1 Year and 1000 Mile Sharpies

By Staff
Published on December 1, 1986
article image

7821 Dewberry Lane Cedar Hill, MO 63016

Ever try to haul two engines in an Escort one thousand miles?
While cruising along Highway 17 in Ontario thinking of all the
great fishing just a few miles down the road, I spotted a Fairbanks
Morse Z Style D sitting on a stump. With a quick 180 degree turn
and a couple of hundred feet back up 17 I looked the engine
over.

The lady of the house said ‘Yes the engine is for sale, but
I’m not the owner.’ After a brief discussion she indicated
that on my return the following week the price would be
established.

Continuing toward the fishing hole with two things on my mind
fish and an engine plus a lot of teasing from the wife and two sons
I saw a second beauty not a woman, but an engine beside a
store.

After another direction reversal this engine turned out to be a
2 HP Sharpies. With luck I found the owner and it was for sale.
Upon examination the Old Doll wasn’t even stuck. When told the
price, I decided it might be best to see how much the fishing trip
cost.

Long before the fishing week was over I had decided the engine
had to go to Missouri.

Saturday finally arrived and we hit the road with a cooler full
of frozen fish, rods and reels, dirty clothes and four people in an
Escort wagon.

Upon second examination the Sharpies looked even better. We
finally agreed I would pay half the price, take the mag and
ignitor, and would pick up the engine the following summer. There
was no way to fit the Escort around the engine, and I could work on
the mag that winter.

We headed west on 17 to the tree stump Fairbanks. The price was
extremely reasonable on this one and it only weighed 160 pounds. It
just might fit, so we unloaded the wagon, loaded the old rusty one
lunger and reloaded.

Had an uneventful trip home.

During the fall I got the Fairbanks running, did a repaint and
was well pleased, except for the Sharpies still sitting out in the
cold.

One year to the day I first saw the Sharpies, it was Canada
again, except this time with a pick-up. Loading this sweet little
thing was another problem. Without ramps the pick-up bed presented
a major obstacle, but help did arrive and the four of us heaved
simultaneously. Sure would have been easier if the bed height had
been the same before loading as after. I also found out from one of
the loaders that his grandfather had purchased the engine new in
1916.

The piston had stuck over the winter, but that was the only
change from its first winter outside. The engine had been kept
shedded throughout its history and was used to run a buzz saw. In
fact, the name painting, striping and color was easily copied and
reproduced after restoration by David, my oldest son.

The fishing was good again and I returned home with my one year
and thousand mile Sharpies.

Rebuilding took top priority and the adjacent photo, taken by
Mike, my youngest, should indicate how the old gal is doing.

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