1, Box 459-A Sugar Grove, NC 28679
In 1968 I set out to find a side-shaft engine. At that time, my
dad, brother, and I had a collection of engines consisting of 51
various makes and sizes.
I spent a lot of time and drove a lot of miles, but all the
leads turned out to be dead ends. After several weeks passed, I set
out again early one morning, still searching for that special
engine. The stop at a country store turned out to be rewarding. A
name was given to me of a guy that had a gasoline engine. As it
turned out, he no longer had an engine but knew of a man that did.
Then my ’57 Chevy and I headed out to where this engine was
located. After several stops to ask more directions, I ended up in
a farm yard, near Neva, Tennessee.
At the door of this home, I was greeted by Mr. and Mrs. John
Neatherly. We talked at length and I finally got around to their
engine. Yes, they still had an old engine, and it was fine to take
a look. It was better than I could have imaginedsitting in the
weeds was a side-shaft engine. The cast brass builder’s plate
read ‘Bull’s Eye, 4 B.H.P. #3908 Type G.E.’
By this time, this 18 year old was really getting excited. The
over-all appearance looked fairly good; the lubricator and ignitor
trip arm were missing. Everything was stuck and the Accurate
Magneto type R-V was badly damaged. Half-buried in the ground below
the head was the remains of a muffler. Dirt and rust had built up
on the inside along with the winter freezing. It could stand no
more and broke into 3 pieces. The water hopper was nearly half full
of acorns and leaves.
I bounced back to the Neatherly’s home and was ready to ask
the big question. They said they would agree to sell the Bull’s
Eye, if it was o.k. with their sons. I returned the following
weekend and was delighted to find that they were going to sell me
their engine.
My dad and I moved the Bull’s Eye to the workshop of the
museum we were operating, Frontier Village, Blowing Rock, North
Carolina. After allowing some penetrating oil to soak several
weeks, I began to disassemble the engine. The first reward came in
getting that mess of leaves out of the hopper. Down next to the
cylinder lay the ignitor trip arm. Years before the piston had
stuck, someone turned the flywheels, not realizing that the pin was
stuck in the trip arm; this twisted the pin out of the end of the
side shaft. The hopper did make a secure place to keep the arm from
getting lost.
After removing the head and then the intake valve assembly, I
tackled the exhaust valve, which was stuck in the open position. I
applied heat, brass, and hammer, then it started moving. All seemed
fine until I saw what came out with the badly rusted stemhalf of
the exhaust valve guide. This was very discouraging since I
didn’t have any idea how to repair it. The head was laid aside,
but what I didn’t realize was that it would be eight years
before the head would be repaired.
The following spring, I met my wife-to-be and between dating,
full-time job, helping at the museum, etc., the Bull’s Eye had
to wait. Then in the fall of ’68, I was called into the U.S.
Army. The next 2 years Uncle Sam took up most of my time with
Artillery training and then a tour in Vietnam. God saw me through
some tough times and then rewarded me with a lovely wife in
September of 70.
During the winter of ’71, I restored a 1 HP coil box J-D and
a Thomas Ludlow and Rogers cider mill. This was in preparation for
our first Carolina Crank-Up, which was held in September, 1971.
Every time I went into the workshop there was the Bull’s Eye,
still disassembledwaiting.
In the meantime, Dad made a trade for a 6 HP Bull’s Eye on
factory trucks. He bought this engine to trade on railroad items. I
ended up with a good magneto and the trucks for my 4 HP engine.
Over the next few years the Lord blessed my wife and I with our
daughter; we hosted the second Carolina Crank-Up; moved part of our
museum to Conover, North Carolina; hosted the third Carolina
Crank-Up; retired from operating a museum and moved back to Sugar
Grove, North Carolina.
The most important event of my life took place in 1974, when,
through the calling of the Holy Spirit, I accepted Jesus Christ as
my personal Savior.
In November of 1974,I enrolled in our community college.
Industrial Maintenance Engineering was right down my alley. The two
years I spent in school have been very helpful in engine
restoration. The Bull’s Eye engine parts ended up in my machine
shop and welding classes.
That old valve guide that was half gone wasn’t too hard to
fix after all. It turned out that these engines used a pressed in
exhaust valve guide. I pressed the broken guide out, and then
machined a new one from cast iron. After removing the exhaust valve
from its cast head, I machined a new stem complete with threaded
bottom end. Next came the task of machining a new pin for the
ignitor trip arm. The side shaft was bent and had to be
straightened. The magneto case had a crack and had to be sliver
soldered. Cleaning, painting, recharging the magnets, put it back
in #1 shape.
The piston in the cylinder was the last stuck part. It had been
soaking for several years but still would not yield to an oak block
and sledge hammer. I didn’t have an acetylene torch to use at
home, so I decided to build a small fire in the hopper with
kerosene. The trick would be to heat the cylinder and before the
piston expanded, push or persuade the piston out; it worked
fine.
All parts were cleaned to bare metal, primed and then two finish
coats applied with brush. Clear lacquer was used on bare metal and
brass parts. Mack Hodges of Boone, North Carolina, cut out the oak
skids and built the tool box for me.
In the winter of 1976, our daughter watched day after day while
I put the Bull’s Eye back together. Dad and my brother came
over for the crank-up and after a few pulls on the flywheels, the
Bull’s Eye was running again for the first time in over 30
years.
Our Bull’s Eye has been to over two dozen exhibits and
shows, including five states from South Carolina to the Tri-State
Show in Portland, Indiana. The Bull’s Eye engines were
manufactured in Warren, Pennsylvania, by Jacobson, and sold by
Montgomery Ward. I do not know the exact date of manufacture but
guess around 1914.
I am presently serving as Vice-President of the Carolina
Fly-Wheelers and am a former member of Miami Valley Steam Threshers
Association, in Ohio.
I praise God for sending His Son to die for all of us; John 15:5
in part says, ‘for without Jesus you can do nothing.’ I am
very thankful for my family and friends and their encouragement to
preserve a part of our past for future generations.