rovingrom

The new owner (as of late 2020) is Martin Etheridge who is a member of this forum but who has not (yet) contacted the BrumTug Group on F.Book that I run. You should try to contact him through Canal world therefore!

Even though the previous owner removed the Travel Power, he left the drive pulley on the crankshaft. Paul Redshaw of Braunston removed it for me as it wasn't running true, but I still have the pulley on the boat as ballast!. It's around 45 cm diameter - quite a bit bigger than the alternator drive pulley, with open spokes, and is grooved around its circumference for a wide grooved belt. I thought it was a poor attempt at a replica flywheel but Paul said it was the Travel Power pulley. Trouble is the keyway key has gone so I can't easily refit the pulley to help rotate the crank to TDC. However your advice on the technique is helpful - thanks!

Thanks Dave, that's most helpful - I now know what I'm looking for! I was about to order some MANN W936/4 filters on eBay as I fitted my last Fleetguard LF678 around 100 hours ago and will need to do another oil change soon. In April 2019 @Markinaboat wrote in this thread: "The plot thickens. I just spoke to Mann + Hummel. It transpires that the 936/4 is anti drain as ALL Mann filters are. The 936/2 is an oem difference with the interior media". Perhaps I need to order several different compatible filters to see which have the rubber insert.......

Do you have a photo of ROSETTE we could see please? I'm the founder of the Facebook "BrumTug" group and am compiling a register and fleet list of the original Brum Tugs. I still have a few to find and locate, and your ROSETTE is a new one to me. If no photo, I'll have to pay you a visit (I'm not far away). I was talking to Andy Rothen late last year on this subject and specifically asked if he knew of any Brum Tugs, which he said he did not. One of those we are still trying to find was a 33ft 6in tug originally called MYOPIA and later re-named PEACE that became a workboat on the BCN, had a crane or Hyab fitted, and was apparently sunk accidentally on the BCN on several occasions. Its original owner is very keen to find out more and I wonder whether this is the one that Andy Rothen had/has, perhaps without realising its origins?! Edit: I should have added that Brum tug No.6, originally MYOPIA and later renamed PEACE, was last seen on the BCN extended to 50ft and named IVY WILLS. According to CanalPlanAC it is/was still carrying its original BWB/CRT licence number 76086.

Hope you fellow JD3-ers will forgive me re-visiting this thread, but I've re-read all 4 pages above and I'm still confused about which lubricating oil filters I should be using? The suggestion is that I should be buying filters with the anti-drainback valve, however several comments above suggest that this requirement is removed by Beta's marinisation of the JD 3029 engine. So which is it - anti-drainback needed or not? Someone said that all MANN filters have the anti-drainback valve, so the MANN W936/4 should be suitable? Someone else said that MANN W936/2 is an "OEM variant with interior media" but I have no idea what that means!? I'm currently using a Fleetguard LF678 filter - is this fitted with the anti-drainback valve or not? Can the valve be seen visually by looking onto the filter before fitting? If so, what exactly am I looking for? I bought the boat when the JD3 had a mere 184 hours showing. It now has 850 and I need to adjust the tappets. The large diameter Travel Power drive pulley has been removed as the previous owner disconnected and removed the Travel Power unit (within the first 184 running hours!). How do I turn over the engine to get it to TDC? It starts on the first key with no cranking, so if I disconnect the start battery negative to stop it bursting into life, I clearly can't rotate it to TDC using the starter motor! Is there a trick I am missing??

David, thanks for the heads-up, I wasn't aware of any of that. It doesn't really affect our potted history of Brum Tug ASTI but it's useful to be aware of.

Yes Athy, Brum Tug BEAVER (the first of two Brum Tug Beavers!) served in the Brummagem hire fleet from new (1984/5) until around 1989 when it was sold to Saisons (owned by Chris Gosling and Richard Saillet) based at Whilton Locks, who used it as a day boat in their small but eclectic fleet. As far as we know it was renamed TROS YR AFON around 2012 and went to the River Wey where we assume it remains, although we've had no reports in the last 9 years..... The photos below are courtesy http://nbrumpus.cut-net.co.uk/ and Mike Stevens. There are 2 YouTube videos of ASTI at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpg4ZMUxBPM and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSZ_W9neMTM&t=46s Colin

Hi Martin, I've only just seen your post from 03 April - welcome to Canal World and the wonderful world of Brum Tugs! It's really helpful to know you are the new owner of IBIS and to know she's on the River Wey. There should be a couple of other Brum Tugs on the Wey and we at the BrumTug Group on Facebook would be immensely grateful to hear if you find them. As far as I know they are: 1. TROS YR AFON: Originally BEAVER (1) and later ASTI. 71376 and possibly still in original 32ft form with long covered hold. 2. NUTHATCH: Originally BEAVER (2) 47299 but extended to 41ft and relicensed as 45879. Possibly still has long covered hold. We have very few photos of IBIS - apart from a recent photo and another posted on the Duck by the previous owner (Sean?), we have only the 2 below. The photo showing IBIS in black (courtesy Joy Arnold) was a very low res pic (12.7 KB) from the time before the cabin was extended. You can see that the name panel from the original all-black colour scheme has been retained, with the pale grey/green painted around it! In the Farmers Bridge photo, IBIS can just be seen behind Brum Tug No.2 EPOREDIA. This is an early photo and even then it seems that IBIS was painted black or battleship grey. If you are a Facebook user, please come and find us at "BrumTug" - you will be made most welcome! Colin

1990 is a while ago in the realm of steel hulls immersed long-term in water, especially in marinas with lots of other boats plugged into the mains. Even well-built hulls made from quality steel can be pretty rusty after 30 years. Brummagem used hulls/shells built by Colecraft (usually good quality steel), Malcolm Pearson (again good quality), and other builders. They also fabricated some hulls and shells themselves. Brummagem employed a substantial team of engineers, fitters, carpenters, painters, etc., for boat fitting out. Many were excellent. Many of their boats served in the Brummagem and Alvechurch hire fleets, marketed through Hoseasons through the 1980's and early 1990's. Hire boats are usually solid but relatively simple builds, lacking in luxury and refinement. In the early 1990's Brummagem were bought out by Alvechurch Boat Centre and all Brummagem activities ceased. I would suggest that the original build quality of a 1990's boat is less relevant 30 years on. It's now all about how the boat has been maintained and modified in those 30 years. Just get a full professional survey (not just hull) and make an offer accordingly.

Thanks to you both for posting. It looks however like Pat Barton's boat was not a BrumTug. It's missing the distinctive bow/prow "snout" that most (but not all) BrumTugs had (see my photo of Brumtug CITY OF BIRMINGHAM below). However also the curvy cut-out sides to the cabin front end are unlike any of the other BrumTugs and totally different to the design visible in the photo posted by RS2012 taken from the 1988 Hoseason's brochure of BrumTug QUERCUS / QUERQUS (name changed over the years!).

I know it's not a BrumTug post but as this is the most current Brummagem thread here, I'll post my full stock of 1976 Brummagem trip boat pics (4). The EUPHRATES PACKET is the one with the angled roof and skylights - steerer is Malcolm Wigley, now (I believe) living in New Zealand. BRUMMAGEM FLY is ex GUCCC COROLLA. Apols for the poor quality - they are scanned from slides that are becoming very pink with age!

Thanks John - I stand corrected! Feels like I'm going round in circles - a bit like going round and round the Oozell's Street Loop to catch as many glimpses of Sherborne Street Wharf as possible....

Quite possibly the same mould? All I know about the 3 boats in my Brummagem photos is that the hulls were Rugby Boatbuilders - quite distinctive at both bow and stern. Did you see my photo of LORNA II, a sponsored boat in the mid-1970's Brummagem fleet, and most definitely a Teddesley build:

Actually these personal memories are really helpful, and thank you for backing up Dave Moore's recollection. I think it all makes a great story - I can imagine it working out something like this: In-house boat decorator Dave Moore is about to do the signwriting on yet another recently painted BrumTug for the hire fleet. He's seen the documents around the Wharf referring to BrumTug QUERQUS (with 2 Q's). Along comes Alan Green, designer and academic (I knew Alan) and says: "Ooo no, this is the Latin name for oak trees and it's spelt with a "C"!". Our Dave is a good lad and just does what he's told, so he changes the second "Q" to a "C". The boat's in the water, the happy hirers are rolling in thick and fast, and then one of them says: "Hang on, in our Hoseason's brochure it says "QUERQUS" with 2 Q's but this boat's got one Q and a C. The company directors all rush off to check their brochures and lo and behold the hirer is right - Hoseason's reckon it's QUERQUS but the boat is QUERCUS. So next time the boat comes up for a re-paint, QUERQUS it is! I agree, the photo of No.1 son with his sausage sandwich might not help us a lot with documenting the changes in QUERCUS's name. But if I ever get round to writing a BrumTug book I might ask if I can use the photo anyway. Was it a QUERCUS Sandwich or a QUERCUS Sandwich then?? :)

April Fool's Day.....?? Maybe that's the explanation for the mis-spelling of QUERCUS?? Joking aside though, the "C" spelling is grammatically correct but I assume you saw the 2 images posted earlier by RS2021 of the boat in an Alvechurch hire brochure and the 1992 Hoseason's, clearly with the "Q" spelling? I think that "drop down bunk" may just be a Hoseason's euphemism for a traditional fold out "bed 'ole" - they wouldn't have been too familiar with them at Hoseason's I imagine! Realistically the sleeping arrangements can only have been the cross-bed double (there would not have been a bunk above that), the side bed in the back cabin which would only really suit a child if the cross-bed was also in use, and the double / 2 singles in the front cabin. The layout plans in Hoseason's brochures were notoriously incorrect!