4" Alfred Dodman Traction Engine

In our opinion the Alfred Dodman is the most impressive 4" Traction Engine design, it comes out a particularly large and powerful engine and for those that enjoy a road-run they are known to really nip along well. Originally built and owned by an engineer its a well made engine which has been enjoyed over the years. Its fair to say the engine now needs a bit of TLC in places to bring it back up to full spec hence the price being somewhat lower than you would expect for this marque of engine.

The Alfred Dodman is an early design of traction engine but unfortunately after a legal run in with Burrells over the Single Crank Compound Cylinder block very few engines were made and none survived into preservation. Period features such as the wooden front axle and general proportions make for a handsome engine and one that will stand out in the field of Burrells and Fosters.

The engine is running however as you can hear from the videos does make a bit of a racket, we expect most of this noise is due to the timing being out and the cylinders working against each other. If we get a spare hour we will have a look to see if we can improve things. Generally speaking the engine is in pretty good order however the flywheel is loose on the crank, really it needs removing and sleeving to sort properly. A general tidy up of the paint in places namely the smokebox would also be worth doing in our opinion.

Overall this is a well made engine which now wants a bit of time rather than money spending on it, the required works is something we can undertake in our workshop for the new owner or you could save a few pennies and do the work yourself.

We would be happy to put a fresh steam ticket on the engine for the new owner or your welcome to have your own boiler inspector come check over it before sale. Looking over previous reports the boiler is in good condition with only a localised area on the firebox crown down to 6.5mm (lots of boilers start at this so has plenty of life in it)

For further information or to arrange a viewing please do not hesitate to contact us. Included in the sale is the usual firing irons, coal, oil etc and part exchange of all steam and vintage vehicles is considered when possible.