My Frick steam traction engine was belted to the Prony Brake and we were feeding sawdust to it to get the great spark show. This was at the Somerset Virginia annual “Pasture Party”.
@Heavy Metal I know this is an old video but I was wondering if you still have this motor. If so, could you show it in more details? I just picked one up a few days ago that I intend to restore and finding ANYTHING on these 6-7’s is a real struggle. Thanks!
@HeavyMetalEngines Nice! I just harvested my first wheat. Hard red winter! So I was told 1000 square foot would produce 1 bushel or 50-60lbs. I only have a 4x8x2 foot truck bed filled. Not sure how much Ill get. I also don't have any equipment to thresh. Might beat it with a stick🙄. Thank you very much!!
Great question! The pulley has a slight crown to it and the belt wants to walk to the higher part in the center. There is also a single twist in the belt and as it crosses over itself it helps keep it centered.
Hey Heavy Metal! Just in case you are interested to run a steam locomotive for a day, there is a narrow gauge railroad at the Youngstown Steel Heritage museum where you can spend a whole day operating the locomotive with a couple other people for only $250! Here is the video with the info. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dKFrdcx9GGE.htmlsi=Qn14qBF3xdXS-IMY
It is great to see it up and running! So does the fire box run all the way to the front where the exhaust then comes back thru the tubes towards the operator where it can then go up the stack?
Yes, that’s how it works. Most modern boilers in steam plants are of the same design. They can be hard to draft when cold starting but very efficient once hot.
SWEET Indeed. I have Olds seager type a 8hp I'm currently working on. Getting some much needed machine work done now and hop to have it running this summer for a few shows.
A 1913 catalog I have states, "a great savings by running the heat a second time through the water before reaching the smokestack." It offers a larger heating surface area with the water and allows for a shorter barrel. Compared to the normal locomotive style boilers the Huber does seem to take longer to draft properly to get up to running pressure but once there it seems to maintain the steam pressure better than other boilers I've fired.
It will definitely be running at the Somerset Pasture Party show in September 13-15, 2024. I might also take it to the Berryville Steam Show in July 26-28, 2024.
We have a Old Threshers here every year. In Missouri. They have a "Parade of Power" every day and it is so cool. All the old engines and tractors go around the track. They thresh grain and mill lumber.
Watching these machines is amazing, makes you realize how far we've developed our engineering capabilities and how fast and far we can go in the next 100 years in regard to machinery development.
There’s nothing wrong with standing on the flywheel if you know what you’re doing. It wasn’t even close to where it would fire off. I was going on a backstroke and it wouldn’t have fired if I wouldn’t of tripped the igniter. I’ve been doing it for 30 years so I think I know how to start a big engine. Some of my engines are so big there’s no other way to get the flywheel started without putting a foot on it. The key is to just putting your toes on it so if it does fire your foot slips off and away from it.
Robinson was the first to patent the heat exchanger as part of the displacer. Robinson used steel wool as the heat exchanger material. In Sterling's patents, even the Sterling Dundee patent, he used cast iron plates between the hot and cold chambers as a heat exchanger. Rider also used cast iron plates between chambers.
Here is a link to a good cut away of a Robinson Patent engine. You can see the steel wool used as the heat exchanger. collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co61992/robinson-air-engine-1914-hot-air-engines
If you are interested in hot air engines, check out the Hyliion KARNO. It is a modern 3D metal printed linear heat engine with integrated generator. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Gg-RNPlOi2c.html@@julienmarcinkowski1546
