Just One More Engine

SHOWN BELOW IS A VERY RARE TWO CYLINDER ST. MARY'S OIL ENGINE.
Hi,
Well, the above title has been fulfilled now, the "just one more engine" was the acquistion of the St. Mary's Oil Engine (diesel). This will probably be the last of the larger size engines I buy for the remainder of my life, it's taken longer to acquire this engine than any of the other engines I've bought during my life time, it's been fun, now the work begins.
I'm semi retired and tired, still have one in college.
I've collected old engines and machinery for years now, have some of the items restored. I really enjoy some of the challenges in persuading people to sell their junk(which instantly becomes a valuable antique to them) to me and then determining how to load the item which may weigh several thousand pounds.
Entry date 2-24-98, I've recently acquired the St.Mary's pictured below, time required to convince the owner to sell this to me only took 11-1/2 years averaging only two phone calls per year for each of ;the 11-1/2 years and a few more portraits of Benjamin Franklin. This is called the wearing down process, you must first convince the person to sell you this item which has become a national landmark in his community, "so they tell you" and then he must convince you to give him more money for this item because of it's rarity and because it's been in the family for several generations. Now my wife is really excited about the prospect of another pile of rusty iron at our home and the amount I paid for it. It's times like this when I find out what she really needs and has been doing without for so long. Had I known this, I would have gladly spent this amount on her. I thought she might enjoy the thumping sounds these old engines make, this why I really bought it, for her enjoyment, plus she has a new subject to talk about to her friends, me and this old pile of junk, good for hours of serious talk on the phone.

Entry 2-24-98. I had thought about starting a help column, not knowing there are so many engine people on the internet with tons of information. The engine people appear to be well connected (by computers) these days, using the internet saves a lot of phone charges as compared to a few years ago. Sometimes my phone charges on engine related items would average one hundred dollars a month, keep in mind this was only a hobby, not a business.
There is one thing I've noticed while using the computer and internet to obtain help on engine related matters, it's not the same as meeting someone in person or talking over the phone to them. But it is sure a quick and easy way to get fast information on an item, that part I like.
I have some original engine and machinery literature with tech info and photos that may be of help to someone. I've also helped organize and incorporate an antique engine club ( I prefer to call them organizations, but most prefer the term "club"). Also with help of several people and organizations, one in particular is the Alabama Dept of Bureau and Tourism, one of our shows was nominated and voted as one of the top twenty events in the southeast United States by Southern Living Magazine and some other magazines which I've forgotten their name, this occurred in 1988 ( to the best of my memory). I've found most people who collect engines and machinery to be very nice and accommodating, they've helped me out of some binds in the past. I'll add and drop photos from time to time, I have a large collection of photos and several thousand pounds of iron.
ENTRY 3-1-98, Talked with Charles H. Wendel this past Saturday, in talking with Mr. Wendel I discovered that the St. Mary's engine I have is extremely rare, there are no other engines of this size known to exist as of this date, this is based upon the people I have talked with and club members of various clubs and individuals. I've also talked with Ernest Durham who has collected large class engines over a period of several years. They've heard of the St. Mary's but have not seen any. Charlie Byrant said some of their engine people have some St. Mary's but they are single cylinder and are in the 20 & 30 hp range.
Entry 3-15-98, This afternoon I went to the site where my St. Mary is located and began spraying penetrating oil on all the nuts. Took some measurements on the engine to see what I will need to remove from the engine in order to load it on a trailer. Also I was able to get a measurement on the cylinder bore, it measured 11-1/2 inches, larger than I had guessed. It looks a lot heavier too. Got some chipping work to do with the air chisel and compressor. Hopefully, I'll have it at the farm in a few more weeks.
If anyone could help me in locating some technical information, color of engine or literature, this would be helpful in my attempt to restore this unit.
Listed below are links to my other home pages
SAWMILL N's Home Page
COT N GIN's Home Page 2

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[IMAGE]

This is an old power unit I traded for and let another person have it before I moved it from it's original site at a cotton gin. It had a small pony engine used to crank the diesel engine.