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HMeinhold

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
As by now almost everybody knows, I am a fan of running my locos in their natural habitat. My logging loco Betsy is 3 years old and has been subjected to heavy hauling in rough terrain e.g. pulling 2 donkeys (10lbs) up a 10% grade.

http://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...Community/Forums/tabid/56/aff/11/aft/6923/afv/topic/afpgj/3/Default.aspx#142089


Last week she was on duty during Jack Verducci's open house, moving heavy log trains all day. At the end something did not seem right, so I inspected the chassis:

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The gears were totally worn out! The teeth of the middle gear are razor sharp and hardly mesh. Unfortunately warranty has long expired , so an order for a new set of gears went out to SDP
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. Unfortunately these gears a fine pitched and relatively small. I could not find coarser ones with the right material/teeth combination. Looks as if I have to learn making my own gears...

Regards
 
#2 ·
Oh! The humanity!
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Err, I mean... Oh! The humidity!
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Oops, I mean, Oh! The humiliation!
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Well, no, the humidity is pretty bad here right now, too.


Hey, Locos are meant to WORK and when things do work, they wear out. Hope you get it fixed, soon.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Hi guys,
thanks for the remarks/encouragement. I will probably try to make my own gear cutters and gears. Kozo's famous formulas also apply to straight gears. Ed Hume described it more recently in Live Steam. As I plan to build a ride-on A-Climax one of these days, this would be a good excercise to get my feet wet with gear cutting, as the skew bevel gears for this loco are much more complicated. BTW here a picture of Betsy during lunch break on Jack Verducci's layout:

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Regards
 
#8 ·
Posted By Larry Green on 01 Sep 2010 07:49 AM
How about increasing the tooth contact area (width) by ganging up multiple thin gears, side by side?

Larry
My thoughts exactly. That doesn't look like much tooth contact area to transmit much load.

Is there any provision for adjusting the center-to-center distances of the the gears? It doesn't take much error, especially with fine teeth, to result in poor gear mesh which will lead to rapid wear.
 
#9 ·
Are those a pair of 30-06 cases hanging from the stack?
I often wndered what I could use all mine for, now that I don't shoot anymore.
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Discussion starter · #10 ·
Larry, Jim,
I definitely could do that, but I will just replace the worn ones and then make my own with a coarser pitch. The distance between the axles is adjustable to optimize gear meshing.
Bob: Yes!
Semper Vaporo: Yes!!

John,
funny as I started out with cases, but they did not look right, so I reluctantly switched to a built up design.
BTW, don't take this thread too seriously, I am actually proud I ran the shoes off this little loco. She has been performed flawlessly over the last years. Worst day was Maker Faire in San Mateo this year, where a cold strong wind made for a miserable event. Big locos like a Cab Forward could not get the burners lit, while every car higher than a flat car got blown over. Betsy just trundled along and saved the day.
Regards
 
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HMeinhold
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