Bamford AC2 Rescued From A Field

A few weeks ago the door bell rang at about 8 am, I looked to see who it was and found an old friend who I had not seen for a long time standing there. He told me that he had seen in a field near his home what looked to be an old engine and that if I was interested he could talk to the new land owner as he knew him very well.

- John Hili

The next day we went to have a look at the engine; it was sitting on what looked like a long chassis made of I-beams. I was told by the owner that it was some sort of limestone cutting machine made by some amateur and because it did not perform as intended it had been stored under the wall by the previous owner of the field. At one time the engine was covered with a piece of canvas and some corrugated steel sheet, but the canvas rotted away leaving the engine open to the elements for about 20 years and slowly rotting away.

The engine is a Bamford type AC2 twin cylinder air-cooled diesel engine Serial No 1259/2 rated at 12 ½ hp @ 1500 RPM. After some discussion a price was agreed.

I enlisted the help of my friendly scrap man to move the engine to his yard so that I could remove it from the machine; the non-engine parts of the machine being left in the in the yard for scrap for him to dispose of.