For the longest time I wanted to mke a traction engine for my sawmill but never really got to it or had the motivation. My recent love for live steam got me thinking. (I know its not good when I think) Anyway after looking at live steam trains on ebay I came across the Mamod traction engines. Again it got me thinking. After a few months of waiting for a good deal to come up I finally got my hands on one. It arrived yesterday and today I had a chance to test it out. It ran good but needs new gaskets for the filler valve and whistle. Other then that it runs. My plans are to repaint it black and then rig up my sawmill, so it will run off the traction engine. How Am I going to do this? I have no idea yet although Rooster supplied me with some good photos and Im sure Mik will chime in (I hope). This will become one of my many winter projects. It will mainly be a static display but will run it during club meets etc… Next to the sawmill. Probably going to rework the mill and add an attachment or something.

With roof and a figure. Scale looks about right.

Just to compare the scale

Shawn, You got it backwards.

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This photo that doesn’t show the belts, but does show a traction engine at the Tuckahoe Gas & Steam Show in 2009 driving the demonstration sawmill. The belt came off the flywheel, so it makes sense that it would be as close to the action as possible.

Neat idea, Shawn. Reminds me of the one we saw at the Cradle of Forestry in North Carolina.

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Shawn,
This video may help it’s where I got the pics from…look at the video and reference the pictures I showed and you will figure it out it’s pretty straight forward
http://youtu.be/MOFSgpemh9E

Wellll, It’s the “right size” if you’re modelling in 1/16. Or are planning to model a road locomotive. Otherwise you might think about doing a few mods

For the gaskets or any other repair parts, call Shawn at Yesteryear Toys, they’re the North American distributor, anyway.

It looks like you’re missing the bunker and fuel tray, too

I probably have aftermarket rubber tire bands for it here someplace - if you want them, I’ll dig around

That said - don’t expect much torque out of the thing. It’ll turn the saw mandrel if there ain’t much drag. As for a transmission belt, while you’re on the phone with Shawn, order a pack of Wilesco Z80 spring belts - if you’re into fast and easy. Otherwise PMResearch has 1/2" wide flat belting, but good luck getting it to stay on without a LOT of fussing.

It doesn’t have a lubricator, so you’re supposed to put the steam oil on the backside of the piston. Oh, and make sure the boiler is left open so it can dry completely between runs.

I’m converting one to a roller with a Wilesco cylinder w/ Allen straight link reverse, and chain steering. It’s been an ongoing (read seasoning in a box) project for something like 5 years

Shawn,

For the leather belting, look to a local upholstery shop that does leather. The leather will be thin enough to work with and if you can get a brown color will not look bad. To join the belt, cut the ends at an angle (about 45 degrees) and then scarf the ends. As for an adhesive strong enough to hold and pliable enough to wrap around the pulleys, I have no idea. I am used to much larger horse powers. Good luck.

Bob C.

Lol thanks Pete. I thought it looked strange the way I had it.

Mik thanks for the info. I figured I can come up with a story to fit its size. Maybe it was a road locomotive converted to a traction engine. (dont forget the Kittatinny boys can convert anything to fit the RR I dont plan on doing any modifications to get it smaller. Metal wheels like that wont be cheap. Might cost more then its worth. Im not looking for a lot of power just to spin the saw blad and maybe the carriage.
The bunker and fuel tray I plan on making out of brass. Like the one that comes with mamod but a little deeper. I want to convert it to use sterno since thats what my project engine uses and its easy to get and cheaper then those tablets… It burns hotter then the tablets and i found the sterno gave it more pressure. It actually climbed the grade on my garage floor.
If you find the bands lets me know, thanks.
I might cheat a little by adding a sprocket with a chain and just have the belt for show. Then I wont have to worry about the belt slipping off.
I can easily hook up a lubricator to it with no problems but for the amount of times I plan on actually running it, it prob wont be worth it.
Ill give Shawn a call and see what he has.

As for the mods I suggested - look into lowering it a bit by ovalling the axle holes (and maybe milling a bit of a recess in the axle, it’s plenty thick) in the back, and moving the pivot point on the front, s 3/16" drop will change the looks dramatically… especially if you then shorten the stack to about 4 scale feet.

I have drawings for an American style platform here someplace. Easiest tho is a T shaped affair with a 55gallon drum on one side and a box on the other

With Sterno you have to watch and avoid running the boiler dry. They’re just soft soldered… And a real b—h to get the joint clean enough to resolder

And I found the tires, plus a set of Wilesco ones if anybody needs those

Hi Shawn

I have just joined this group after I saw your leading image on a Google search I did. I recently bought the exact same Mamod engine to do the same job in my lumber mill in my garden railroad.

I was wondering if you have any photos of the finished setup and any tips and tricks to pass on. I have been experimenting on my work bench and had success making a drive belt out of bicycle inner tube cut to about 1cm width and 40cm loop. I roughly glued the join with CA for a test but hope to stitch the join with thin nylon thread and see how that weathers outdoors.

I fitted the belt to the flywheel spindle where the metal spring drive belt usually sits and it drove a simple pulley on the other end for the 15mins it took to run out of alcohol in the burner. It flapped around a bit but I was pleasantly surprised when it didn’t fall off.

Cheers

Rob

Welcome to the forum Rod

I fitted the belt to the flywheel spindle where the metal spring drive belt usually sits and it drove a simple pulley on the other end for the 15mins it took to run out of alcohol in the burner. It flapped around a bit but I was pleasantly surprised when it didn’t fall off.

I would love to see a short video of that…

P.S. We love photo’s and videos here!

Just for fun, here is my take on a live steam powered sawmill. I scratch built the mill, and using a Wilesco D5 steam engine model

Jerry

Mornin/afternoon, Rob - welcome to the forum! I live most of the year here in rural East Anglia where things like this occupy a HUGE place in the summer months at shows and village fetes. For example, the Hadenham show usually has around 50 - 80 working engines, many of them hitched up to sawmills, threshers andso on. A look at Youtube will occupy you for the rest of the day for sure. I live in a small village alongside three of these road locomotives/traction engines live - even drove one for a couple of seasons a few years back.

I have a Wilesco ‘Old Smokey’ that was bought in Germany in 1978 - it still runs very well, too. A friend of ours not only rebuilds the older machines, but also build 1/2 and 1/3 scale models of them, too.

Best from up here.

tac

Ottawa Valley GRS

Old Mill Lumber Co. Inc - East Anglia operation.

Rob welcome to the forums. Unfortunately the project was put on hold. I ended up selling my house and while it was on the market I put a hold on all my projects. Now that Im in anew house and layout is up and running I will be revisiting the traction engine. I like your idea and might give it a try.

Seeing that little movie reminds me that we are making a trip to see the Hall-Oakes Lumber company in Dawson OR in a couple of weeks. Seems like it’s the only steam-operated lumber mill left on the West Coast…

Really looling forward to it, us.

tac, ig, ken the GFT and the Sawdust in the Ears Boys

Gosh its been a whole year since I posted that.(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)

I now have the engine in situ and the mill nearly finished, is anything ever finished…? Ill try and get a few pix and maybe a movie together. Its finally cooled down here now so its easier to work in the garden.

Here is a photo and vid on YouTube.

You can see the rubber drive belt join at the end of the vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHXjJ2KnoEw

I forgot to mention… the flywheel works fine on its own with the belt but I happened to have a plastic tube which fits tightly over the smaller drive on the flywheel. The engine is weathering nicely but will get a black paint job soon to make it look more rugged.

Great Video Rob, Thanks for sharing.(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

Wow that works great. I have to start working on mine again.

I dunno. I like the green

Welcome Rob!

Shawn I gotta get you to Williams Grove ( you better wear a diaper though)