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andrew
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - 09:16 am: | 
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Lauren W. sent in this interesting Hicks and steam related link:
Richardson Bay Steamboat Renaissance of the 1960s |
Lauren Williams
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - 07:03 pm: |
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Over the years I have had three Hicks engines, all of them good! The first was the "new style" 2 cyl. 12 HP that I put in the life boat shown on the web site.
The second was a 6 Hp new style
single in a 21 foot "Pittsburg Monterey", an inland gillneter and shrimp boat. These inland boats were very close to the early San Francisco fellucas in configuration and construction, with an outboard rudder on a vertical stern post but with the difference of having the "Chicken Beak" or clipper bow of the classic Monterey fishboat. I could tell that the "new style" 6 HP Hicks had not been original to the "Gitan". The engine beds looked like they had originally been set up for a 6 HP Frisco Standard.
The third engine was an early 8 HP "Old Style" that I had bought fom Bill Grunwald of Santa Cruz, CA. I installed this engine in a new 23 ton, 41 foot gaff cutter called the C. A. Marcy (57 ft. over the rig, 1200 sq. ft. of sail.) One friend described this setup as "conversational power". You could hold a conversation between the chugs of the engine exhaust. Another crew member after watching me dock her said, "It's like docking an aircraft carrier. You have to make all decisions 20 minutes in advance and you never get to change your mind." Four years later I got tired of keeping one eye out for the next anchorage down tide (in case the wind quit) and replaced the Hicks with a 427 cu. in. 6 cyl Diesel.
Hicks engines are FUN to run. Everything comes easily to hand and they are as solid as a church. Find one, put it in a boat. They are a great joy!
Lauren Williams |
andrew
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 08:57 am: |
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Robert sent in the following:
Quote:This is the Hicks in a boat from the Seattle area that attended the Classic Boat show in Victoria, B.C. The owner said the engine was then on its third boat. If this is a 'second-generation' Hicks, I am a little surprised to see an all-brass Manzel lubricator, as I thought those went out before the 20s?
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Lauren Williams
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 08:51 pm: |
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The Manzell Pressure Oiler is an important part of every Hicks engine I have ever seen. That oiler had to b very expensive, but remember, the Hicks was the Catapiller of its day, absolutely the best possible, most reliable engine that could be made at the time.
The fishermen called the Manzell oiler "the drip-o-later. Before starting the engine I would always crank the drip-o-later handle about 20 turns. On a single the drip-o-later only oiled the end of the wrist pin (half way up the cylinder wall on the front), the rings (on the port side of the cylinder), and the two main bearings adjacent to the crank.
Everything else, including all of the valve gear, the cam bearings, the igniter gearing, linkage, flipper and shaft, the excentrics for the water punp and air compressor and their plungers, the side bearings in the planitary reverse gear (those are easy to miss as they are a very small holes in the drum near the side gear axels), the forward gear clutch cone follower and the thrust bearing are all hand oiled.
On a four cylinder Hicks the drip-o-later is really quite an affair, lots of tubes running all over but it still oils only the rings, wrist pins and main bearings.
The wrist pin is important because the oil runs down the connecting rod from the wrist pin into catching slots at the big end with galleries that lead further down to lubricate the crank journal.
This all adds up to being the best reason I could think of for owning a really nice quart size pump oiler.
Lauren Williams |
Lauren Williams
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 09:33 pm: |
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The beautiful photos that Robert sent in show what is known in the S. F. Bay area as a "New Style" Hicks, built in the 20s.These engines are also known as "Yuba Hicks" because by this time they were being built by the Yuba Manufacturing Co. who retooled the engines for multi cylinder construction. The main difference is that in a New Style or Yuba Hicks the camshaft lays parallel to the crankshaft, along the starboard side, driven at half crankshaft speed by a pair of spur gears.
On the Old Style engines the cam laid on top of and at 90 digrees to (across) (athwart) the crankshaft, right behind the cylinder, driven by a spiral gear set off the crank. This means that the pushrods ran up the back of the cylinder and the rocker arms aimed forward in a very estheticly pleasing manner.
Another very obvious and visable difference between the two engine styles is that the Old Style has a round cylnder and the New Style has the squarish looking cylinders.
One comment, Every Hicks engine I have ever seen in service was green, with a little red for flash trim. Chrome Green Light and Signal Red seem to be the right colors.
Lauren Williams |
Lauri_Ann
| | Posted on Monday, August 04, 2003 - 12:13 am: |
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I want to know what people think of those old Hick's engines? My boyfriend and I have seen one on ebay and after seeing it in person, looks pretty good. The owner started the thing right up and it sounds great; he also mentioned that he posted this up on ebay a few months back. Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks. Lauri-Ann
The item no. on ebay is 2548295063 |
Steven Hopper
Visitor
| | Posted on Monday, October 11, 2004 - 12:37 am: |
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The glass on the port side of the Manzell oiler of my hicks single has no markings. How full should it be and with what# oil should I fill it? Perhaps dumb question but I need to know. Help! |
robert
Member
Username: robert
Post Number: 11
Registered: 07-2004
| | Posted on Monday, October 11, 2004 - 08:13 pm: |
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Happy Thanksgiving and in case you need to know NOW, I will say what little I know: straight 30 weight oil, no lighter and fill it 3/4 of the way up the sight glass to be safe. Did you notice the important comment above about winding the crank on the Manzel 20 or more times before starting? Good advice I needed too. |
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Nicholas Yeager
New member
Username: nixels
Post Number: 1
Registered: 06-2008
| | Posted on Monday, June 02, 2008 - 01:34 am: |
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I just made a video of a Yuba Hicks HY that is at the Penngrove Power & Implement Museum in Penngrove, CA. I'm editing a video of our older roundhead Hicks San Francisco and will post it tomorrow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heleyhqLWwk |
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