Seafaring United

An Old Boat Shed Reveals a Working Treasure in the Form of a 10 HP United

By John and Dottie Farrar

The 10 HP United and winch setup (top) as found in the boat shed. The engine was probably built about 1917. A closer look at the winch (bottom).

Two years ago, I discovered a 10 HP United make-and-break housed in an old boat shed on Great Cranberry Island (just south of Bar Harbor) off the coast of Maine. The engine powered a humungous wire drum winch that hauled a 40-foot sailboat from the water into the winter storage shed. The boat shed housed the boat, cradle, engine and winch, not to mention a complete maintenance facility. Over 20 years ago the United was rendered obsolete by the installation of a smaller electric winch.

I tried, through a caretaker, to buy the United, but it turned out the caretaker also had designs on the engine, so my offer to purchase never got off the ground. The next year the engine's owner sold the whole property - including the shed and its contents - to a Cranberry Island summer resident, Creighton Murch, who wants to store and maintain his boats in the shed.

Hearing of this, I prevailed on Creighton, through a mutual friend, Dick Avery, to allow us to have a crank-up and see if we could get the United running. If we could get it running, I hoped Creighton might catch the "old iron bug" and use the United for its intended purpose as installed so many years ago. More than that, I was hoping he might be inspired to keep the whole installation intact.

Crank-up

The 10 HP United was in remarkably good shape, needing relatively little work to get running again. Close inspection shows a chain running from the right side of the engine forward to the clutch assembly.

In late July of this year, my wife, Dottie, and I sailed to Cranberry and entered "The Pool" on the high tide. Two Cranberry friends of ours turned 70 that day, so the evening was devoted to celebrations. The next day, 20 or so people showed up to witness the crank-up of an engine I had only seen through a window - an engine that hadn't been run for 20 years. Now I'm nervous!

The first thing we did was tend to the fuel system, which was, not surprisingly, pretty dirty. We first tried to flush the fuel tank of varnish - no luck, it was crammed full of sediment. Compressed air, courtesy of David Stainton's Cranberry Island Boat Yard, only stirred up more sediment in the tank, plugging the lines. We removed the tank entirely, shook it with bolts and a chain inside to knock out the sediment, and then flushed it repeatedly. We blew the sediment from the line, ..in, finally settling down at about 250 rpm.

An obviously happy John Farrar after getting the United running. Note the fuel tank attached to the wall at John's left and the igniter coil below it.

Well, I've seen excitement before, but seldom as I saw it on that day. Dick Avery, yelling over the engine's roar, announced: "The first guy that forgets this day loses!" Directing a question to no one in particular, I asked, "What modern engine could you keep next to salt water, unpickled and unheated for 20 years and expect it to start again in perfect running order?" I felt sort of foolish, but Dick and I had tears in our eyes. Creighton was just plain hooked.

I had just shut her down to make sure lubrication was adequate when David Stainton, who had arrived late, said, "Why'd you shut it down. I haven't had enough!" There was no lack of hands to pull her through, and this time she virtually threw her starters across the shed. Once we finally shut the engine down we spent the rest of the day freeing up the reduction/reversing clutch, the winch and the 500 feet of cable spooled on the winch drum.

Part of the crank-up party as they worked to get the 10 HP United engine running.

Later on, the caretaker told me the engine wasn't quite right, that it didn't sound quite as he remembered. Looking at the governor, I saw that it was missing a spring. We looked around and found the spring on the floor, with one of its hooks broken off. We heated it up, bent a new hook, put it back on and fired her up. The engine settled in at around 300 rpm this time, and the caretaker announced it was finally running right. What a memory.

I've recently spoken with Steve Spurling (who at 85 is the island's oldest resident), and he remembers the shed once housing a very long but narrow steam-powered yacht. Further, it turns out that Lynd Colby's father, who went by the name Tinker, was the skipper of the Red Bermuda, the 40-foot sailboat that was once stored in the shed and lifted by the United.

Vital Statistics

Engine:
United Engine Co.
Lansing, Mich.
Type A, 10 HP
Serial no. 700777

Winch Clutch:
Joe's Gear
Snow & Petrelli Manufacturing Co.
New Haven, Conn.

I'm still curious about the clutch, which was made by Snow & Petrelli Manufacturing Co. of New Haven, Conn. The clutch handle has the words "Joe's Gear" cast into it. I'd like to know if anyone has any knowledge of this company or its products.

As I finished this article I received a call from Dick Avery, who's setting up yet another crank-up party. Here we go again!

Contact engine enthusiasts John and Dottie Farrar at: P.O. Box 51, Brooklin, ME 04616.