AH&D 3 drum Loader in 1:20 scale

[NORCALLOGGER]

Hi all,
I am posting this disjointed build log on a 3 drum loader I built about 5 years ago in hopes that it will be of some help to Frederic with his current AH&D build.  The text may seem a little strange or out of context but I am just cutting and pasting from the original build thread that was posted on an other forum.

Anyway here goes.



Trying to grow a donkey from ON3 (1:48) to FN3 (1:20.3)is turning into an interesting project. As some of you may know, and some of you others may not care, there are no Donkey Engines available in 1:20 (Ozark makes some in 1:24) but they are a little on the small side. I had, packed away, a CHB kit of an "American Hoist & Derrick" 3 spool donkey from my ON3 modeling days. So I drug it out and started measuring and cutting styrene. I knew in my mind that there was a big difference between the two scales but seeing them side by side is kind of a shock.


Here is the (prototype??) off it's sled and small parts broken off from ratteling around in a packing box for 10 years.



Here is the start of the (Model?) basic boiler and skid. Is that a hellava size difference or what?
Here is



Here is a close-up shot showing the ash pan doors and the start of the firebox door.



It took quite a while to find some of the gears but I finally located some in an RC car store that would work for the Bull Gears and found some buttons at Joanne's Fabrics that made up nicely for the crank discs. Anyway here are a couple of pictures showing my slow progress. An overall view of the parts completed so far. Showing the winding drums , crank discs, and the boiler and sled.



A close-up of the boiler base showing the finished firebox door, mounting brackets and the blow down valve.



This shows the main drum and its mounting brackets as well as the crankshaft and pinion gear.



This view shows the main drum and mounts sitting in position on the sled as well as the trip drum and the straw drum (all three are the same on this machine). Also a good view of the (button) crank discs.



Got a little more work done. It would probably go a lot faster if I didn't have to do most of it twice . Here I have the cylinders mounted temp. so I can mount the crank and valve linkage. This machine uses a slide valve so it's a little simpler than some. The sled is mounted to a block so it is easier to handle.



This view shows the crank and valve linkage mostly finished, still have to add bolts, rivets, and other dodah's.



I'm sure learning a lot building this guy. For one thing this is actually a Hoisting Engine and they were not generally used on Donkey Sleds for woods work, although it can be, and was. A hoisting engine was generally used on things like pile drivers, stiff leg derricks, and loading booms. The "Donkey Engines", once past the early Dolbeer days became highly specialized machines each with it's own special function.


Peter, This is based loosely on the 30hp American Hoist and Derrick 1914 model. These engines were built in 1,2,and 3 drum configurations. The second and third drums were basically a bolt on assembly with their own frames and controls. If you check the first picture you can see all three drums. Also note that each drum had a winch head or capstan for hand winding. I agree the book "In Search of Steam Donkeys" is a great resource and just good reading. My copy is getting dog-eared already. Unfortunately the couple of shots of AH&D machines in the book aren't very helpful. Another good book just out is the Willamette Logging Machinery 1925 catalog reprint by Oso Publishing. Very good reading, but no AH&D machines. The original model had flat plate closures on the gear side of the winding drums but after some consideration I decided to leave the openings as they are for a more mechanical look. I thought it looked like a factory fix to lighten the casting. Probably wish I had closed them in when I start painting.


Back in now time.
Will post some more of this tomorrow or the next day. 
Rick

[Ray Dunakin]

Cool project, thanks for posting it!

[marc_reusser]

Rick,

Beautiful project. Thanks for posting. 

FWIW, Darryl Huffman sells a CD with a PDF of a complete old catalog of AH&D engines.

"$15.00. 1914 American Hoist and Derrick catalog. Contains 159 full size pages. Logging hoist engines, derricks, ditchers and cranes. Tons of photos and drawings."

He also has a 1916 Marion Steam Shovel Catalog on CD

"$15.00 1916 Marion Steam Shovel Catalog. 138 pages. Complete catalog."

Here is a link to the site: http://www.darrylhuffman.50megs.com/cgi-bin/blog


Marc

[Philip Smith]

Rick.

Thanks for posting these details. Also thanks for the low down on stay bolts, conical, round, and lap joint/ patch assembly, hope the Alaska trip went well!

I'm currently building one of these beast. Need all the info I can gather.

Philip 

[Frederic Testard]

Rick, many many thanks for posting these images and explanations. They will, together with the documentation provided by Marc and found in the books, be a great help in the building of the donkey.

[NORCALLOGGER]

Hi guys,
Glad that these images will be of some help to you.

Marc,
Yes, I am aware of Darryl's offerings.  I have both that you mention plus several others.  I'm a sucker for equipment books/catalogs, collecting them is kind of a hobby within a hobby.


Let's see if I can get some more of this posted.


Anyway, to the update I have added the second drum as well as the brake bands and the prawl dogs and their levers. To the pictures! Of the three levers sticking up, the first on the left is the clynder drain cock lever, the second and third are the prawl dogs for locking the drums in place. A better view of the drum prawls is in the second picture. The two rods sticking out from the bottom of the skid below the first drum are the brake control rods that the foot pedals will attach to.
In this



In this view you can see the brake bands going over the top of the brake drums and down to their attachment with the brake rods, as well as the prawls on the back side of the bull gears. The drum shaft's are left long at this time for the attachment of the frictions on the operators side and the capstan heads on the side you see in this picture.



OK, Finally able to get a little more done and take a couple of pictures. The brake rigging is complete including the bands, linkage, and stomp pedals for all three drums. The frictions are complete and mounted on the ends of the drum shafts. Oops, I see I forgot to add the grease cups to the tops of them, oh well something to do later this evening.




Now time.

You will notice in the 2 above picts that I have removed the NBW's and covered the gears with flat plate styrene and used a black leather dye on the nylon gears (nylon won't hold paint) these changes were made at the suggestion of forum members.  Good ones I think.

Back to the original postings.

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I last updated this thread. But then, I haven't got all that much done. Actually all I lack in finishing the engine is the boiler fittings; sight glass, try cocks, pressure gauge, injector system, hand hole crabs, blower valve, whistle, etc. Here are a few pictures of the progress.






I have decided to go ahead and put this engine on a donkey sled for use in the woods.

Now time.
That's all for tonight may get the finish pictures up tomorrow or next day, I have a couple yards of concrete to mix and pour tomorrow so may not feel like diddling with this .
Later
Rick

[NORCALLOGGER]

Now time.
Hi again, maybe I can get this finished up.

original postings.

Finally done. Well with the engine itself that is. I still have to build the sled, fairleads, tanks, figures, and all the rigging. But that's what tomorrow is for. Here are a few pictures of my efforts. Thanks for your time.








(Comment- Rick That is one terriffic donkey! A work of art and love! How are you going to rig it?)

Jim, As for rigging, I think I'll just have it on a sled with the 3rd spool(straw drum) feed through a Bulls eye Fairlead in the head block than use a "Willamette Giant" style double Fairlead on top of the head block for the mainline and haul-back. Then If I ever "set it out" all I have to do is run the lines out. Although I do need to change the line size(smaller) on the haul-back drum.

(Comment:  - I don't really know else can be said! Truly, a museum quality piece! Can you explain how you weathered it. I like the slightly aged look of it.)

Steve, Glad you like the paint. For me, being color blind, it is always a challenge. Maybe that's why I like dull and drab rather than bright shiny colors I airbrushed the whole thing (in pieces) with Floquil Grimy Black and let it dry for a week. Than dry-brushed everything with Polly Scale Rust and used Deco Art Dazzling Metallics "Shimmering Silver". The silver was "Very dry" brushed on to the black to represent worn places and highlight bolt heads etc. The brass was done by using Krylon "Short cuts" brush on paint #SCB-001 Gold Leaf. Followed by several washes of Alcohol/black leather dye, then just a few drips and splatters to finish off.

Now time.
That is the end of the original build log but I did post some pictures of the model after the sled and such was built, encluded below.

Back to old posting pictures.

Here is a picture of the AH&D three drum hoisting engine sitting next to the Ozark Minitures proclaimed 1:20 scale Dolbeer engine.  Granted the AH&D is a slightly heavier duty machine than the Dolbeer but really, that Dolbeer boiler must be 3foot diameter by 5 foot high.



A close up of the crew at lunch.  Sven is telling Pete and "Dad" Jensen about the Trout he caught last evening.



Overall views of the finished engine and sled.






A close up of the builders plate.  It is a little larger than the prototype but this is as small as the laser cutter could do and he was the only source I could find at the time.



Well, that is all of it.  Here it is 5 years later and it is still sitting on the book shelf above the computer, I just can't bring myself to leave it outside on the railroad.  I just have to build a moving flat so I can haul it around behind the Shay's sometimes.

Hope somebody gets some help or ideas from this.
Thanks
Rick

[Frederic Testard]

Super photos, Rick. And since you made your model in styrene, which is what I plan to do too, it's as though it was even more helpful.

[Ray Dunakin]

Really beautiful! I like the brass valves and fittings, a nice change from the usual matching black or bright red.

[Philip Smith]

Damn Nice!

Philip

[finescalerr]

Rick, you really do belong on this forum. Good work, good description, and thanks for contributing. -- Russ

[Ken Hamilton]

Rick, I just foound this.  I really need to come to this section more often.
Man, what a beautiful piece.  The button cranks are PERFECT...as is
everything else on this model.  Wonderful work, as usual.
Thanks for showing the SBS.

[NORCALLOGGER]

Hi Ken,
I forgot that I had posted this. 
Thanks for the comments, it was a very fun project, close to the heart, and one of the first design/build projects in Styrene  that I attempted.  Lots of mistakes and lots of "good enough" but like I said lot's of fun.

Sorry I dropped the ball on this thread.
So thank you to all others that took the time to look and post comments.
Rick