Well folks- I truly feel shamed in posting this, but alas....a true 8hp Dursley Lister met its maker. Not in any "less than stellar" way! I generate power off these engines. This engine was set up for slow-speed operation (around 650 RPM or so), and utilized the heavier governor weights. I'd bought if off a man in 2023 or 2024, and placed it in service in April, 2025. It ran well, with the occasional tweak and correction, as time went on.
But come the 10th of March, 2026, with the lights a glowing and ancillary electrical devices working (off the accompanying generator), I perceived a "flicker". Just half a second later, the lights went out. And right about THEN I heard (off about 50 yards or so) a loud commotion. An unearthing of un-holy hell. And then...a "thwack, thwack, thwack", thumps, losing time, like a wound out metronome. Oy.....
Well, I knew good and well that SOMETHING had happened. So, being that I didn't see smoke off yonder, I WALKED out to the generator shed. And before I got there, knowing full well that I'd be there for a while, I stopped to water the Lillies first.
Rounding the corner, I could smell oil. Hmmm.....no more "thwacking" noise. All was now quiet. Peering into the generator shed, BOY DID I SEE an amazing sight.
DID YOU KNOW THAT THE TOP END OF A 8 HP LISTER CAN LEVITATE OFF THE BOTTOM END, AND LAND SOME 5 FEET AWAY?? Well, I learned it the hard way, on the 10th of March.
Now, I'm not posting this to ask anybody's thoughts on the matter. It's more out of pure "Ripley's Believe it or Not". It's water under the bridge now, and a DAMNED SHAME to ruin a once perfectly good Lister.
But should you have any thoughts on the matter, I suppose it would be fun to conjecture....
