I am rebuilding a 1931 north sea trawler that was originally fitted with a two cylinder Bolinder. The variable pitch prop , shaft , pitch ajustment gear , thrust bearing and cast iron bedplate were still in the hull when we got it. The hull is 18 meters long , 6 meters wide and draws 3 meters. We would like to identify which model Bolinder we are looking for and then find one to fit to the engine beds.Can anyone help?
Michael Brocx snipped-for-privacy@softhome.net
Michael,
I assume you are referring to a Bolinder semi diesel, rather than the later full diesel versions. There are a number of 9hp and 15 hp singles in narrowboats, and I think a 30hp in the tug Worcester(?) at the Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port.
The only twin cylinder Bolinder semidiesel I know of is in the Waterways Museum at Stoke Bruerne. Originally fitted in a tug which was acquired by the Grand Union Canal Company, the engine was subsequently installed in the backpumping station at Knowle Locks. It was run for the first time in years during the drought of 1976 and could be heard from some considerable distance away. Such was the success of the backpumping that the engine was replaced with an electric motor and the engine ended up at Stoke Bruerne.
For more help you could try asking on uk.rec.waterways or
Keep us posted on this project. I would love to hear more about it. Where are you based?
David Mack
There are the early 'large' singles and twins, then there was the later W series engines which were much smaller but more efficient.
Pictures of the W engine we collected from Alicante last year are in the trip reports, and some of the larger engines are shown in the marine diesels section of our web pages.
There are a couple of guys who watch this newsgroup, one of whom has an early engine, and his next door neighbour also had one. That may be out of date now but was good info around the time we went to Spain.
Peter
-- Peter & Rita Forbes snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Engine pages for preservation info:
Ruston & Hornsby were building the E series semidiesel including 80hp and 160hp twins under license from Bolinders about that time.
Paul
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Internal Fire, Museum of Power, Wales
I live in the u.s.a in the Puget sound area,I have 2 25 hp "w"singles and a 20 hp "e" single. there seems to have been a dealer in astoria oregon selling these up and down the coast i have a lead on another one on the columbia river somewhere and there is a 15 or 20 "e" in one of the california museums.. the w`s are badged ESKELTUNA and the "E" is stockholm
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