I believe by far the most important consideration is to arrange the rotation of the propellor so that when going forward the cross-head tends to be pushed against the cross-head guide/slipper-bar rather than pulled away from it . Clearly with bottle engines and any other engines with trunk guides th...

Dear Bert , Like everyone else may I welcome you to the Forum . I hope you find it as enjoyable and useful as I have . There is at least one vertical firetube boiler in the SBA library meeting the dimensions you have given , it was designed for me and I gave the designs to the SBA once my boiler had...

UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Although I am a friend of Jack's I have NOT been put up to this , neither am I getting any kick back . I've seen this engine and is very nicely made and runs well . It is quite sturdy but at the same time looks delicate and traditional. Edward

Dear Steve , Most people manage to overestimate their boats' top speed but the formula V=Root L x 1.3 is generally accurate ; but only generally accurate , it is not an absolutely inflexible inviolate rule . Arlette is definitely very fast and instead of using a factor of 1.3 a somewhat higher one s...

Dear Quinten The main reason that single cylinder engines have flywheels is so the energy stored in the flywheel will carry the crankshaft, and therefore the piston , past top and bottom dead centres and so allow it to run properly . This doesn't apply for a marine engine since the motion of the boa...

Dear Quinten , Have a look at this site : http://www.stationroadsteam.co.uk/Stuart/No.5a.htm . This gives the thread sizes that Stuarts said were needed . Unfortunately it does not follow automatically that the builder of your engine built it exactly according to the plans , but at the very least it...

Quinten , Judging by the prices that some other 5As have reached on eBay I think you have a bargain . I'm sure you have already looked at all the boats which are similar to your needs , but just in case you may have missed these ones have a look at Hot Pot and Minnow in the Register of steamboats on...

Dear Hayden , No harm in giving a link ; as you say : someone could well be interested . In most cases the original Stuart Turner castings were better than the later Stuart Models castings . As I believe the firm has again been sold I'm not sure what the new owners policy will be concerning the peri...

Dear Hayden ,

If it is as well made and presented as you say it is then I would say that it is a good buy .
Have a look at some of the comments I and Lopez Mike made to Quinten on page two of "Steamboating for Dummies" in the "Technical-Engines and Boilers" section of this forum .

Regards Edward.

Dear Quinten , A Stuart No 1 would be fine in a 9-10' dinghy especially if the hull lines are fine and the weight isn't too great. I hope I am not ruining your dreams ......BUT.... You are going to have difficulty getting getting your hoped for 10-15 kph from a hull of this length with steam power :...