New guy on the forum

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galva_engines2017
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New guy on the forum

Post by galva_engines2017 » Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:28 am

Hello hello,

My name is Curt, and I've been bitten by the "ought to have a boat'' bug. I'm no stranger to steam, having grown up around both traction and stationary engines at various shows I've attended over the years, and worked on quite a few of the bigger stationary engines (I have an obsession with Corliss valve gear).

My wife is a New England native, and so has boating (sail) in her blood, but here in my home territory, the glorious American Midwest, our oceans are corn and soybeans, and our rivers are basically just ambitious mud, so sail boating opportunities are somewhat limited. That said, my lovely partner of 16 years suggested recently that we ought to build a boat for when we retire, and I suggested something with a steam engine in it, and after poking around online she agreed that a steamboat would be fun (she spends time with me in the powerhouse while I run a Murray Corliss generator set, and she crochets in time with the valve action, so she appreciates the beauty of steam).

Since deciding we ought to have/build/buy/rehab a steamboat of some kind, I've dug around a lot, purchased several books, and poked around some boat yards websites, and all that has lead me to believe that there are some parts of this project that are simply beyond my skill set. I have a few ideas rattling around in my brain for what I want our boat to be, but I'm leaning towards 3 specific things so far (please let me know if anything I'm thinking is dumb)

1. A fairly good sized, (20'+) beamy hull, like a Catboat. I'm seriously thinking a Catboat hull in need of rehab would be a great base for a steamer.

2. An engine that's already built, I'm not afraid of something needing an overhaul, but I am no machinist, and a set of castings is FAR beyond my abilities (I collect and restore hit and miss engines and old farm machinery, so wrenching on junk is something I'm familiar with).

3. A plant that can burn solid fuel, coal or wood. While I can see the benefits of LP or diesel firing, I personally think a wood burner is more appealing, quieter, and smells better to boot.

Anyways, greetings from Illinois, and hopefully spring will spring soon enough.
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RNoe
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Re: New guy on the forum

Post by RNoe » Tue Mar 29, 2022 4:00 am

Keep your eye on the NW Steam Society classified ads:

https://www.northweststeamsociety.org/classifieds

Steamboats appear occasionally, in the size you are thinking about.
I presume there are other listings to look at, too.
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fredrosse
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Re: New guy on the forum

Post by fredrosse » Tue Mar 29, 2022 10:44 am

Hello Curt and welcome to the forum. Getting a steamboat together can cover a large range of spending. For a boat in the 18-22 foot range a good used steamboat can be had at reasonable prices, depending on what is considered reasonable. Finding one with Corliss rotary valve gear will be quite difficult, I don't think I have ever seen one, although the logo for my company, the Beckersville Steam Engineering Co., does indeed show a counterflow two valve engine with clear Corliss origins.

The low expense route your skills could accommodate with relative ease. A used sailboat hull, with broken mast or bad sails, can be had for almost a "song", and by cutting out the centerboard well and fiberglassing in a propeller shaft, a reasonable steamer ready hull is achievable. I guess I spent well under $500 total, and about 40 hours work to have a fiberglass O'day sailboat ready for a steam plant, turning a 14 inch diameter prop on a 14 foot hull. That hull is somewhat small, you should go for about 17 to 20 foot hull length in my opinion, and your preference for a catboat hull is perfectly acceptable.

The steam engine can be found, however I find them relatively scarce and expensive, as I am sure you have some idea of this if you collect hit/miss engines. In a pinch you can make a functional steam engine from an old internal combustion engine, This would require some machining work, but this can be quite minimal. I once made a functional steam engine from a lawnmower engine, in one day, with only a hand electric drill, a grinder, and a blow torch, plus simple hand tools. I have also made efficient steam engines with a larger single cylinder industrial engine as the basis, however requiring a couple hundred dollars work from a machine shop. Look a "e-machine shop" they provide easy to use software to draw parts, and give you a price online, then build your part and send them to you in a short span of time. You can get lots of help on this forum if you decide to build an engine.

And now the boiler, something that requires reliable and safe fabrication, and will probably cost you around several hundred dollars (if you get lucky) to several thousand dollars of you have it built new. Again, forum members here will provide valuable information as you proceed through the procurement of a suitable boiler. Have a look at the FAQ section of this forum to get acquainted with sizing and options for building a steam plant.
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Kelly Anderson
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Re: New guy on the forum

Post by Kelly Anderson » Tue Mar 29, 2022 4:05 pm

Welcome aboard Curt! I believe that you will find steamboating a most rewarding hobby. Unlike traction engines or live steam railroading which tend to only operate on club grounds, you are only restricted to where you can find water to float the keel, and are thus free to travel miles in the direction of your choosing, either in company of other steamboaters, or on your own. This frees steamboaters from most of the political game playing that often takes place in "club" settings, and since steamboaters are not required to "get along" with other members of a club, the resulting freedom seems to result in everyone getting along famously, very refreshing.

These days, starting out in steamboating is pretty easy, in that the hobby seems to be losing people faster than new persons are picking it up. Accordingly, there are always several operational boats for sale, at prices far below the cost of their components. The downside is that we have recently lost "The Smokestack", which was the east coast newsletter for the hobby, which always seemed to have several boats for sale in the pages of every issue. As mentioned above, the Northwest Steam Society website has classified ads for boats for sale, as well as a links to suppliers page, as does the Steamboat Association of Great Britain (though very far away) https://steamboatassociation.co.uk/page-1854572.

Beyond that, there are networks of hobbyists sending email notices of equipment available. I recently received an email offering the attached 21' launch for sale. I believe that it is located in Michigan, not too far from you. If you send me a private message with your email address, I will forward the email about this boat to you. I have no interest financially or otherwise, it just came across my desk recently.
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Another way to find boats and components is to attend steamboat meets. The nearest one to you would be the Upper Mississippi meet in Eagle River, WI in September. At the same time, the Lee's Mills meet in New Hampshire is the largest meet in the country, and often has a boat or two with For Sale signs on them.
It was not easy to convince Allnutt. All his shop training had given him a profound prejudice against inexact work, experimental work, hit-or-miss work.
galva_engines2017
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Re: New guy on the forum

Post by galva_engines2017 » Wed Mar 30, 2022 10:36 pm

Thank you all for the warm welcome. I'm looking forward to learning more about steamboats, and especially having one of my own.
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Re: New guy on the forum

Post by PeteThePen1 » Sun Apr 03, 2022 2:52 pm

Hi Curt

Welcome to the mad but wonderful world of steamboating. As you have noticed from the above post everybody will try to help you with any questions you have. Our members have a variety of skills and there are some very well qualified engineers on the site who give very sound advice. There are also the former pen pushers like me with very little knowledge but 20 odd years of dabbling on the edge of the hobby. Our advice is probably of the less useful kind.

Now my non-technical advice would be to join the Steam Boat Association (of GB) which is an international affair although mainly based in the UK. As Kelly mentioned, we have lost some useful publications like Steamboating Magazine and Smokestack. However, the SBA's quarterly Funnel magazine is still going strong. Members of the SBA can access all the past issues as PDFs and, of course, search them by topic.

The SBA also has a Small Ads sales section in which boats and useful stuff is offered for sale. For my sins, I am the pen pusher that posts up the ads so all the mistakes are probably mine. If you care to go onto the website, look for the Small ads and right at the end you will find Walkin' Belle. If your boating options are mostly soil with attitude she might just be the boat to suit your bill. Howard is very happy to ship to the US on a trailer using the RoRo ferry from Liverpool. With the damage done to the UK economy by Brexit the exchange rate with the dollar is very favourable in your direction. So have a look: https://steamboatassociation.co.uk/page-1854572

Looking forward to seeing you posts of your progress.

Regards

Pete
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