I received this question from a site member...

> This is an enquiry e-mail via http://www.steamengine.com.au/ from:
> Alan XXX
>
> Hi
>
> My 10 year old son seems to be quite interested in stationary engines and
> I was wondering how much an small stationary engine would cost. We would
> prefer an old slow revving engine.
>
> Any information would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Regards
>
> Alan
>
>

Hi Alan, now that is a tough question to answer!

It isn't very helpful, but somewhere between nothing and whatever you want to spend. It depends on how lucky you are and what condition you're prepared to start with for a restoration. I still come across "barn fresh" engines (not run for a long time stored dry) that go with almost no effort at all. More often than not I find things that are varying stages of stuffed ranging from a basket case found in a creek to mostly ok but missing important (and expensive) components such as a magneto. If you find it before anyone else does then you'll be able to buy low. If you go to an auction and there are other engine people there, or worse yet dealers, the prices will be forced upwards.

If you have a search of ebay you will get some idea of the prices things are going for. I'd suggest people tend to pay higher on ebay than they would at a "real" auction.

Slow reving implies big - no small engines have the flywheel weight to pull off the slow revolation trick. I'd suggest at least a 5' flywheel. Big engines are expensive ($2500+ for poor condition working). Even if you were lucky enough to find a free/cheap one transporting it would be costly. To successfully run slowly the big engine needs to be nearly perfect.

You could consider steam - even little steam engines can run slowly. I've sold most of my stationary engines and moved into large steam models. I find them simply easier to deal with. My biggest steam engine weighs about 25kg vs. an average stationary that weighs about 250kg.

With your son, I've trusted my kids around running engines since they were about six but you need to educate them and keep an eye on them. A revolving flywheel is very unforgiving.

Regards
Paul