The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

I have a 62' paddle wheeler on the Murray River in Australia. Imagine your old style paddle steamer from the 1800's with a paddle wheel each side of the boat.
Instead of a steam engine a Fordson power Major Diesel 4 cylinder has been dropped in. A pair of very large cogs are bolted on where the back wheels used to be and chains from these drive a shaft attached to the paddle wheels.
It all works very well.
However I want to get rid of the original oil bath air cleaner & bolt an air cleaner straight on top of the carby.
Is this ok?
Is there anything to watch out for?
Is any automotive cleaner ok or....?

Mark

Hello Kingfisher61 and welcome. Photographs PLEASE! I'd love to see this paddle wheel setup! Is there a reduction in the chain drive, do you use the various tractor gears to change speeds and reverse, and what is the steering setup? Cheers to you!

I presume you steer by the use of independant brakes or is there some other mechanism ?

This has got to be the most exciting conversion yet! Please some photos. Which is your nearest town on the Murray?

I'm flattered by the interest.
I'll try to post some photos, but bear with me. I'm heading there this weekend and will try to take some that that are meaningful. Photos of the boat shouldn't be too difficult but the engine and mechanicals are surrounded by 30 tons of redgum hull - photos just won't work very well.
To answer several questions together;
Both chains run up to a solid 3" shaft, about 25' long, which lays across the hull with a 9' diameter wheel on each end. Yes, there is a reduction but i've never worked out what it is. Forward is low third (revs unknown as the tacho is not connected, but just a comfortable rumble) giving a paddle speed at normal cruising of about 32 RPM. There is no need to work through the gears as you would on land as the paddlewheels are acting in a slippery medium.
There is no independant control of the wheels. All steering is by the rudder at the back of the boat - another 6' construction of redgum.
The nearest major town is Mannum - good luck Googling that.

Don't think you will have a carb on a diesel!

You would need an air cleaner with the same spec as the oil bath otherwise you will be pulling dirty air into the engine and it won't last long.

Try looking for a Thames Trader air cleaner, it will do the job you need.

Remember what we were told on engine service courses. For every gallon of diesel you burn, you burn the equivalent of 2000 gal of air. That will carry a lot of grit into an engine.

Would it not be possible to fit a modern dry twin element air cleaner from a modern breaker (scrapper) truck or tractor?

You are only a stones throw in Aussi terms from Adelaide?

Pete, that I guess is my question.
A dry air cleaner will make life easier, but is there anything to watch out for?
Obviously it will need to be the right size to bolt on.
Does it have to be a particular diameter to allow for enough air flow?
I read something somewhere about air intake effecting the governor (or was it just the idle speed)? Will this be a consideration if I change the air cleaner?
I guess the simple question is; If I find a dry air cleaner which fits from a petrol or diesel motor, will that be ok?

I would expect that the air cleaner requirements on a water-borne engine would be much less than what is required for a machine working in the fields full time. If you can find a dry filter that will fit the intake stack, I think you'll be home free. Can't wait for the pictures- how long is the boat?

Hi "kingfisher61",you only would require an oil bath air cleaner in normal or dusty conditions, just how much dust will you get on the Murray river? and if you find a dry air cleaner for your Majors engine just bear in mind that diesels require much more air than petrols. TSG.

Just heading to the river now for the weekend. I'll try to get some photos of the workings.
The boat is 62' long, 16' wide, 25' wide across the paddleboxes. All traditional timber construction and weighs about 35 ton.
I'll think of you all while I soak up some river peace.
I won't return until early Tuesday morning so hope I can work out how to upload photos Tuesday night.
By the way, this sort of adaption using a tractor to power the paddles is not unusual. There are several others that have done the same.

Find a filter unit from a modern truck of a similar size engine displacement ought to do the trick as most will be pulling more air through with higher revs and turbo.

Thanks Pete. That makes sense.
I'll have a go at posting the photos tonight

I hope this works ok. I've not posted photos before.

The Fordson being dropped in Sept 1989


Current view of engine


View from the other side of the wall


The complete product

Great photos. Mount 2 extra bearings on the cost shaft and cut it in half and Robert is your cousins Dad. You have independant paddle wheel steering. Mind you it might put some enormous strain on the thing as the powered one doubles in speed.
Assume that the skid is that of a Power Major.

Was the last picture fairly recent? With the water that cloudy colour does that indicate some recent rain or does it always look like that in that area?

What a marvelous "toy"! I'd love to crawl all over that setup to see how everything is done. Paddle wheelers have always been noted for shallow draft; how shallow can you go with it? What was the hull built for originally and what was it's original power plant? Multiple fuel tanks? How much fuel does it hold and what is its range and top speed? Sorry for all the questions but I can probably think of a hundred more!

Great use for this tractor.

There has been made many conversions but never seen one like this.

How about a trip from Goolwa to Yarrawonga? We could all come along!

essex pete wrote:Mount 2 extra bearings on the cost shaft and cut it in half and Robert is your cousins Dad. You have independant paddle wheel steering. Mind you it might put some enormous strain on the thing as the powered one doubles in speed.
Assume that the skid is that of a Power Major.

I've certainly thought about it but the strength & simplicity of the current system is great.

essex pete wrote:Was the last picture fairly recent? With the water that cloudy colour does that indicate some recent rain or does it always look like that in that area?

That picture is only about 4 weeks old. The rains have brought a lot of water down the Darling which feeds into the Murray about 650km upstream from me. The Darling has always carried a lot of very fine silt - it just doesn't settle out.

Kim wrote:Paddle wheelers have always been noted for shallow draft; how shallow can you go with it? What was the hull built for originally and what was it's original power plant? Multiple fuel tanks? How much fuel does it hold and what is its range and top speed? Sorry for all the questions but I can probably think of a hundred more!

The hull was built for this. The first photo was taken just a few months before it was launched for the first time.
Single 420 litre fuel tank. Cruises at about 9km/hr using 4 litres per hour. Very economical for a boat of this size. Top speed unknown. Cavitation (similar to what a screw boat gets) and hull speed are very limiting. Probably around 15km/hr max in a practical sense.
Draft is 17" (sorry to mix my measurements)

essex pete wrote:How about a trip from Goolwa to Yarrawonga? We could all come along!

That's about 2000kms of river and I'll do it all one day. I've only travelled the lower 1300km to date. With the unpredictable river levels you would need to allow 2 or 3 years. It's quite easy to get trapped by falling water levels ang go nowhere for many many months.

Why did you opt for paddle wheels rather than the more usual propeller?
A great little ship - could be your home for a while

kingfisher61 wrote:

essex pete wrote:How about a trip from Goolwa to Yarrawonga? We could all come along!

That's about 2000kms of river and I'll do it all one day. I've only travelled the lower 1300km to date. With the unpredictable river levels you would need to allow 2 or 3 years. It's quite easy to get trapped by falling water levels ang go nowhere for many many months.

You have to put in a Roadless 4WD to get 4 paddlewheels to keep you going in the dirt then.
Wery interesting boat.

How about leaving the wheels on as well as the paddles? Like the County Sea Horse that drove across the English Channel in the 1960's

Or even a DUKW, I think Jerry could help here.