Stationary Engines.

[powerrabbit]

Here are pictures of the working model stationary engine I mentioned in another topic. As I said, I have not had it up and running but it could quite easily be fitted up. Petrol fueled, Wico magneto driven, water cooled and oil lubricated. I was told by the guy I bought it from that the long exhaust is needed as the engine exhaust pressure has to be in balance with the compression of the piston. The dog food tin will give you an idea of its size. I have had this engine now for nearly 20 years. I don't think it is a representation of an actual engine but is a wonderful bit of engineering.

[BC]

Nice piece of engineering there Tim ...but you need to get it running.... I should not say that really since I have a Petter M and a Tarpen sitting in my garage that have never been started by myself.

[powerrabbit]

Last week I was asked if I knew anyone that was into stationary engines as a friend of a friend was moving away and needed to sell some kit. This kit consisted of 2 engines and an engine driven (belt) crusher. I never really gave it another thought until another friend of mine mentioned the same kit so we popped out the road to take a look. On seeing what was on offer gave me food for thought so we went to see my other friend, who mentioned this kit to me in the first place and to cut a long story short, I bought it, it all had to go together.

This is what I ended up with and I collected it and brought home yesterday. The first engine is a 1923 Lister model B, 5hp. This engine has not been running I don't think for a number of years as one of the valves is stuck and a few other bits need freeing up, the magnito needs sorting out but the engine turns over so it's not seized or stuck. The second engine, which was the one that I was most interested in, is a Ruston Hornsby model PB, 3hp. This engine is rare in these parts. It's a hopper water cooled horizontal and is a bit unusual having a Wico EK1 magnito fitted. There is a large suppliers brass plate attached to the engine, Drake & Fletcher. The previous owner has all the paperwork for it but has got to look it out for me so when I get that I should know more. The third bit of the kit is a linseed cake crusher, model OC1, made in 1867 by Cheale & Sons of Southover, Lewes in Sussex.

Here's the Lister B. I'll post up the others seperateley.

[powerrabbit]

And here's the Ruston Hornsby PB.

[powerrabbit]

And finally, the cake crusher. This bit of kit has 2 cast aluminium rollers below the hopper which can be opened and closed, wider or narrower apart, by means of moving a small handle into a series of holes on a quadrant on the right front. The rollers are about 3" in diameter and have interlacing 'pyramid' spikes on them. I've never seen one of these before.

[britainswomble]

This is an intriguing post. I suppose you already know that Drake and Fletcher were a Kent based company, specialising in the fruit section of machinery.. I'm not sure if they still exist. The name still exists, but it appears they are now car dealers.

As for the cake crusher, I used to live in Southover in Lewes and never knew machinery was made there. There was a company called J. Every, Phoenix Iron Foundry, Lewes; who were iron founders and probably cast the parts for them. Every's were famous for drain covers and gratings. No boubt there are still many around Lewes. There used to be a small blacksmiths workshop in Southover so perhaps there was a connection with that too.

Both machines originate from this area, so perhaps they were taken to your area together by a migrating farmer.

P.S. If you want to impress your friends, tell them Lewes is pronounced "Loo-wiss" not Lews or Loos.

On the subject of old iron, I'm still driving the Foden in the picture, and in my garage I have a couple of Teagle hedge cutters. A bit like a strimmer with a 24" cutter bar! I think these date from the late fifties. Fitted with a Jap two stroke engine.

[powerrabbit]

This is where I got the information to roughly date the cake crusher William, if you read down the list the J. Every you mention is there also.

http://steve.pickthall.users.btopenworld.com/ssx1867/lewes1867d.html

[britainswomble]

This is where I got the information to roughly date the cake crusher William, if you read down the list the J. Every you mention is there also.

http://steve.picktha...lewes1867d.html

I was quite fascinated by the list of Lewes trades people. Do you know where it would be possible to find the remainder of the list.

There are names in there that even I remember as a child. Brown and Crosskeys rings a bell although I couldn't tell you where in the town they were. Curtis's of 22 Cliffe High Street probably later became Curtis and Co who were agricultural dealers. They sold Fordsons and Track Marshalls up until the mid sixties. Fords had a re-shuffle of dealerships so they moved on to David Browns.

Lewes was a very busy town and a hive of industry of a quite specialised nature. No doubt the coming of the railways had a lot to do with the manufacturing side of things. Lewes railway was, and to a certain extent still is, a very important station, with lines coming from Brighton, Newhaven port in particular, Eastbourne, Haywards Heath / London, and before the Beeching axe the line went to my home town of Uckfield, then on to the London line entering on the East of London. Lewes had a Cement works and a very busy goods yard. As a child we used to watch the wagons being shunted and could often hear them some distance away on a quiet night.

I would be fascinated to find out where these businesses were located in Southover as I remember some small workshops, the main ones being the blacksmiths and a carpentry workshop near the church. There was also a coal merchants tucked away in one of the side streets. Southover had several schools and the rest as I remember was residential. They also had a busy cattle market held on Mondays. How things have changed. Next to no manufacturing, loads of banks, offices and small shops struggling to survive and very few people capable of manufacturing anything.

[britainswomble]

I was quite fascinated by the list of Lewes trades people. Do you know where it would be possible to find the remainder of the list.

There are names in there that even I remember as a child. Brown and Crosskeys rings a bell although I couldn't tell you where in the town they were. I certainly remember Elphicks the seed and feed merchants. Curtis's of 22 Cliffe High Street probably later became Curtis and Co who were agricultural dealers. They sold Fordsons and Track Marshalls up until the mid sixties. Fords had a re-shuffle of dealerships so they moved on to David Browns.

Lewes was a very busy town and a hive of industry of a quite specialised nature. No doubt the coming of the railways had a lot to do with the manufacturing side of things. Lewes railway was, and to a certain extent still is, a very important station, with lines coming from Brighton, Newhaven port in particular, Eastbourne, Haywards Heath / London, and before the Beeching axe the line went to my home town of Uckfield, then on to the London line entering on the East of London. Lewes had a Cement works and a very busy goods yard. As a child we used to watch the wagons being shunted and could often hear them some distance away on a quiet night.

I would be fascinated to find out where these businesses were located in Southover as I remember some small workshops, the main ones being the blacksmiths and a carpentry workshop near the church. There was also a coal merchants tucked away in one of the side streets. Southover had several schools and the rest as I remember was residential. They also had a busy cattle market held on Mondays. How things have changed. Next to no manufacturing, loads of banks, offices and small shops struggling to survive and very few people capable of manufacturing anything.

[powerrabbit]

I think, without going back into the link William, that these records come from the area Council records archive, If you go back to the link and look at the title it will say, in blue Ithink, where the rcords come from, if you find the offices in the region where these records are kept you can go to the offices and look through the records yourself, they will either be on microfiche or in the original ledger record books where you will also be able to see listings by year of all names and the addresses where they lived at that time, their professions, and who were living in the houses, all listed occupants.