3 Edna Terrace, New Hartford, New York 13413
On May 20, 2000, I was invited to a pig roast and gas up hosted
by Craig Prucha and his wife, Marlene. In spite of the rainy
weather, many folks from near and far came with their engines.
Thanks, Craig! Photo 1 shows the cake Wayne Grenning brought,
featuring an edible version of Craig’s 40 HP Olin. Wayne also
brought, among other items, a hot air fan (photo 2). This is a
recently produced fan from Pakistan, imported via Australia, which
runs on kerosene. It is a very interesting bit of modern old
fashioned technology, to be sure.
Photo 3 is Dave Rotigel’s 15 HP Domestic. This is the
largest size engine that Domestic made, and is rarely seen these
days. Note the impressive flywheels and bore. Photo 4 is a Seybert
engine restored by Stiles Bradley. ‘Before’ photos of this
engine can be seen in the February 2000 issue of GEM. One
of my favorite engines was Stiles’ very nice Ruger Electric
Lighting engine (photo 5) that he recently restored. Among the many
larger engines was a Superior engine owned by Doug Allen (photo 6).
This engine was ticking along at about 46 rpm for most of the
afternoon, barely beating Craig’s Swan in the ‘Slow
Engine’ contest.
Craig had his latest project out for all to marvel at. Photo 7
shows his 10 HP Bovaird and Seyfang single valve engine. This
engine spent its last working days on an oil lease, where it was
converted into a well casing gas compressor. It had been stripped
of almost all of its running gear, but with a lot of hard work and
more than usual luck, Craig was able to get the engine running
almost like new again. His web page, www.antique-engine.com,
outlines this project from the recovery, to the chance finding of
most of the governor and valve chest, to the first starting. He
also demonstrated his latest purchase, a 32 HP Olin (photo 8). This
engine used to be a feature at the local shows, but about 20 years
ago it disappeared. It resurfaced this year in an ad in the local
Pennysaver. This is one of four Olins that Craig has, including a
40 HP, 4 HP, and 2? HP Olin.
There were many other people and engines there. Engines such as
Reid, Bates & Edmonds, Hettinger, Parsell and Weed, Simplex,
Economy, Leader, Crown, Rumsey, FairbanksMorse, Witte, and Hercules
were represented. Many of Craig’s local friends brought larger
engines, making for an impressive litle show. Everyone brought a
dish to pass, and the pig was roasted to perfection. It was a fine
way to kick off the show season.
