Love at First Sight!

Before I would buff and polish this old engine, I thought it would be best to see if she would even run. A friend brought his John Deere tractor over to help start the engine. We belted it up for the first attempt to run the engine. Surprisingly, after a short time, it fired and scared the heck out of me. A five-inch exhaust has quite a bark. It only ran for about three or four minutes and then it quit. I was thrilled because I wasn't sure if it ever would run after coming out of the work field. No one knew the last time it was operational. I decided the intake valve was in need of a complete overhaul to prevent blow-back and to be seated properly. I took the intake valve apart and had a local machine shop regrind the seats and make two new rings. I had the parts back in three days and had the intake valve back together. A week after the first start, we tried again. This time it ran much better, but it still had a sporadic run-stop situation. After more questions and answers along with testing, I determined the magneto was at fault. I promptly sent it away to have it completely rebuilt. It took three long anxious weeks to get it back. This gave me time to fine-tune other things that needed attention.

The next couple of times, Ron and I tried starting it by hand by turning the flywheels. Sometimes it would start very easily and other times it didn't want to run. A lot of engine people told me I'd need a pony motor or air starter to start that big an engine. I was determined to have it start easier. I remember telling my cousin that if I ran the engine once or twice a year I'd be happy. Well, I think I caught the engine bug, because I wanted to be able to run it any time I wanted.

After a lot of research, I thought a hot tube might be the answer. Russell Farmer, founder of O.F.E.S. and a contributor to this magazine, sent me a hot tube he had built out of stainless steel. I was able to start Miss Bessie a lot easier with it, but it still wasn't as easy as I was hoping for. I knew that the fuel pressure is very critical, so I decided to build a gulp tank system. What a difference! The hot tube and gulp tank did it.

This 25 HP Bessemer starts so easily now, even with those giant flywheels, I can now start it by myself whenever I want to hear that beautiful sound of a running engine. This summer I went through three 100 lb. tanks of propane. That is a long way from running it once or twice a year. Some engine people told me when it gets colder or the weather changes, it will be harder to start. I've proven them all wrong. This Bessemer will start in the wind, rain, cold, snow or whatever. I believe it was just a matter of setting everything up right. The engine was designed to operate 190 rpm under a load. On the first start up it ran around 175-200 rpm. Now the sweet lady idles at 60-65 rpm.