Steve56

They were made by TEK Tanks. Made of 10 mm thick plastic and came with a 10 year warranty. Not cheap, but I was very happy with them and also a good company to deal with.

I would second this. I had exactly the same experience with the bladder tanks that were fitted to my boat when I purchased it. They have now been replaced with plastic( made to measure) tanks which came with a 10 year warranty. Very pleased with them.

I have come across a few very old diesel tanks that have corroded through due to water. These are separate tanks, and not built in tanks that you would normally find in narrowboats.

Its a really good trip. Did it last year. Not on anarrow boat, but on a small open clinker built boat. Took the other side of the parting and went over Gloucester weir.

What's interesting is why you have coolant coming from location shown. Normally below that cover is where the original fuel filter would have been fitted. Also the cover shown does not look original as there would have usually been a raised cast cover fitted.

Gearbox ratio should not make any difference to boat speed as long as the correct propeller is fitted. Sounds like the boat may have had a 3-1 gearbox , but the propeller was to suit a 2-1 gearbox.

If it has been built as a generator engine it will probably be fixed speed. If this is the case it will need the governor weights and a couple of other parts changing to make it variable speed. Should be quite a simple job if you can get hold of the correct parts.

That barge is now on the G & S canal.

It was always a shame that cavers would dump there spent carbide in the cave and not take it away with them.

Or the person in front of you if they were a little slow.

£ 100 on ebay. I must dig out my old caving gear. Could be worth a fortune.

The one in the photo is a marinised air cooled version. They would have been sold for use in small open fishing boats and other similar vessels. Certainly not meant for narrowboats.

Yes. Available as both air and water cooled. Definitely a Petter A range engine. Could possibly be fitted with the SOM gearbox but not to clear in the picture. The SOM gearbox was an Italian made box.

It is important on these engines to occasionally remove the air cowling and clean all the cylinder fins. This is quite often overlooked, and can certainly cause overheating issues.

If it was a start-o-matic I don't think it would have had electronic governing or any of the air ducting fitted. More likely a marine gen set.