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| Sterling 8 Cylinder Model 'F' Engines... |
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jedidiah
New member
Username: jedidiah
Post Number: 1
Registered: 12-2016
| | Posted on Monday, December 12, 2016 - 11:25 pm: | 
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Hello Fokes - 1st Timer Here
I've been looking for information about the above mentioned engine. If I've missed what I'm looking for, my apologies, but I have looked.
The Sterling Model 'F' is listed as the engine originally installed in Herreshoff Coastal Patrol Boats of the early 1900s. Many years ago I came across what's likely to have been the last surviving example of the 62' Patrol Boats. She'd sunk at the dock, been refloated, & was listed with a broker in Portland, OR. At that time I hadn't yet looked at enough boats - & at this time I'm wishing I'd just bought her. When I went back for another look she was gone & I have no idea what happened to the boat.
I am still looking for her on the off chance that she's still afloat, but I'm also beginning to wrap my head around the idea of building a similar boat. This will be my home upon retirement.
What I'm looking for are the basic specs of the original engine(s), particularly dimensions & weight. My plan is a battery/electric cruiser &, if I'm correct in my assumption that we're talking about a 2,000 pound engine in a boat with a 600 gallon fuel capacity, my electric propulsion options should leave a load capacity of several thousand pounds for a bloody fortune's worth of batteries.
Yes - this is a major undertaking, but I have a minimum of 12 years to retirement & also the funds & the will to do it. Any tidbit of information is useful, it all accumulates.
Thanks Much, JED
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ldobbins
Senior Member
Username: ldobbins
Post Number: 204
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 13, 2016 - 10:11 pm: |
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Greetings Jed,
The model F was a cool and heavy engine. There are very few that ever seem to make the light of day. But they do show up some. I do have additional info in my files on them but here is a 1917 Ad for the Model F line. Please let us know the specifics of what you are looking for.
Cheers,
Lew "The West Coast Sterling Guy" |
ldobbins
Senior Member
Username: ldobbins
Post Number: 205
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 13, 2016 - 10:11 pm: |
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jedidiah
New member
Username: jedidiah
Post Number: 2
Registered: 12-2016
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 14, 2016 - 02:18 am: |
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Thanks for the reply.
As stated, I have no interest in running 100 yr old propulsion technology. This may seem a bit blasphemous in this particular forum, but that's in no way disrespectful of what was being achieved by Sterling & Herreshoff in a time when the house I live in today still didn't have wiring or indoor plumbing. This house was built in 1900, & that's a huge part of why I live in it. This house has a character & charm that no modern home can offer, & a furnace w/ AC, so ...
Boats tend to be designed & built around their propulsion systems. What I know about the Herreshoff Patrol Cruisers is that they were 60-62' in length w/ an 11' beam. They displaced approximately 30 gross tons & were unbelievably fast given their full displacement hulls - incredibly efficient, Wizard-of-Bristol displacement hulls.
What I know about the engines that they were built around ...
Sterling Model F, 200 HP
8 cylinders w/ bores of 5.5"
2,150 pounds
750 lb/ft of torque (200 hp x 5,252 / 1,400 rpm)
I don't know the overall dimensions of the engine or even the bore spacing, but I can guess that the cylinder block is approximately 48" long, plus another foot to 18" for the gear box. Width & height? No clue, but given the length I can use the photos to scale the height.
I spent a good portion of the time I should've been working today looking at electric pod propulsion systems. What I found easily were small units for sailboats & monstrous units for ships & towboats, so I'm still looking for 7 to 800 lb/ft-makers.That option would delete the weight of drive shafts along with approximately 8,100 pounds of engines & fuel. The tanks were in the engine room, so in an electric conversion or a modern redux that engine room would basically be a battery & electronics bay.
I guess I have enough for my purpose, but as with my house with the ginormous floor to ceiling windows, pocket doors, transoms, mortised lock sets, absolutely beautiful woodwork & AC, I'm always interested in more.
Thanks for the reply, JED
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ldobbins
Senior Member
Username: ldobbins
Post Number: 206
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, December 15, 2016 - 12:09 pm: |
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Here is a 1917 Sterling model F drawing. it is from an installation manual. Unfortunately it references parts and not dimensions. But I have added a blown up dimension chart for my R1-135 6 cylinder. It is very close to a model F.
Cheers,
Lew "The West Coast Sterling Guy"
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ldobbins
Senior Member
Username: ldobbins
Post Number: 207
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, December 15, 2016 - 12:10 pm: |
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Use the "135" column. |
jedidiah
New member
Username: jedidiah
Post Number: 3
Registered: 12-2016
| | Posted on Thursday, December 15, 2016 - 05:34 pm: |
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So the 8 cylinder Sterling would be around 90" from flywheel to output flange ...
!!!
I just told She Who Rules that if we slapped another pillow-top mattress down on the queen sized bed, sliced it in half, then added 10" to the length ... that's one 8 cylinder Sterling engine.
Neither of us are easily wrapping our heads around that.
Is your engine in service? What do you do with it?
BTW, Kurt Hasselbalch, curator of the MIT Museum's Hart Naughtical Collection tells me that complete drawings of Herreshoff's designs are available, & will be digitized & online by mid 2018. Nat Herreshoff was actually a steam engineer by training, & was one of MIT's earlier graduates. I'm sure that I'll find engine bedding details within the stack of detail sheets for each boat, & that collection may well be a solid resource for your guys here.
Thanks much for your time, JED |
ned_l
Senior Member
Username: ned_l
Post Number: 75
Registered: 08-2012
| | Posted on Thursday, December 15, 2016 - 09:22 pm: |
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Your idea of building a 'replica' sounds like a most interesting idea. I suspect though that she would make a very sparse livaboard. Given what I suspect would be her very narrow beam she really wouldn't have much interior space, given her length. Just something to think about |
jedidiah
Member
Username: jedidiah
Post Number: 4
Registered: 12-2016
| | Posted on Thursday, December 15, 2016 - 11:15 pm: |
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No worse than a lot of sailboats, & the objective or the reason for selecting this displacement hull is efficiency for electric propulsion. If I have to build it, it won't be a page by page replica above the waterline - more like "inspired by & a tribute to", but the wetted hull needs to be very slick, & for that I went to the guy who designed & built six America's Cup winners in a career that spanned 75 yrs. 100 yr old Herreshoff sailboats are to this day among the fastest of their classes in the water, & the primary advantage of Herreshoff's powered patrol boats was efficiency. In a full-on fight they had their shortcomings, but they burned a lot less fuel getting there.
At the least, there's something to be learned from studying his vessels & how he achieved Lighter, Stronger, Faster.
I'd far prefer to sail, if for no other reason than that much of the rest of the world features a significantly lower cost of living than anyplace close to the water can in the U.S. The notion of a M/Y for inland cruising is a compromise position with a woman who's afraid of passage making in a sailboat. Given that she's my age, knows when to give ground, & still features a reasonably narrow beam herself, I think it's a worthy compromise.
Let's let her be the one to toss around the wet blankets. |
robert
Senior Member
Username: robert
Post Number: 817
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 16, 2016 - 11:36 am: |
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15 or so years ago I saw an ex-USN 60-odd footer on the hard at Pt. Townsend. I don't know if this is the boat you saw in Portland or not.
http://imageshack.com/i/plyOrgVLj
http://imageshack.com/i/plLxgd4zj
(There's no icon for inserting image links, only a hyperlink icon and that doesn't work with images, so you'll have to click on the links above.)
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jedidiah
Member
Username: jedidiah
Post Number: 5
Registered: 12-2016
| | Posted on Friday, December 16, 2016 - 01:33 pm: |
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It certainly is a similar boat, & I don't see any definite features that exclude it, but if it is the same that time on the hard changed it.
The boat I saw had the wheelhouse extended back to the funnel with a companionway to below-aft on the starboard side & another companionway below-forward on the port side. Also, the wheelhouse roof extended back as a canopy over the aft cabin. That nearly full length canopy is one thing that stuck in my head while looking at other boats. Even if the "funnel" that originally served as engine room access where retained, the canopy & wheelhouse roof is a 7.5 kW solar panel waiting to happen. Peel & sticks would be unobtrusive enough, & they're getting better by the day.
Not sure what browser you're using, but in Safari the dialog I'm using right now includes an "upload attachment" button, & after resizing the pics I've included went straight to the forum's server without requiring a host.
Thanks for going to the trouble of posting what you had - that's a cool old wreck of a boat!
JED |
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