XAlan W

with the boat loaded the backend ring was more or less level with the tow path or what ever.As you stepped off the boat in the region of the engine ole doors you took the short length of line fastened to the ring & tied to ring/bollard . The part of the boat from bulkhead to counter provided a pivot point to prevent the fore end swinging across the cut, If it was tied from the stern [dollies]there would be nothing to stop the boat swinging, worked in a similar way to prevent the stern swinging out although this was not as marked as you have more boat forward than aft, gave you time to tie off fore & aft without having to fight it in wind or current. If it did swing out one of Alan F`s looked for 16ft shafts was handy to haul it back in.

I was also wondering about that, only rubbish that was not able to be removed either by long shaft, or modified railway shunters pole, was wire. bed springs etc. & that was a cill job so as to be able to see what you we doing.

I think that you will find that it is a RUGGERINI Which IIRC is of Italian manufacture. again if IIRc they produced both air & liquid cooled. The only one that I have seen was an air cooled single cylinder, about 10hp & again IIRC it was rather noisey

If you find the U tube video of Tom Hill starting the HR2 on Archimedes you will see a cowling on the left side of the engine[looking forward]on the HA that I worked an oblong frame made from 1``angle was bolted to the top of this, the canvas tube was screwed to this with metal strip on the outside to trap the tube this led up to the cabin roof to a similar fitting screwed to the under side of the roof. the roof had an oblong hole cut & a larger than hole plate mounted about 1,1/2inches above the cabin roof on 4 studs,it lay along side the engine room vent box

I always found the chain type crushed the filter casing, the best one I have found I got from my Renault garage as the space to remove the oil filter on my Megane is very restricted. It`s like a big Jubilee clip with a rough inside surface & is tightened & slackened with a threaded handle similar to a G clamp.Tighten the handle & it`s used as a lever to turn tool & filter. IIRC it cost about 9 Euro`s

Charles Violet who worked at SUC at Norbury in the 60`s did some serious sailing in a small boat including IIRC crossing the Atlantic in an open boat with a upturned dingy on top that was used as a cabin he wrote abook but I can`t recall the title

The quote of 16/1 fuel oil ratio is for when 2stroke oil was the old dino stuff, if you use modern semi or fully synthetic you can use 32/1-40/1 ratio, Only problem I found with this brand of O/B was that they could be Bu***rs to start hot When this happened I found it was usually the points needed cleaning, seemed to have do this more often than on other makes

The air vent on a HA 2 Lister that I worked was a canvas tube bolted to the air outlet on the engine & reaching up to the vent in the cabin roof you could bolt or clip it & unbolt if you used wing nuts

One drawback with this engine is it is RUBBER belt driven overhead camshaft so a belt change is required at certain intervals even if it has not reached the required hours I understand this is what puts people off

In 1972 there was one of these moored about 50 metres below Fradley bottom lock bow/centre/stern. the joints were clearly showing, never stopped to find out how it worked,but it was afloat there for about 9 months, although on our last trip back to Mk Drayton it was no longer there

A quite sucessful keb can be made by heating the tines on a garden fork & bending to approx right angles, even better if you can flatten out the bent over bits &blunt the points some.

Same for me ,have also heard it refered to as fore deck but the lid was still deck lid

Back in our Hotel Boating days MORRIS oils did a product called IIRC [morendo]? which you mixed with fuel oil at a ratio of 400/1[fuel /product]It totally eliminated the diesel smell. {Have no idea if they still market it or similar[ It was marketed under Diesel Deodourant , Redex also had a DD but that smelled perfumey rather than no smell, again no idea if it`s still available

Shopshire Union Cruises original horse drawn trip boat Iona was wood & only just managed to pass it`s BoT examination in 1967, & at that time it was cheaper to aquire a steel/composite boat than repair the original.Bellerophon was purchased from BW & was lying at the Hillmorton workshops, I boated to Hillmorton from Mk Drayton in LILY & towed Bellerophon back to Norbury, IIRC around June of 1968. It was then fitted out with canopy , seats etc. Bot licence obtained name changed to Iona & entered service. AFAIR it was still at Norbury till the mid 70`s later sold on & moved south

Anyone know what engine is fitted in COLUMBIA? did the one in there get replaced when the Resto` took place Thanks.

The engine in the video looks very similar to the SEFFLE 25HP single semi diesel I had in FMC LILY[ Now in Jem Bates boat SEVERN ] There are several ways to stop it over speeding It is total loss oil system so if you have the snifter valve on the crankcase cracked open [& a tube& catch tank] there will be very little lubricating oil left in the crankcase for it to consume. there was also an on/off valve on the inlet side of the fuel pump. Also you see in the video before the atempt to start, the guy pumping a lever near the top of the crankcase, if you hold this lever down the pump will not deliver fuel to the injector. You can also cover the air valves on the crankcase with rag to cut off the air supply.The No 2 guy only blocked off 1 ,there is a second one under the silencer I think the problem they had was they pumped in to much fuel before starting & it had, with being a 2 stroke, fuel had drained down into the crankcase, so even if they shut off the fuel supply it would still have some in the bottom end to push up the transfer ports + they only blocked off half the air supply. The engine doing the jig couldn`t have helped much either.

I will second that,SR3 comsuming it`s own fuel/ lubricating oil. I would estimate it reached some 5000 RPM before dispatching the front cylinder & assorted bits through the engine`ole doors[ Closed] the wholelot ending up in the canal.Inever knew that at that time I would probably beaten the best sprinter [over 50 yards]

Are the Mike &Val you refer to Micheal Harrison & Val Roberts? Just wondering as if it is Micheal is my cousin

Do`s it misfire or whatever when it`s on load ie, with drill plugged in & running?, some constant speed 2 strokes are set to run rich with out load, so that they don`t lean out when loaded, If it do`s the same loaded it`s probably carb trouble If it `s ok under load it`s probably a sticky governor

Working boat registration applied to the area where the local council passed the boat as fit to be living accommodation, & in some cases was far from where the boat was built. The certificate stated how many people could be accommodated, ie. Total 5 persons 1 male, 1 female,3 children. this was often ignored, & i was told many years ago by a man who had been born on a boat , that as a child he & 2of his siblings were hidden in the hedge whilst the inspection took place as there were to many for the registered number.

When I first went to view LILY prior to buying in 1957 just legible on the cabin on one side was British Waterways just written straight& not in an arc, the blue although tatty was darker than the later pre green, blue used by BW strange part was the fore deck/ end was still red & green + it still had the full/ new moons on the fore end