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Gardener 2LW or Kelvin K3?


Markinaboat

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Well, we collect our 2006 NT complete with existing K3 at the end of the month so no going back now! I've done as much research as I can (not just here) and it would seem that the K3 is bulletproof if rebuilt and installed properly. I am more than capable of maintenance so remain optimistic! A lovely chap called Dick Goble is coming to check the engine over the week after next. Apparently, he is one of the most knowledgeable Kelvin guys around.

Some of you will no doubt slate me to learn that I'll have a motorbike on the tug deck! ninja.gif However, I promise to fabricate a suitably well tailored canvass to keep her aesthetically pleasing!

 

We're getting very excited! cheers.gif

 

No slating from me! I'm jealous already because you've got a K3 and a boat with a bike on it

 

What bike?

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No slating from me! I'm jealous already because you've got a K3 and a boat with a bike on it

 

What bike?

Well I'm going to have to sell my trusty steed, a Triumph Tiger 1050. Yes, a modern one that doesn't burn your nether regions when it catches fire (I've been there on a Bonnie!). Lookin at smaller/more practical bikes. I've measured the deck area so it's all down to wheelbase, turning circle and of course weight. Ideally a BMW F800GS but not a lot lighter than mine. Thereafter (off topic, oops!) perhaps a Yamaha XT660R and if that'sno good will have to go the Street Triple, MT09/07 route...

 

Does anyone know about getting insurance for a 'bike on a boat'?

Edited by Markinaboat
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Well the thing is, they are not obsolete at all really are they? They were never current in the first plaice.

 

What working boat was EVER powered by a Gardner???

 

Not as far as I know. It was Nationals, Armstrong Siddeley, and Lister mostly installed in the working motors AFAIK. What other engine makes should be on this list?

 

I've just been looking through Sonia Rolt's excellent book, " A Canal People ". On page 48 there is a photo of a Barlow pair going round the turn at Suttons. Part of the caption reads

" as the motor was equipped with a powerful new Gardener engine "

 

The motor in question was the Braunston built Ian.

Correct, Mr Boilerman needs to do his homework - Ian, in the Barlows fleet, certainly, and possibly another, but if so, I'm struggling to remember which.

 

Also ex FMC Ibis which is reported as having a 2L2 at one time.

 

Plus, (if BCN tugs are allowed), there is that massive Gardner in "Enterprise" - I think it is a 5L2, isn't it?

 

EDIT: You could add Seffle to your list of engine makes actually used, I think.

 

I noticed they've squeezed in a forepeak cabin now. Nicely painted but somewhat clumsily designed and rather spoiling the lines of the boat in my opinion.

 

No obvious access into it that I could see. I wondered if one crawls through under the tug deck.

What is under the front of Oslo is a dedicated and fairly large generator.

 

The cabin is no such thing, it hinges up like a large car bonnet, to be supported on gas struts or similar. Looks (and sounds) very odd when left in this state with generator running (!)

 

If you look closely, even when its down, you can see it is not joined along the sides to the hull.

Edited by alan_fincher
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That story has done the rounds for a while but I am not sure if the Safrican contract was ever fulfilled, or even if it existed in the first place - Kevin Whittle in his A to Z of Vintage Marine Engines book casts doubt upon it. But the Safrican mines had been loyal customers - the last batch of original 2LWs built in 1973 were exported out there - so it's possible.

 

Some engines were imported to Ireland, yes, but Walsh's in Manchester told me that they imported theirs directly from S. Africa. As I mentioned in a thread last year, they have now restored all the ones which were restorable, being left with just two or three total wrecks, so yes, that source has dried up.

 

I have seen the narrowboat which is powered by what's claimed to be the last 2LW ever built and it does carry a date plate. I thought it was about 2000 but I may be mistaken.

 

There never was an order from South Africa post apartheid sanctions. Most of the mines re-engined their locomotives with Chinese engines. All the ex mines 2LWs came back to Europe via Trevor Mason in Ireland. Walsh's engines come from there as do some of ours, although we have picked up the odd one or two from Australia and Hong Kong. They are in short supply these days although we still have some two's and three's in the warehouse.A bit like Aldi.. When there' gone, there' gone!

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Thanks very much for that information. So when Walsh's told me, prior to my ordering an engine some nine years ago, that they had got them from South Africa, it was true but omitted to mention the "middle man".

So your company can still supply completely rebuilt 2 and 3LWs? Now that regulations prohibiting their installation in new boats appear to be imminent, are you experiencing a rush of orders? I would imagine that Russell Newbery must be building engines as fast as they can to meet the beat-the-deadline demand.

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We are not particularly bothered by the impending regulation changes which are similar to some national regulations already in force in parts of Europe. We have heard of some builders offering up new boats for first survey at registration with a modern engine only to change it out for a traditional engine at the first opportunity. There is no post registration scrutiny of the engine installations other than the usual safety stuff.

 

Very few boatyards supply new boats with vintage engines anyway and there is no restriction on an owner having an old engine if he is keeping the boats for five years.We know of one guy who intends to buy old boats for the registration and use a little of it in the construction of another boat. As it is a rebuild the rules don't apply. Incidentally the Beta's favoured by some yards are not compliant either nor are the Shires etc. So what to fit? Can't imagine that anyone will bend /interpret the rules to fit a Beta do you? rolleyes.gif

 

Most of our current work load is National Historic Ships register stuff with a Gardner 6L3 under rebuild now and a couple of Ailsa Craigs to follow. Most of the Narrowboat engines are either customer owned vintage engines removed for rebuild or engines for the owner build market. Up to our arses in Lister JPs as usual though.

 

Still doing engines for proper Dutch barges but they are all intended for use on the continent. Still time to get a 2 or 3 cylinder Gardner done before the rule change though!

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Still time to get a 2 or 3 cylinder Gardner done before the rule change though!

Well, as mentioned above, I've got mine -but I would urge, based on my experience of my 2LW, anyone thinking of having a new boat built to consider your offer seriously.

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