RT 4, Box 88 Gainesville, MO
A phone call from a friend in Oklahoma started it all. During
the conversation, he just happened to mention an engine in his area
that was going to be available. Thought it was a 35 HP Black Bear.
If I was interested, I’d best come take a look in a hurry. I
couldn’t get away at the time, so I did the next best thing. I
called my sons, Tom and Charles, both of whom live in the Tulsa
area. Tom, working nights at the time, called our friend and
arranged to go look at the old sow. The next afternoon he called
back with a very good description. As soon as the pending jobs were
cleared up, a fast run to Tulsa started. The next morning Tom and I
met our friend, coffee’d up, then took a short ride out to an
old powerhouse. When he rolled that door open, there it was! A
Bear, a great big old Black Bear, all of 35 HP. We looked, checked,
and looked some more. The only thing wrong was, someone had stolen
the connecting rod brasses. ‘No problem I’ll make new
ones.’ It didn’t take long to decide. Transaction
completed. Next step measure up for timber scribbing and start
planning our moves. The tape told us the old girl would just
squeeze through the door. After a busy summer and fall, the time
came to go get the Bear. Loaded with gear and timbers, we were
Tulsa bound. The next morning, as soon as Tom got off work, we
started out. At the old powerhouse, we surveyed the situation for a
few minutes, backed my trailer closer to the door and unloaded some
gear. We started by disconnecting the two four inch pipes that
served as exhausts, next came the water, and the fuel lines. Fuel
line my foot! The old girl must be a real addict, an inch and a
half pipe fed her, then the clutch pulley, and shaft. In order to
lower them down safely, we chained a 4 x 6 across the top of the
flywheels to act as a boom. We also had to chain the flywheels to
keep them from turning. After undoing the outboard bearing, we let
the entire unit down to the floor, and rolled it out of our way.
While I was doing that, Tom loosened the base nuts, after which we
jacked that mass of iron clear of the concrete base, in order to
cut the anchor bolts flush with the top of the base. Then with pipe
rollers we headed for the door. As the engine base started to hang
over the end of the concrete, we bolted on precut and predrilled 6
x10 skids. As the rear of the base cleared, we finished the skid
with the other cross piece bolted into place. We finally cleared
the door, and got the nose of the skids raised enough to start up
the beavertail of the trailer. A pair of Roustabouts, we had
arranged for ahead of time pulled up with a winch truck. A snatch
block, and their cable had the Bear up on the trailer in less time
than the planning. After we chained her down, we were on our way
back to Tulsa. Barely 6 hours all told we weren’t even late for
supper! The next day we left for home, the Bear followed us all the
way from Out an around, Oklahoma, with a lot of swiveled heads on
the way. I would like to hear from any one out in engine country
who is well acquainted with these old Bears, and some of their
idiosyncrasies. Any starting and operating tips would be
appreciated.
