Flywheel Engines

Thought I would post a few pics of my Flywhheel engines, I bought the Bessemer with no flywheels, and no valves, oilers. The Waterloo Boy still has the original tag, and the numbers put it as being built in 1914,it is 6 hp and it has 36 inch flywheels, and runs really nice, it also has the original crankguard.
The Oilcity/Southpenn is a 20 hp, and is serial # 109. The pic with me in it is the 20 hp Bessemer.

Hope you enjoy the pics,......Maybe some of you have a few engines to share too...?

We have a few old engines. Most are small horse power and only the Ruston HOrnsby Diesel horizontal single might be considered big enough to run with your big dogs. I cant get any other pictures to load, just yet.

Lets try this again. The engine in the middle is my keeper, one of the others was donated as a door prize and the third one is about to become a starter motor for the Ruston.

There are a few Cummins engines here and there, not for sale.

Exellent restoration job there, almost looks to good to use. I hope this year to get my shop built and get them inside along with a few tractors, and of course my trucks. The engine collectors that come to our show have increased over the last few years, unfortuanately we lost a great engine guy this year to a heart attack, he will be greatly missed.

Sadly my "Best Before" date has passed, some time ago. I have lost more than a few friends in the last three years, a few of them did not consider their age and may have contributed to an earlier demise by over exerting. With this in mind and thinking about my Ruston Hornsby and getting it started. I have decided to make a starter-drive system that will run off an IHC LB 1.5-2.5hp engine. The Little Binders start easily and I'm sure that an LB will roll the Big Ruston over easily. I saw where someone adapted and electric starter to a large engine. It looked something like the start unit used by Top Fuel pit crews. Once running, the Ruston can compress enough air, in a storage tank, for two blow starts. The original air tank was given away and I replaced it with a titanium tank of the same dimensions and about 25% of the weight. The titanium tank is tested for 3550 psi and the Ruston may pump up 250 - 300 on a well planned charge.
Our Ruston was a Canadian Grain Elevator Engine in Northern Alberta. It weighs about 4700 pounds and the fly-wheels are over four feet across. The piston is just a little smaller than the diameter of a five gallon bucket and is a back breaker, to move. I put the cylinder head on a platform scale and it topped 600 pounds. The engine displaces 640 cubic inches or 10.5 liters. I've had it running as slowly as 60 rpm. The Ruston is a Diesel and it makes a pleasant grunt, grunt, grunt as it idles. The exhaust is fairly quiet unless under acceleration or load.
Several years ago, I was able to buy a new set of bearings, piston rings, oil slingers, fuel injector and two original operator's manuals. Everything came wrapped in original factory paper.
There is an interesting site/collection, on the net, called Internal Fire. It is in England and there are a few Ruston Diesels on display. The Site offers a link to one of the original Ruston Hornsby employees who now offers advice and decals along with some correct paint codes.
The quality and finish of the Ruston is really good. The castings are smooth and the parts match. We have had this engine for nearly 30 years and whether it is running or collecting dust, it gives a good feeling to us. The down-side, it is too big, for me, to move to shows. I have a nice set of British Standard Whitworth wrenches to go with the old British fasteners.
This engine has separated the "Men" from the posers on more than a few occasions while egos tried to hand-crank the engine to life. It really is a two person operation, one person cranks until their butt drags and then the other person closes the decompression valve. With any luck, the person on the crank will be rewarded with a puff of smoke and a series of grunts and the mass of cast-iron comes to life. We used to toss tennis balls under the fly-wheel and depending on the engine speed, the tennis balls could be thrown as far a half a city block.
For me, the most enjoyable part of engine restoration and ownership is adding the accessories like tachometer, fuel tank and gauge, fan-drive and a cooling system. I found a 75 year old Ruston Radiator in a scrap yard and it followed me home after I paid a $20 ransom. I've divided the fuel tank into two sections, left and right, one side is for Diesel fuel and the other is for BSW tools. Tachometer drives get turned out on the lathe and the leather belts come from a local sewing machine supply.