7821 Dewberry Lane, Cedar Hill, MO 63016
Max, one of those good old boys who would give you about
anything except his wife (and he would probably trade her for an
old airplane), came by the shop and indicated he had an engine I
might want. Additional comments shed light on the fact that he had
retired the engine. Then his wife had used it for an out door
flower pot numerous years and finally it was drug down in the woods
with a tractor. Sounded just like my kind of engine.
During work the next day, I could hardly wait to check on this
marvel of early technology. Questions kept going through my head as
to make, horsepower, and condition.
With Max being a welder, most things are saved and we started
looking for the correct pile. In a few minutes he indicated,
‘It should be in this one’ and we started to dig. About
five minutes later, a 2 HP Jaeger started appearing. Rather rusty
and a few parts missing, like the mag, mag bracket and gas tank.
The rod suffered a major bend. ‘Best place to tie the chain
when dragging it to the junk pile,’ according to Max.
After trying to figure out how to get the little jewel home I
gave up on the four wheel drive and went to get a tractor, except
this time I did not hook the chain on the rod.
The usual rebuilding problems were encountered and a couple of
unexpected ones, but eventually the engine was back to running
order. Fact is, Max must have been impressed because he offered a
second engine at the same price- free.
This one was a CT2 Stover on a concrete mixer and in fairly good
condition. The mag was missing; otherwise, it was complete. The
mixer had a ‘doghouse’ which enclosed the engine, drive
chain and several years of grease accumulation. The heavy grease
and oil coating was an excellent preservative and a little oven
cleaner sure helped on the clean-up. About the only problem was
compression which was fixed with a valve job.
Have repainted both engines and applied decals so they should
look about new.
Thanks, Max, for many hours of entertainment while rebuilding
and now getting to listen to the Hit and Misses.
