Petter engine in Milton Keynes looking for a home

Hi we have a petter 8hp universal petrol engine looking for a home it is ex military having been in Singapore at some time it has a REME certificate on the engine it has stood out for about 40 years but under tarp is this of interest to anyone?

Welcome sir

I'm interested, but not sure a trip to Milton Keynes would be classed as essential at the moment. To be honest it's probably a bit big for me to drag around (bad back) - sigh!

Hi time is short for the poor thing as the council are planning a massive clean up and sadly this is on the allotments and has been designated as rubbish I have been asking around but no one in the village is interested it is big as you say as it has frame around it I guess I should be able to post pictures on the site soon cheers Adrian

Hello and welcome!

Is there no one local who could store it for a while?

I'm fairly local but as Woodsman pointed out we are in lockdown and I wont go and collect and he wont be coming here, and I doubt anybody else would be stupid enough to collect it.

Maryalice

Hi Adrian, The Petter Universal PU8 8hp engine is a bit of a cinderella engine in stationary engine circles. That is to say that they are not desired by many enthusiasts. Which is a pity as they are good engine, and very capable of working, but they are heavy, thirsty and noisy. This makes the value of them rather low, perhaps £50-75 in an as found rusty state. If you get no takers I would suggest you put the engine on ebay with a start price of, say £40, and it should hopefully sell for more than this. If you still get no takers then, and I only advocate this as a last resort if the council are removing it as rubbish, the only option might be to remove certain parts to sell separately and scrap the remainder. It is a shame you are a long way for me to collect, and the current lockdown doesn't make it any easier for anyone.

Adrian,

I've just had a thought also, Milton Keynes Museum of rural life have a collection of engines, maybe donate it to them.

Maryalice

Hi we did try the museum but no feedback hence opening it up to more folks. I found it odd it had been all the way to Singapore. I guess it was built about 1933-45?

It was built in a frame for the military, does it have a wooden tool box mounted on the frame above the engine and a cross piece frame in front of the flywheel with the crank sitting in the middle of the frame with a cover on it, this is where you connected the auxilliary devices like pumps, generators etc, I had one with a pump but like Blue Cat said it was heavy, designed to be carried by two soldiers via the two pairs of handles fitted above the cylinder heads in the frame, it drank fuel like there was no tomorrow, I went bankrupt running it at a weekend rally
Just seen your pictures, definitely military so would have been built between 1939 - 1945, the military units had cast aluminium crank cases instead of cast iron.


Maryalice

Thanks for the details about it . It has sat on our allotments for as long as anyone can remember the oldest resident says she cannot remember it not being there yet it was wrapped in plastic and sackings, she had a plot for about 40 years. We wondered if it had been a pump for irrigation as the village was surrounded by fields.

Love the "DO NOT DROP" note tied to the engine Looks complete apart from the fuel tank cap, fuel tap, fuel pipe and the carburettor.

Missing toolbox and carry handles also.

Maryalice

Hello to the forum.
It's a shame nobody wants it would make a nice generator.
Andrew

Sadly he needs it moving, unfortunately none of us can go and collect it due to lockdown.

Maryalice