RD 1,Box 236 Dayton, Pennsylvania 16222
On my father’s farm, a water system powered by a windmill
was installed in 1923 (the year I was born), with a large cement
tank on top of the hill above our house.
In the early ’30s Dad got more cattle. After they were
through drinking, we sometimes were short of water at the
house.
We had a neighbor who knew we needed a pump engine. He had a
dump truck and hauled rock to the WPA jobs when they first started.
One day, while hauling rock on a county road, a man who lived along
that road asked if he would haul something for him after work. He
said he hadn’t any money, but would give him an engine to pay
for the hauling.
The trucker did the hauling for the man. The next day he came to
our house and said, ‘I found you a pump engine.’ The engine
and gears looked all right, the paint on the engine was faded, but
the shallow well pump was worn out. The appearance of the pump
didn’t matter because we just used it to operate the succor rod
pump when the wind didn’t blow.
Since this was during the depression, my dad said he didn’t
have any money to pay for the engine but had a peck ( bushel) of
clover seed that he could give him. The neighbor said that would be
fine with him because he was needing some clover seed. Besides
trucking part time, he operated a farm.
This engine is a Sta-Rite, rated 1 HP, serial number 2404,
3′ bore, 4′ stroke. It was mounted on two 2’x 6′
skids about 7′ long. It had a natural gas carburetor and some
type of buzz coil for ignition, using a battery.
We didn’t have natural gas, so Dad went to a fellow who ran
a small shop to see if he had a gasoline carburetor. He said he
didn’t have anything that would fit, but could make one in a
little while. He used two street Ls, drilled a hole inside of one
and threaded it to screw into the valve from a small oil stove.
We had the engine on that carburetor from 1933 to 1947, when we
got electricity. Our water tank was large enough that I ran the
engine one day each week from morning till night. It wasn’t
long after we started using the engine to pump that a storm damaged
the windmill; we never repaired it.
After we got electricity, I wanted to continue pumping with the
succor rod pump, so I took the crankshaft out of the engine,
leaving the piston in the cylinder, put a straight shaft in the
main bearings of the engine and one flywheel on the shaft to help
power the pump on the upstroke. The intake valve on the engine head
stuck out where I wanted to set the electric motor, so I removed
the head.
In 1988 I started to attend the engine shows at Cool spring
Power Museum where I soon became a member. During one of the
workdays, I told Clark Colby about having the remains of an old
engine with round flywheels which had been used to pump water.
Clark said, ‘I can see you don’t realize how rare an engine
you have.’
I started looking for information on the early years of The
Reliance Iron and Engine Company, Racine, Wisconsin. In C. H.
Wendel’s book, they are listed as starting to build the
Sta-Rite in 1906. By 1908, all of the designs were changed. The
models with round fly wheels were made in two sizes: 1 HP and 2
HP.
After attending several shows and talking to dealers in used
parts, I was told that the only way to get this engine running was
to get parts made.
I have been interested in machinery and engines all of my life.
Most of the farm equipment I had was used pieces I bought and
repaired.
In 1974, I sold my dairy herd and started working in a small
welding and machine shop. Two years later I started a shop at home.
Usually, shop work is slow during the winter, so in the fall of
1991, I took the engine into the shop and checked it out. The block
had a little rust on the top side of the cylinder, but the rust
wasn’t deep enough to do any damage. I decided the crankshaft
would be the hardest part, so I started that first. I made pieces
and welded it up; it didn’t run true. I tried again and got one
that runs fine.
I made the flywheel from steel in stead of getting one cast
because the hub for the governor was a little different. The rim of
the flywheel was cut from 2′ solid steel. I bolted it to the
faceplate of the lathe and turned it to shape on the one side, then
the other side. The spokes and hub were welded in the hub hole and
made last. A timing gear was needed. I found a dealer who was able
to get one made for me.
Through Cool spring Power Museum, I obtained information from an
engine club in Wisconsin that helped on measurements on governor
parts and engine head.
I made the head from steel to original measurements. Valves and
springs were purchased from Hit and Miss Enterprises.
Still having the natural gas carburetor that was on the engine
when we got it, I put that on. I’ve always run it on propane. I
have reworked the carburetor a couple of times to get it to use
less gas and to get it to run better.
Some of the shows in western Pennsylvania where I’ve
displayed this engine are: Cool spring Power Museum, Cool spring;
Northwest Pennsylvania Steam Engine and Old Equipment Association,
Portersville; Pioneer Steam and Gas Engine Society, Saegertown; and
Nittany Antique Machinery Association, Centre Hall. It was also
shown at Rough and Tumble Engineers Historical Association,
Kinzers.
Many interested people have seen this engine. Some remarked that
they didn’t remember having an engine like it on the grounds
before.
At least one person at every engine show I’ve attended looks
the engine over and then asks, ‘How could you run anything with
that engine? It doesn’t have a pulley. You couldn’t keep a
belt on those flywheels!’
