2l40 Waynesville Rd. Bellbrook, Ohio 45305
In 1984 my son Scott and I purchased a small steam engine from
our neighbor, Bud Saylor. When picking up the engine we were asking
him some questions about the steam engine, such as where did he
purchase it. He said that we knew the person he purchased it
from-Kenny Spair, who lives about six or seven miles away. Bud told
us we should stop and see Kenny because he had a small gas engine
that he might be interested in selling.
Several months later I was driving by Kenny’s house, so I
stopped in to see him. I told him we bought the small steam engine
he used to have, the one he sold to Bud Saylor. He said, ‘If
you have time, let’s go out to the barn so I can show you the
line shaft I had it belted to.’ Kenny said that there was a
reason he sold the steam engine. He sold it because it took so long
to steam up, so he lost interest in it, and decided to sell it.
While we were at the barn, I asked Kenny about the gas engine
Bud told us about, that he might sell. He said, ‘Yes, I still
have it, and it’s over there in the corner. It’s under some
lumber and whatever else might be on top of it.’ He turned on
some light and said, ‘If you can find it you are welcome to
take a look at it.’
I could only see the back of the flywheels. I tried to reach my
hand around the hopper and the only thing I could feel was a large
button. I asked Kenny if he would sell the engine and he said he
would like to trade it for another engine, one that was easier to
start and had a magneto on it. He said that every time he wanted to
run the engine he had to get a coil and battery just to start it.
So we discussed a trade. We told him about a Jaeger we had at home.
Kenny agreed on the trade and we told him we would be back in a
couple of weeks to pick up the engine.
A couple of weeks later, Scott and I loaded up the Jaeger and
off we went to Kenny’s house. On the way there, Scott kept
asking me questions regarding the engine that we were trading the
Jaeger for. All I could tell Scott was that it had a large button
on the side of the water hopper.
When we arrived at Kenny’s, we unloaded the Jaeger and went
ahead and started it up for him. Kenny said that he liked this type
engine because you don’t need a battery to start it and because
it’s a hit-and-miss engine. Then Scott, Kenny and I went to the
barn where the engine was stored. We took all the lumber that had
been piled on top of it and put it on the ground. Once we got all
the lumber off we picked up the engine and carried it to our
truck.
On our way home, Scott kept looking back at the engine and
asking what kind of engine it was. As you can imagine, when we got
it home, out came the engine and the nameplate was cleaned off. It
turned out to be a Joy 2 HP, made by the Ohio Engine Company in
Sandusky, Ohio, serial #205.
Well, once we found a battery and a coil for spark, we found out
that it was a hit-and-miss engine. We got it running in about an
hour. It is now in perfect running condition.
This summer we decided to restore the Joy engine in our spare
time. Scott did the painting and I did the wood working. It took us
approximately four months to completely restore it.
The Joy has never been to a show, but since the restoration we
hope to take it to the Portland, Indiana show.