Hello from Devon and please help!

Hello!
I've got my first engine and I'm very excited about it.
Really a total noob about this and have some questions which I hope aren't too basic for you all.

I've worked out it's a Bradford "king of all", probably later from the flywheel, although can't tell how late or which model. The dataplate has rusted away and there's nothing resembling words left. It has a wico ek magneto, and the whole thing smells of petrol.

How do I check oil levels? (If that's even a thing?)
How much water to put in?
How do I start it?
How do I stop it?
What should be lubricated before use?
Am I right in thinking the petrol goes in the cylinder fixed to the top?
Any maintenance I should be doing before trying to start it?

Any advice or knowledge about the engine would be greatly appreciated, thank you all.

Hello and welcome!

Yay another bradford here is a pic of mine

Hello!

Looks like a lovely engine!

With regards to getting it running and your questions you might be able to find some instructions online. If not I would recommend finding someone who already has a similar model to talk you through it but failing that it shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

Fuel will go in the cylindrical tank, water in the hopper. I would fill it to about 2 inches from the top.

Oil more complicated - if it moves it probably needs lubrication! It looks like there might be an oiler on each side where the bearings are from your photos? Definitely there should be some form of lubrication in the crank but really you need a manual or someone who has a manual to tell you what types of oil, how much and where!

As a first step I would take the spark plug out and spin the engine a few times to see if you have a spark, if you have a spark theres a good chance it will run without much work given fuel, water and lubrication. Do you have a starting handle for it?

The good news is these things (stationary engines in general) were designed to be agricultural and run with little maintenance in imperfect conditions looked after by local mechanics/farmers/amateurs with spanners so it shouldn't take much to get them running.

Pop along to your local Steam fair/country show and you should find someone who can help you further or connect you to a club!

Hi and welcome to the forum.  Sound advice from 'will-woodman'

That hopper looks pretty rusty - dig out the worst then fill with citric acid solution (kettle descaler) and leave overnight then drain and flush out and leave to dry.
I'd also clean out the fuel tank. If rusty, repeat above procedure. Then some some paraffin and a few nuts/bolts,  cap back on and pretend you're making a cocktail for a while then drain.
IIRC Garak has something similar - he may be able to help.

Museum of Internal Fire has a manual but it's an earlier spoked flywheel version.

Thanks so much both, appreciate you taking the time to answer.
I'll see if I can find the manual you mention and give all that a go tonight/tomorrow.

Hi all,

I had a good go at it today, drained the descaler and the water hopper looks much better. Got some real chunks out. Checked the fuel tank and it looks to be in ok condition, save for a piece of metal floating about so I'll have a go with a magnet on a stick another day.

I think I've familiarised myself with all the parts to oil, including one spot which helpfully says oil on it. I've also found two holes that I'm not sure what they're for exactly. Located to the back beside the flywheel on the right hand side. I'm cautous to just drown whatever is at the bottom in oil, does anyone know/guess what they're for please?

Found the manual and promised on the internal fire website, thanks again both! Very helpful. There's only one part I'm not sure about, as it's for the earlier version:

"Fill the cylinder lubricatior with good quality motor oil. The lubricator has been adjusted to drop at the rate of 10 to 15 drops per minute, which is the correct quantity."

On the earlier version is that the two glass containers that sit almost above the flywheel? They aren't present on this one. Is there an alternative, or am I missing something?

I've found a place near me doing a Halloween themed steam fair so I'll attend that and see about meeting others in the hobby.

Thanks again for your help and patience,

Hello mate , in an old engine like this I,d be putting equally old - fashioned oil in it , so a good quality mineral based 20W - 50 should be o.k. , you have to work with the fact that in the old factories accuracy in machining as we SHOULD be able to appreciate it didn,t exist , so if it fitted & went in , good enough . Using thick oil in an ancient machine is never a mistake , using too thin & modern synthetic a version could well be . If in doubt , as the other guys say , talk to your local vintage clubs . My old Dad,s Fordsons used oil like golden syrup in the gearboxes , you propped the drum upside down over the oil filler on lumps of timber & left it there all night , in the morning it had ran in , or out all over the floor !

spookykooky wrote: I've also found two holes that I'm not sure what they're for exactly. Located to the back beside the flywheel on the right hand side. I'm cautous to just drown whatever is at the bottom in oil, does anyone know/guess what they're for please?

These two holes are oiling points before start up.

Your engine has twin push rods for operating the valves, so that will date it to post 1946.

That is spectacular thank you Blue Cat and littlengines, I'll oil it up and have a go at running it next week then. Very excited. Good to know the date, thank you everyone for being so welcoming and helpful.

Here is my 2p's worth.

Oil: Dont use multigrade oil designed to be used in modern cars, they contain detergent that keeps any s**t in suspension which is then removed by the vehicles oil filter, our old engines don't have a filter so ours rely on this rubish settling out in the bottom of the engine. A good sae 30 weight oil made for vintage vehicles is what I use. Morris sae 30 classic motor oil

Starting: It's my experiance that these particular engines can 'Kick back' when starting so, don't wrap your thumb around the starting handle (there are YouTube videos on this). Before starting use one hand to depress the inlet valve with one hand and hold it in this will make it much easire to turn over the engine with the other hand as the engine will have little or no compression, now when you have got some speed up release the inlet valve and keep up a good cranking speed and the engine should start.

Wico EK: If you have already have a good spark the engine should run OK. If you have a problem I have produced a .PDF on setting the points and replacing the condencer on an EK, I will send it to you if you would like a copy.

Good luck, these are nice engines.

Here is mine running:

https://youtu.be/T5eIi5spal4?si=jn5QMkZ5fI8Rw0Ej

Thanks very much for the warning, I'll definitely make sure to be watch out for that. Can I ask what the inlet valve is please? The mesh covered circle on top?

I believe the spark should be fine as it was sold as a runner, but it'd be really handy to have that pdf on hand if you're giving it out please.

What a beautiful engine, hopefully mine will look that good one day!

Thank you very much Garak

Garak wrote: Before starting use one hand to depress the inlet valve with one hand and hold it in this will make it much easire to turn over the engine with the other hand as the engine will have little or no compression, now when you have got some speed up release the inlet valve and keep up a good cranking speed and the engine should start.

That's not so simple on a Bradford with both valves mechanically operated. Holding the inlet valve in is OK on an earlier Bradford engines, but on this one you are likely to drop the inlet push rod.

spookykooky wrote:Thanks very much for the warning, I'll definitely make sure to be watch out for that. Can I ask what the inlet valve is please? The mesh covered circle on top?

On your engine I think the inlet valve is the upper valve in the cylinder head, the exhaust valve is the lower valve. Holding the inlet valve in is not easy on your engine, see my reply above. You may be able to hold it slightly in without dropping the push rod, but enough to release the compression sufficiently to get a reasonable starting speed. I'm guessing a bit here as I only have the earlier version with the exhaust valve mechanically operated, and the inlet valve sucked in by the engine.

The mesh covered circle is the crankcase breather.

My bad, I had not noticed that the inlet valve on yours is mechanically operated so that trick does not work on your engine. PM me regarding the magneto info.

I,m not at all familiar with these engines , but just a thought having once seen Mr Griff Rhys Jones,s excellent programme about a barge voyage he & film crew did in Belgium , everything went fine until the first night they tied up , & stopped the engine ( for those who haven,t seen this , a belgian barge is a huge almost sea - going vessel , many times bigger than our narrowboats ) . Come morning it fell to Mr R.J. to start the engine , he went down into the engine room & was confronted by a massive single cylinder behemoth that was bigger than him , he had,nt been down in there before & hadn,t seen it , & so duty bound he grabbed the starting pin in the flywheel ( itself a lethal contraption as it has no safety breakaway ) & embarked on the utmost valiant effort to crankstart a bloody Bolinder from stone dead , a few minutes & one hell of a lot of concentrated rupture - wrenching later he emerged out of the engine room , exhausted , beaten & looking for help . He went down the towpath along that massive canal , & managed to gasp to another guy on another barge the word " Bolinder " , who got the point immediately despite the fact he couldn,t handle one word of english , & went back with Mr R.J. to assist .
The correct way to crank - start a Bolinder is to stand sufficiently clear of that lethal flywheel pin so not to get hit by it when that engine finally gives up the fight & fires , then form a rocking motion while holding said flywheel pin , bouncing the engine against either side of it,s own compression point , then get faster , faster & faster at it , when you feel the compression drop down a bit because the engine has now lost a bit of air or gas above the piston & you also know you,re beginning to run out of oxygen , heartbeat , the will to live etc whack the damn thing right over the top of it,s compression point & really mean it . Do this bit as if you,re going to s*+t or bust , you,re only going to manage it once .  This Bolinder was a massive single cylinder 2 - stroke , so this was possible , in the right hands it went , & revved up . Out stepped the said other guy , triumphant & well deserved , he,d beaten it , & showed Mr R.J. how to do it . I notice the whole film crew kept well back out of proceedings & "allowed " the unfortunate Mr R.J. to handle it on his own . Just thought you lot might like to know .

Thanks so much everybody for your help and for being so welcoming. I got the engine running today and it sounds glorious! Some smoke and a few bangs but it's not half bad.

Great to hear! Well done and welcome to a new hobby!