[Steam-engine] Boilers / Repairs

[Jeff Smith]

Dan,

I would suggest that any engine you get have a
certified boiler repair shop do the work on the engine
because the paper trail is one of the key points to
passing inspections.  I know of many engines that it
would have been very simple to fix but the owner chose
to pay for the work and the paper trail so they could
continue to operate their engine in that state.  

I know that I have a little different opinion than
others on the list, but that is the great thing about
the list and all the different view points.  I don't
look as engines as an investment because it is a hobby
to me, and with any hobby I am in, I look to lose
money in it, but, to me a non-certified boiler is of
no value to me.  Trying to get a boiler with any weld
on it and no paper trail is tough to get inspected or
impossible in some states.  I know of many engines in
the area where my father lives, that the owner would
have to take an engine and have the old welds removed
(sometimes even sections of the boiler) and new welds
by a certified shop with the paper trail completed
before the inspector would even come back to look at
the engine, and they inspected those engines for
years.  This is not a cheap hobby, and I try to
protect my purchase to some degree, and keep some
value on it so if I do sell it, I can recover some of
the original outlay of cash.

Are you set on this engine?  Are you located in
Florida?  I know of an engine in Florida coming up for
sale soon that is by far one of the best engines I
have ever operated.  In all my years of being around
engines, I have only seen one or two boilers in nicer
shape than this one.  The gearing on this engine is
perfect, and it does not make any noise.  This engine
must have spent its entire life belted to something
and they must have had good water or used boiler
treatment.  This engine is a 60 hp case without
contractor bunkers or a canopy.  It is however, a
great engine and I have operated it many times
personally and it was a real pleasure to operate,
especially since it is so quiet in the gearing.  The
owner has purchased another engine and is debating
letting this one go because his collection is getting
hard to manage so he has chosen the one on one off
system and this is the one to go.

I had a price on a new barrel for an engine I had and
it was about $12k. They were going to roll a new one
and rivet it back on with a butt strap to replace the
lap seam. It needed a new crown sheet, and I had a
price on a new welded firebox for the same engine
because if it has the barrel off might as well fix
everything instead of just the crown, and that was
about another 10K.  They offered to build a new welded
boiler for $20k.  I had another quote from another
shop out of Iowa and when he came and looked at the
engine and how rare it was he offered to build a new
riveted boiler from the 1970 code for $25K.  I thought
that was a good price for all the work he had to do. 
I later sold the engine though, because I just didn't
have time for it with everything I have going on now.

I think a list member in WV had a boiler repair
completed so he could keep the paper work trail going,
but that is what you need to do if you want something
of any value.  There are engines out there that people
fix themselves and operate on their property, but they
can't take them anywhere because they can't get an
inspection.  I know of quite a few of them now, where
they are trying to get letters from repair shops for
the welds they did themselves and the boiler shop
owner is laughing at them telling them no way, or that
he will give them a letter telling the state to run as
far away from these engines until they get them fixed
properly.

Anyway, my $.02 worth.  A home repair job may be the
cheap way out, but not in the long run.  It is like
when I go to the airport with my friend and when we
travel to his hanger we see all those guys fixing
their own planes in the hangers, and to me those
planes are useless without the paper trail from day
one.

Jeff Smith

--- Dan Donaldson <ddonaldson at tampatank.com> wrote:
>     I am new to this mailing list and I am glad that
> this topic has come up.
> I am thinking about buying a traction engine (my
> first) and I am trying to
> determine what I may need to do to make it
> acceptable to run at shows. I
> know that I will have to replace a portion of the
> wrapper and I would like
> to also replace the front tube sheet. My question
> is, if I replace the front
> tube sheet should I go ahead and replace the lap
> seam barrel with a full
> penetration, butt welded 3/8" thk barrel? Would I
> then be able to operate
> the engine at 150 psi in states like Maryland
> assuming the rest of the
> boiler is in good shape? In other words does a new,
> butt welded barrel
> eliminate the problem of the lap seam?
> 
> Dan Donaldson



		
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