[Matt Vogt]

I plan to build a railtruck, and have a Hartland drive:

Soooo, my question is .... how do I support this drive? The axle is plastic?!?!? Not what I was expecting.

As far as I can tell I have two options:
A) Support it with the plastic axle and lube the poop out of it.

B) Support it from the gearbox/motor somehow. Would this be hard on the gearbox?

Any ideas you might have would be appreciated. I am pretty much at an impasse on a project I really want to start ASAP!


Thanks,
Matt

 

[cjwalas]

The drive axle must be captured somehow, either by the axle ends in some form of journals (as in a freight or passenger truck, or by the wheel stem (the metal axle stub that is part of the wheel). I would avoid trying to support the axle by the plastic centerpiece. Hartland makes a plastic motor mount that screws to the bottom of the motor and can be glued or screwed into whatever chassis frame from there. I think David Fletcher may have the pattern for this piece on PDF as part of the CP Huntington masterclass (if I remember correctly), otherwise, you'll need to get in touch with Phil Jensen at Hartland Parts. You should give him a call anyway, as I'm sure his advice on this would be the best.
Chris

 

[Matt Vogt]

Great timing, Chris. I was hoping that you would reply - but didn't dream it would be so fast. I figured Phil would be the best route, but I wasn't feeling patient enough to wait until Tuesday to get a hold of him.

I had planned to use Ozark's journals, I just hadn't decided whether to make them functional on the axles, or just to cover them for appearance. I guess I'll try to design the chassis so I could do it either way.
Could I ask if you have used journals on the plastic axles with luck (no premature wear)?

Thanks again

 

[Jerry Barnes]

I used one of those in my Rocket Car. Works fine. I did pull off the wheels and used some different ones. They just yank off, if you don't like them. I fit the gearbox into the metal housing the friction motor was in. Should be able to cobble up a plate of some sort, or hold it in place with an electrical tie.

 

[cjwalas]

Matt,
I've only used the plastic axles in plastic journals ( I think??), but there was no wear and tear. Worked very well. I would think you would be good to go in the Ozark journals as long as they are nice and clean, no burrs especially on the edge. A little bit of plastic compatible grease should do it.
I actually like the Hartland wheels. They're unfortunately light, but the metal wheel stems make electrical pick-up a breeze. Just lay a piece of brass rod across them on each side! And there's much less resistance than with plunger pick-ups.

 

[cudak888]

You'll find that the shaft-end of the motor should have a pair of tapped holes in it, but I don't think you'll have enough clearance.

Just thinking out loud here, but I'd say cupping the motor in a half-and-half sleeve (with double-stick foam tape) might be sufficient to do the job. Leave room for the vent holes.

-Kurt

 

[Matt Vogt]

Thanks, gents. I was really wanting to use spoke wheels for this, so I had planned to change them. I'll have to see how easy it will be to work out pickups on wheels without such a long wheel stems.

Kurt, I did see the tapped holes, and was trying to think of a way to mount the motor with them, while also being able to use journals to support the axle. I just haven't figured out how to adjust them so they match up, yet!

 

[vsmith]

I used 2 of these, but both were mounted in HLW minicars, using side journals like Chris mentions.

I also had to fabricate a mounting plate for the motor and put 2 screws into the bottom holes on the motor thru the plate and mount the plate to the chassis, otherwise the darn thing will spin!

Like Chris says power pick up is tricky with these, I used wiper blades on top of the wheels on one, and battery pack on the second

Wiper pickups and motor mounting plate

 

[Matt Vogt]

Does anyone know what size the tapped holes are in the motor?

Thanks,
Matt