[SEL] Intro

[Jerry Evans]

Hi Guys,
         I've already posted this to the Oldengine list - this is for the 
SEL members who do not belong to that list (are there any ?).

Hi All,
         I'm Jerry Evans and only been afflicted with this old iron 
sickness since late 2004. I'd always been fascinated by these old engines 
and had dreams of finding a Lister D to restore. In 2004 I made the 
remarkable discovery that there were other people afflicted with the same 
sickness and some actually collected and restored these things. In fact it 
was a worldwide phenomenon - I was hooked. I joined the SEL and Oldengine 
mail lists and have made many wonderful friends in spite of never having 
met them personally.

I was born mid 1949 in the Karoo region of South Africa - This is an arid 
semi desert area well known as a sheep farming area. My Dad farmed with 
sheep (mutton and wool), dairy cattle (Frieslands), and Angora goats 
(Mohair) and also grew maize (for silage), lucerne (alfalfa), oats and 
wheat and also had a farm butchery. My Mom had a General Dealer shop on the 
farm.

         My Dad was the most honest person I have ever known (probably why 
he never got rich) and I try to follow his example. I do not tolerate fools 
or dishonesty.

         We lived there until I was 13 and my first memories regarding 
machinery were from that farm. Our lights were supplied by a  1 1/2 H.P. 
John Deere E driving a 12 volt generator to charge a battery.  It was my 
older brothers job to remove the head and decarbonise it every school 
holiday. I'm still looking for one of these engines.

         Then there was the annual visit by the contract threshing machine 
- I think it was probably a "Ransomes, Simms & Jefferies" - big wooden 
machine with lots of fascinating spinning wheels and belts - driven by a 
steam engine in the earlier days. Us kids had to crawl under it and pick up 
all the spilled wheat while it was running - todays safety inspectors would 
have had a heart attack had they seen us!

We also used horse drawn (mules actually) mowers to cut the lucerne and 
maize. Milking was done by hand and I often had to turn the seperator 
(engine driven seperators were almost unknown here) and help weigh the milk.

         I was sent to boarding school at 6 so only spent holidays on the 
farm. I learnt to drive early on (about 7 or 8), first on a Grey Ferguson 
TED and later a Studebaker pickup. I hated that truck because the 
suspension was so hard - as kids we had to ride on the back and it was hell 
on the dirt roads. I remember begging my Dad to buy a Chevrolet as their 
suspension gave a much smoother ride on those roads but he never did.

         I was about 13 when my Dad sold the farm and moved to another farm 
in the Eastern Cape Province. This was closer to the sea (about 20 miles if 
you went by crow) and a higher rainfall area. By now my Dad had bought a 
brand new Massey Ferguson 35 diesel and this tractor did most of the moving 
between the old and new farms - I think it was about 130 miles one way and 
probably half of that was dirt road. It took a good number of trips towing 
a big farm trailer. The Studebaker engine was reconditioned and also did 
many trips.

         This farm had a Lister D driving a 32 volt generator - I remember 
thinking that we had really "come up in the world" because we now had 32 
volt lights as opposed to the 12 volts previously. This was my first real 
experience with an engine as it was my duty (during school holidays) to 
start this every night. It was pretty old and sometimes very hard to start 
but it always did. The sound of it "puttering away" in the background was 
an integral part of our evenings. It was the memory of this engine that 
stuck in my mind and was the cause of this rusty iron sickness that now 
afflicts me.

         Something that I really remember about this farm was that the 
electric wiring in the roof was a total mess and on my first school holiday 
I was given the task of rewiring the house. It was hell - the roof was 
corrugated iron and had no vents so it was like an oven inside with the sun 
beating down on it.
It was also totally dark and my only light source was a Coleman paraffin 
camping lantern which itself gave off a good amount of heat. Also the 
accumulation of dust up there, when mixed with sweat made me look decidedly 
"African". It took me about a week to finish but at least all the lights 
now worked.

         On leaving school I was conscripted to the army. I volunteered to 
become a Paratrooper and successfully completed my army life there. I did 
about 36 static line jumps out of Dakota's and Hercules C130's.

         My Dad became ill at this time and I stayed on at the farm and 
helped him for little over a year but it was never my intention to go 
farming and once he was well again I moved to Johannesburg which is in the 
centre of South Africa's main industrial region.

         I married in about 1972 and had 2 children, a son and a daughter. 
I got divorced in 1991 and have stayed single since and have no intention 
of changing this status (all the girls my age are so old !!).
My daughter Jacqui shares my love of old engines and has her own restored 
Wolseley which goes to shows with us.

         My working life has been mostly in the plastics industry starting 
in sales and eventually opening  my own company selling engineering 
plastics (Nylon etc.) and decorative plastics (Perspex etc.). I sold the 
company in 1986 partly to be able to spend more time at home with my 
teenage children and have since been working from home. I live on a 5 acre 
smallholding with 150 metres of river frontage about 40 Km south of 
Johannesburg.
I currently run a small sign business as well as a data recovery service.

         My engine collection consists of only 7 restored engines. the 
oldest being the 6 H.P. Wolseley Type R (1928) that I'm currently busy 
with, then the  1 1/2 H.P. Ronaldson & Tippet N / Alfa Laval
(1938) imported from Australia thanks to Reg Ingold, a Ruston & Hornsby PT 
(1949), 3 Bernards (1951) and a couple of Wolseley WD's (1960's).

         The "awaiting restoration" list is much bigger and has about 25 to 
30 engines in it including a LeRoi twin cylinder, Bradford, more Bernards, 
about 5 Lister D's (including a 32 volt genset), 2 Lister LD aircooled 
diesels, about 8 or 9 Wolseleys (including 1 aircooled), 2 Moffat Virtues 
(will make 1), an aircooled Ronnie N, a few Villiers, a 1946 Briggs & 
Stratton genset, a Petter genset and some others.

         The only 2 engines that I really yearn for are a small Ruston & 
Hornsby PB and of course a John Deere E (1 1/2 H.P.). I'm not sure where 
they are at present but I do know that they have my name on them and will 
come home sooner or later. Maybe a hopper cooled Lister A will join them?

         The Wolseley R that I am currently busy with is probably the 
biggest I would want to go, I prefer the smaller engines. Of course, if I 
ever won the lottery that might change but to do that I would have to start 
buying tickets!

         I also have a Sunshine Harvester Sheller/Husker(complete and 
working but unrestored), a Ransomes Moon Corn Sheller (currently busy with 
restoration), A Massey Harris Pony (unrestored), a Massey Ferguson 35 
Petrol Paraffin (in use), a Letz grinder (unrestored), a small hand 
operated Bentall corn grinder and a whole bunch of other beautiful old 
rusty things.

         Apart from the 2 tractors I have acquired all of these in the last 
2 1/2 years so I think it's about time I stopped buying and started fixing. 
Considering that it takes me from 3 to 5 months to do an engine in my spare 
time (thank goodness I do not have a wife) I've got enough to keep me busy 
for a long time. The only problem is that the hobby is growing here and our 
scrap iron industry is thriving so when an engine appears you have to snap 
it up even if it is just to save it from those big melting pots in China.

         My webpage is here:
<www.oldengine.org/members/evans/> Feel free to drop by and have a 
look.


Keep the revs up (or down)
Jerry Evans
Near Johannesburg in Sunny South Africa.
Tel. (016) 365-5787
Cell: 083 293 7191
Visit our website for old engines in South Africa.
www.oldengine.org/members/evans  

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