Finished rail car mover...

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I got to work on it again and finished it the other day.  The ears on the quick attach were torch cut out of one inch plate with some half inch welded over the ends.  Please give your feedback on it...good or bad..   I think it will work fine for what we need.   I hope the boys don't get any wild ideas in their heads...  Matthew
Reply:A+ on a job well done. It looks great!American by birth Southern by the Grace of God
Reply:Looks good!
Reply:WOW!!!!The quick attach hooks that go onto the loader are plain ol' artwork. Could've come from the factory.Is that rubber pads to cushion the sway.  WOO HOO  I'd a never thought of that in a million years, and I'd be dealing with some broken steel.That's niceGonna be fun to see it work when they take it out to use it."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Damn!!!!!!!"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:That looks great. The only thing I wonder about is the operator's ability to maintain coupler alignment; which of course has nothing to do with the Johnsonmopar design. Maybe install a safety tether cable? At least until it's known if unintended disconnect is a problem.Good Luck
Reply:Is the disconnect issue one of up and down, or side to side?  I've never seen these things work on cars."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:I want to see some pictures of it in action!Here is what I have so Far:Miller:Shop Master 300 A A/C D/CS 22a Wire FeederRFC-14 Tig PedalHF-251D High Freq. UnitProfax 250 A Mig GunVictor RegulatorsHarris:63-2 torch Cutting Attachment 49-3making home built tig cooler
Reply:Johnsonmopar I think you are right, It will be fine for the job it has to do. Good looking welds too.Miller Thunderbolt 225Millermatic 130 XPLincoln HD 100 Forney C-5bt Arc welderPlasma Cutter Gianteach Cut40ACent Machinery Bandsaw Cent Machinery 16Speed Drill PressChicago Electric 130amp tig/90 ArcHobart 190 Mig spoolgun ready
Reply:Thats a job to be proud of.Tim Beeker.
Reply:Thanks you guys.  The pads on the side are some paddles from a big L-Path.  It gives it a little give from side to side.  The moved a car around a little bit and they didn't have any issues with it.  You just have to go slow and make sure you are watching what you are doing and not playing with your cell phone...   Matthew
Reply:Looks GREAT!!I've seen companies move cars before, but none have ever gone to the trouble to build a coupler.
Reply:Last place I worked ( a nasty foundry ) they just used the bucket and bumbed the cars around.
Reply:Good looking job.  Something to be proud of.  Shows real Craftsmanship.
Reply:Yeah, lets see that thing work.  It just needs some paint.Esab Migmaster 250Lincoln SA 200Lincoln Ranger 8Smith Oxy Fuel setupEverlast PowerPlasma 80Everlast Power iMIG 160Everlast Power iMIG 205 Everlast Power iMIG 140EEverlast PowerARC 300Everlast PowerARC 140STEverlast PowerTIG 255EXT
Reply:That's some awesome work right there!  I'm with lugweld on the paint.  A little Cat yellow over that 'rail yard camo' would finish it off nicely.So whata ya call it?  The Big Johnson?MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110Save Second Base!
Reply:I just walked past it today and I thought we had some Cat yellow and I should spray it.  As for what we call it....  Well it kind of looks like a big fist sticking out in front of the Cat.  It sure does look cool driving around.  Matthew
Reply:That is some professional looking work,A- 1 !!!! I agree w/ Denrep in that a cool head needs to operate that cause if someone takes a nap or gets overconfident, it's gonna be "wake up, Leroy" time!!!! They're gonna have a tiger by the tail trying to figure out how to turn loose of it.                                     MikeOl' Stonebreaker  "Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes"Hobart G-213 portableMiller 175 migMiller thunderbolt ac/dc stick Victor O/A setupMakita chop saw
Reply:Yea I already told the boss that the first time I see someone "farting" around with it I am going to take the torch to it and turn it all into scrap.  Matthew
Reply:Matthew          As one who is a railroader couple of suggestions for you: It maybe the angle that the photo was taken and creating the 'tilt' but you want a knuckle as the coupler is known to be as close to parallel to ground as you can get it so that it matches up to the one on the car you intend to move.      The part with the eyehook is known as the 'pin' that is what opens the knuckle- you may want to reattach the 'cut lever' to it for safety reasons. Often times the one on the car itself can be a bugger to get to open and if the other knuckle can be opened it can make life a whole lot easier and safer!      I don't know if those will be empty or loaded cars- but it often takes a pretty good 'hit' to properly close the knuckle- that 'pin' drops down fully when the couple is correct. If you can have both of the knuckles lined up, the couple will be a whole lot easier- if one is off on an angle in relation to the other it makes life a lot harder.   I hope there are no even slight grades where you will be moving these cars around. If you have a fully loaded freight car and there is the slightest grade- it WILL drag you. The right car in the right conditions will drag a locomotive-they are definitely NOT play toys. 80+ tons of car is a serious thing.     Re attaching a cable-chain etc- don't!! even an empty car that gets away will snap a heavy log chain like a piece of wet spaghetti.   Finally -NEVER repeat NEVER ever walk between two knuckles when there is less than ten feet between them---if you have to get to the other side- use the catwalk on the car or walk around behind your mover-those knuckles will 'couple' you to the cars and you will have breathed your last. And naturally no fingers or hands anywhere near them when coupling up.   Forgot to say above real nice work on your mover- have seen commercial ones that aren't that nice!Gary Oh forgot- there are couplers made called 'shelf' or safety knuckles- typically found on tank cars that prevent the opposite knuckle from lifting up and out which is the only way other than a pulling on a cut lever that an uncoupling can occur.   Re the painting -don't paint the knuckle- in fact on railcars it is prohibited by the FRA, cracks can and do occur and you want to be able to spot them and deal with them before they fail in serviceLast edited by 131re; 12-01-2008 at 10:41 PM.
Reply:As for getting the angle right.  If you put the auto kick out on the fork selection it will end up perfectly parallal to the ground.  At our yard they don't allow us to park the cars within 30 foot of eachother, so that is the minimum distance when walking between them.  Matthew
Reply:Good deal on the auto kick out -didn't know if you had any thing like on the rig, if you didn't as I said -real bugger to couple when the knuckles don't align. Sounds like you have some safety conscious people there with that seperation distance, its unnerving to see guys cross between two knuckles that are less than three feet apart.
Reply:Good looking work.I'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:that is a really good job. my only concern is how level is the ground around your tracks, i know in our yard one side of the track is one hight and the other is alot lower, in that situation youd probably end up cracking the coupler.just a little story for you all, got a tank car in the yard about a month ago, it came in on a flat bed car...the tank car had no truck sets, the tank needs about 2/3 of a tank in inserts,the brakes are tore completly off, and the coupler on the "a" end of the car is split right in half....should be fun to repair