Farmer's Friend (or Favourit?), Serial No 11979, hopper cooled horizontal,
which, alas, like poor Yorick, from that same country, is missing its head.
He also has two more interesting steam engines, one a two-cylinder compound
Sissons, with open crank, dating from as late as the 1960's, an ex-college
engine, and an original single cylinder from a Star drilling machine, like
the one at Kleinplasie museum.
UK News: Paul Evans reports that he
has been given on permanent loan, from the Anson Museum in Poynton, near
Manchester, two engines, of significant historical interest, one is a
Petter Superscavange supercharged 2 stroke twin, the other an Allen 4- cylinder
4-stroke (which was the development engine for the thin wall bearing line
at Allens), connected to a Brush Alternator, weighing in at 8 tons, and
giving 496KVA, which might make him serious competition to the Central Electricity
Generating Board, their equivalent of our ESKOM. He has also done the ground-work
of setting up a website for us, which can be visited at www.paraffinalia.org. If you've
missed a newsletter, visit the site, it's all there! Paul runs the website
www.semidiesel.com, where anyone
can download manuals free of charge, and he's planning to make CDs which
will be sold at £10, most of the proceeds of which will go to the
Anson Museum, and his own museum in South Wales.
John Ambler in Sussex is keen to track down
as many exported Crossleys as possible. He may be able to help with dating,
if not exactly, then closely. Write to him on john@hawkhurst.demon.co.uk or
visit http://www.hawkhurst.demon.co.uk
Australian News: Johan Maree phoned in, saying that
he had been contacted by Robert Laurent from near Toowoomba
in Queensland, which is the home of Southern Cross. Rob is planning to write
a book on these engines (not the windmills, though. That, he says, is enough
for another whole book). He's planning a chapter on the South African aspect,
and the firm's subsidiary in Bloemfontein. I contacted him and told him
of the two that I have, one belonging to Theo Lötter,
and the two Farm Pumpers, one of them with Johnny Verreynne
in Montagu, the other with Hendrik v d Berg in Douglas.
I checked with Philip Gray-Taylor, whether he didn't know
of any, and sure enough, he had a picture of a locally-produced Southern
Cross-Wolseley look-alike, from the '50's, which Rob said he didn't even
know about! Rob has made an offer to anybody with Southern Cross engines,
of any information that he might have, including a dating service, as the
well kept records were luckily saved by an ex-employee when the firm was
sold. I sent him the serial number of Theo's engine, to which he replied
that it was pretty rare, as only 60 were produced in total, and that it
had been despatched to SA on 22/6/39. I then asked how many had been sent
here. The answer? Only that one, No 6130! See Right for Johnny's Farm Pumper:What's in a name? Seen in a recent issue of The Old Machinery
Magazine, written in by Neil Edwards of Albury, NSW: Wipac
(as in magnetos) comes from Wico-Pacy Salesco. Wico itself originally came
from "Witherbee Igniter Co", and the name changed to Wico in 1924. That
information could be a help in dating something.
New Zealand News: Keith Brinch has reported
a lot of progress on his 3hp Blackstone, having jacked out his stuck piston
using the four cylinder head studs and various spacers, with the usual bangs
sounding like gunshots every time it moved. He has done a lot of research
to work out what missing parts should look like, and was helped
by a video on the subject, which explains all the changes which took place,
and in what year. Keith also wrote in, describing the home-made hone he
has used on the bore of his engine. He cuts slots in a pipe which is
slightly smaller than the required bore, near to its end. Into these slots
he feeds strips of rubber, with emery tape on one side. He also thins the
rubber strips down towards their ends. The pipe is connected to a long spindle
which is driven by an electric drill. A similar plan has been used with
this as a guideline locally by Johan Bruwer on his Ruston
& Hornsby 6X HR, which as a result of this international cooperation,
should be able to be started up soon!
USA News. I received a request recently from Dusty
M Erickson in Arizona, in connection with research that he and
John Rex of Maine (not the one from Knysna!) are
doing into MIETZ & WEISS engines. Does anybody out there have one, or
know of one? If so, I have a confidential questionnaire which they would
like filled in. Please contact me for Dusty's details. They have tracked
down 50 engines worldwide, so they must be pretty rare!Allen Shively and Bob Lemmert
report that they recently attended the Berryville, Virginia Show, and sent
some photo's. Any guesses as to what this 'tractor' is? See right:
New Members. (Remember, membership
involves opening and reading the newsletter only, no rules, no subs!) Chris
Boome is the donor of the FM ZC which I restored, also the remains
of a Lister A, along with the original sales literature and hand-books. Last
month, we introduced Rob North, who in turn passed on the
newsletter to other members of the Natal Tractor & Machinery Club. As
a result, the following people wrote back, and we welcome them to the Society:
Sam Hewett, Paul Deglon, Ray
Barry, Joe Spencer and Peter Baker. John
Higgs from Bathurst also wrote in, as a result of Rob's letter.
Douw de Lange phoned in from Pretoria. He had been given a copy
of this newsletter by Juanita du Toit at Sandstone's offices
in Centurion. Douw comes from these parts, and was a member of the
Western Province Live Steamers, and so knows Mike Thurgood.
He is busy with a Case SI industrial tractor, and was given a complete parts
list by somebody at Case, which will help with his restoration. He also
builds scale locomotives, and is looking for an Open Crank engine of about
2-3HP which he would like to build into a loco! See Wanted below.
Tractor & Engine Club Preparations
for next year's show are well in hand. The plan is that the tractors will
be displayed in rows, by make and age, with, at the most recent end of the
row, a trade stand of the current distributors of that make, or its successor.
We have been allocated a pleasant central place under trees not far from
the grandstand, but far away enough for our noise not to disturb the Public
Address system. I have contacted BM Power Products, the distributors
here of Stihl equipment, and they are keen to have a stand next to us.
For Sale / Available:
Hendrik v d Berg has written
from Douglas, saying that he's busy on the small Deutz diesel mentioned
above and isn't keen on having more than one engine of a make in his collection.
He continues: "As you know I got hold of its big brother some
time ago. I haven’t done any thing to it yet. Its a shame, so if you
know or hear of someone not scared of heavies, she is for
the taking. I have seen a 16 hp running once. They sound almost like a Bulldog-Lanz
tractor, just beautiful. She is slightly older than the one I have seen
running. Her push-rods are open. They develop 16 hp @ 1200 rpm, so it is
not really as big as a 16hp Blackstone or Ruston would be. Seems like
it is engine-give-away month for me, no use making a scrapheap so big that
one will never get through restoring them. So Deutz engine
Serial No2756128 Type MAH916 is available to a big engine
lover. Regards, Hendrik"
From the Natal newsletter, I have extracted these engine-related offers: 1 Lister D Hopper cooled, 1 Lister D Tank cooled, 1 Wolseley WLB 9 Hopper cooled, 1 Wolseley WLB 9 Tank cooled, 1 Wolseley Tank cooled - runner, 1 Fairbanks Morse (in pieces but compl), 1 Ruston Hornsby PT 2.5 HP, Contact Fred Rascher, 22 Villiers Drive Pietermaritzburg 033 3942502 LISTER 5/1DIESEL was running R500 C Smith 031 7634673 LISTER Petrol Running Negotiable LISTER Diesel Negotiable A Bond 082 623 5753.
Oom Flip Viljoen has a 13HP National Oil Engine,
Model KB, incomplete, and in very poor condition. All he needs from it is
one flywheel, to complete his otherwise complete one. The rest of the engine
is 'up for grabs', (its other flywheel is missing a spoke.) He also has
the remains of a Ruston & Hornsby 3X HR, in even worse condition (the
flywheel bosses have been welded to the crankshaft), which might still have
a part or two to help somebody finish theirs off!
Remember, Philip Gray-Taylor has a good selection of engine transfers, as advertised in Stationary Engine Magazine, and he can also supply stickers of the official shape Ruston, in gold, in any length. They came out in 7", and 9".
Special offer, sheet
of transfers for Lister "A" posted in RSA R 28,00 . See right:
He also has a locally-developed type of flat-belt
fastener which you break off the length you need accorcing to the width
of your belt, and hammer it down on a flat surface, or squeeze it with a
G-clamp. Ideal for the rally-field! Contact him on (021) 552 3247, or ptaylor@worldonline.co.za.
Wanted: Darryl Bailey is looking
for a Spark Plug for his Fairbanks Morse ZD. The correct plug is a W16Y,
and has a 7/8" X 18 TPI thread. He'd rather have a genuine one if available
than make an adaptor for a current spark plug. Please phone him at home
(021) 531 3709, or work (021) 5522095.
Hendrik v d Berg is looking for an exhaust Muffler/silencer for hos Ruston & Hornsby PB 8HP
Hendrik v d Berg is looking for an exhaust Muffler/silencer for hos Ruston & Hornsby PB 8HP
Douw de Lange in Pretoria is looking for an Open Crank of 2 to 3 HP, to build into a locomotive. Please contact paulhome@freemail.absa.co.za
Cobus Thesnaar is looking for an inexpensive engine to tackle as a first (engine) project. He says, regarding preference: * Something small to start with * Petrol/diesel does not matter* The first one should not demand too many parts to be made up/bought specially. If it needs a lot of time and effort - that's OK. Do you know of/have anything?? He can be contacted at JThesnaa@credin.co.za, or Tel: (021) 507 9911 or through me.
Directory of Services/Spares. Hermann Geldenhuys
is drawing up a list of suppliers of goods and services to our
hobby. . Please contact Hermann with details of your favourite suppliers,
so that the rest of us can support them too. His home number after
hours is (028) 212 3304, or e-mail geldenhj@telkom.co.za
What's On: Please check with the organisers before
travelling to these events!
Saturday and Sunday 27th and 28th October 2001. We
have been invited to come and make a noise at Peregrine Farmstall, at the
'second' turn-off to Elgin/Grabouw off the N2, on the two days of the
Elgin Festival/Rose Show, to gauge the public reaction to such things. We are
investigating the possibility of setting up something more permanent
there. Come along for some of either of the two days, I'll be there with
the Electric Light Machine and some others all the time.
Early November 2001 Bien Donne Show.
Saturday 1st December 2001. Western Province Live Steamers have invited us to bring some machinery to their open day at their grounds in Parow. The plan is to be either in the middle of the track circuit, or near the Scout Hall next door, which they have hired for the Modelling Exhibition.
Sometime in December, 2001. Harvest Day on Brakfontein, Riversdal. Contact Emile Cronje on 082 713 2892, or Herman Giliomee on 028 722 1869
Mostert's Mill. We have been approached to have another show there by the Friends. Please contact me with your feelings, and a possible date.
8th, 9th & 10th August, 2002. Tenth annual show of the Tractor & Engine Club of the Westen Cape, at Kleinplasie Museum. See Tractor & Engine Club news above.
Please remember your name-tags, even if you are just coming along as a spectator! (I have made a whole lot more, and will give them out whenever I first see you, so turn up and claim it!)
Andy Selfe, Sec. (021)8592430 (home & manual fax) e-mail aselfe@mweb.co.za Our website: www.paraffinalia.org