Amazingly, all of the paperwork and directions for the mill were still on it, all very clean and in excellent condition. We don’t know for sure when it was actually built, but clearly it is a very old unit. Showing a patent date of 1873, the mill was amazing. The owner showed us the whole setup, telling us that the Novo hadn’t run in at least 38 years and that he didn’t know much about the workings of the engine. It seemed huge, sitting in a corner of the barn behind a wall of boards. Finally, after almost a year of waiting, I got to see the Novo engine for the first time. When we showed up the owner met us at the driveway and took us to the barn. I decided to call my dad, Normand, and on the way out we picked him up so he could come along. I was very excited, and with my wife alongside I went rushing off to see this long-awaited motor and grist mill. The owner and I talked briefly, and this time he invited me to come see the engine and the grist mill in the barn where it sat. Some months passed, and one Sunday I was thinking of that Novo engine again, so once again I made the dreaded phone call to try and purchase the engine. She tried to buy the Novo numerous times, but frustrated by not being able to make a deal she finally gave up. Because of that she never had a chance to try and find me a Christmas present, so she decided to call the Novo’s owner one more time and try and buy it for my Christmas gift. Right before Christmas my wife had surgery. He was excited to hear about the 12 HP twin-cylinder Novo, telling me it was certainly a really nice find.Ĭhristmas was soon approaching, and still no engine. Va., asking him if he knew anything about Novo engines. I talked to a good engine friend, Chester Bill from St. Months went by and still I couldn’t stop thinking about the Novo. I suddenly felt I had made a big mistake not following up on this potential find. He was quite brief with me, telling me he had decided to keep the motor after all. I got his name and phone number, and after he left the show I didn’t give much more thought about the Novo -for awhile.Ī few weeks went by and I started thinking about the man and his Novo engine, so I gave him a call. After awhile we discussed a price for the engine, but we never settled on anything. We talked a little, and he told me the Novo was in a barn where it was belted up to a gristmill.

I had never seen a twin-cylinder Novo, and I didn’t know much about them. I looked at the pictures briefly, and they showed a Novo twin-cylinder 12 HP engine. At one point during the show a man approached me with some pictures of an engine he had. It wasn’t very big, but at least it was a start.

In the spring of 2001 we put on our first engine show here in Buckhannon, W.Va.

2 cylinger novo roller engine twin