steam powered forklift

First of all, first time I participate in any type of forum, please forgive any blunders on my part. Yesterday I searched "steam powered forklift" and struck gold. There were posts regarding the very item I'm writing about today. There before my eyes were posts from 2010 and '13 about the forklift that Peter Bouley and myself brought down from Ithaca NY to Burrillville, RI in 2004. If those fellows who did those posts are still active rest assured that we did get it here after repairing the tongue of the trailer (this is a very heavy item) and it is still in RI. The intention was to restore it and disassembly proceeded. Peter tended to have many projects in the works,(sound familiar?). He was a code certified boiler builder/repairer and built many over a 25 year period for locomotives of all sizes, steam boats, steam tractors and portables. Steam boat boilers were to his own design configuration. In the late '90's Disney's E P Ripley was shipped to RI for a complete tear down and restoration. In addition, he was a certified welding instructor, OSHA safety inspector/instructor and heavy equipment instructor. With all these aspects to his professional repertoire he always had a lot of projects "active". Since the forklift was not an income generator it fell into the "when we can get to it" category. In recent years his major focus had turned to building a 15" gauge railroad around his 5 acre property. track was laid, a car and tender were completed and the components of a sizable locomotive gathered. Tat put forklift on a back burner. That brings us to the present day. Regrettably Peter passed away last year at the young age of 73 taking a vast amount of steam knowledge with him. Myself and another long time friend have been helping his wife to sell off a shop full of mostly train related items and we are near the end. The forklift remains, disassembled but complete. Pete did build a new boiler shell and some components attached. Folks who've looked at it and heard the history feel as we do, shame to see it go to scrap. Artist types see it reconfigured to some lawn ornament according to their imagination. Not our hope. We'd hope to see it at least as a static display since its such a unique piece of steam technology but it requires younger folks than us with an interest in preserving the past. It was last used by Corning Glass Works to lift crucibles and the forks only go up about 12". Peter's article about the forklift was in the Sept./Oct.2005 issue of Live Steam magazine and we have a dvd of many still pictures of it showing different perspectives before, during and after disassembly. We certainly would like to save what Peter always referred to as "the world's only steam powered forklift". I would certainly answer any questions and appreciate any suggestions about this historic item. Thanks and I hope I haven't gone on too long.

Pictures? I’m mesmerized. I can’t imagine what a steam powered forklift looks like, and I mean I physically cannot comprehend it, sounds awesome.

Oh, and you’re better off posting on The Home Machinist: that’s where all the live steam guys are at. I’ve subscribed to the “live steam” magazines for some time.

I would love to see some pictures, also...

-Bear

Here is an earlier thread starting in 2010, though the photos seem to have disappeared.

Steam powered Forklift....

The best pictures other than the dvd are in the Live Steam magazine. I sent them a message today to find out if old articles can be available on line. no response yet. I will let folks know about it. This is one of the wildest looking contraptions you can imagine. The operator sits on an old time tractor seat mounted over the single rear wheel with a tiller type stick to steer. He sits behind the boiler close enough to keep the family jewels toasty and has poor forward visibility. Dual drive wheels in front of boiler are about 40" diameter. The lifting of the forks involves steam, chain and a crank. The Dake square piston engine is explained well in the posts on this site from 2013. I will get on Home Machinist, thanks for that.

Peter Bouley - that's a name I haven't heard in quite a while. Used to live not too far from him and visited his place several times. I remember him showing us the forklift shortly before disassembly started. Peter sure did have a lot going at once. I'm sorry to learn of his passing and that he never got around to finishing this project.

I have that issue of Live Steam, sept/oct 2005.

Tom

And one more.

Tom

Peter Bouley, DBA Benson Mountain Boiler

Mr. Bouley built many bad boilers, he also did some terrible repair work. Mr Bouley examined the boiler on my steam roller. Mr Bouley told me some things that were suspect and also some things that were totally wrong. He sent me an estimate to repair the boiler, about $50,000. Had I allowed him to repair the boiler his way, then the boiler would have been probably ruined. Later I received an email from Mr Bouley stating that his lawyers would sue me. This was his strategy.
I responded to Mr. Bouley that I would tell his lawyers what I would tell anyone else.
Mr. Bouley stands behind his work, half a mile is sufficient. I never heard from Mr. Bouley or his lawyers. Mr.Bouley had code stamps and lost them. He later got a new book of procedures, a new insurance carrier and new code stamps. I used to think code stamps were sacrosanct. At another code boiler shop I asked the visiting AI about Mr. Bouley and his work. The reply I received was that the AI would not enter Mr. Bouleys shop. Why? the AI told me that any code violation was countered by threats of litigation. I eventually got my boiler repaired. New tubes and a new tube sheet. The new tube sheet was hot riveted and caulked. A very fine job at a reasonable cost.
I am not going to miss Mr.Bouley. I think most people who used Mr. Bouley will agree
Boiler repair references supplied on request

Well, here's a flashback. As I began reading post #1 I wondered if I was recalling correctly that it had been used at Corning GW. Sad that it wasn't closer to the 'front burner' at some point. I've thought about it from time to time over the years, and wondered what the status was. Please post here if it's fate or destination change so we can sorta keep track of it.

So did anyone ever determine how it got from Corning to Ithaca? And how long it was in Ithaca?