Eric Schade said:
Maine is known for Mighty Moose. Moose have been put to work…it is only proper that I build a moose powered vehicle…
Did you notice page 54 of the Feb 2015 issue of Garden Railways (Fun with junk") has a static display of a moose pulling a caboose on the author’s garden railway?
Gee! I missed that you sure got sharp eyes Todd! … it is hidden behind the big little locomotive!
My moose feels sorry for that moose’s feet…tripping over all those ties!
In the olden days they quite often piled dirt high between the rails… I bet the footing wasn’t da moose’s concern, getting out of that dang harness mebbe…
I is snowing too hard for moose and me to travel to Springfield to see the big train show, let alone the Hartford area to visit my parents.
So it is time to work on Moose’s chariot!
I didn’t get a 7/8th scale version of the Mik’s challenge car kit, so built my own in the spirit of Mick from free found wood. It turned out to be pretty nice wood actually. some of it tends to bend as it comes off the saw but that is OK…gives it character.
Rather than use a hardboard base…which anyhow would have interfered with the treadmill…I used two long beams and two buffer beams like a roman Numeral “II” Then I added two more outer sills to support the decking.
In my parts bin I had a 24" diameter wheel set with a gear between the wheels. I looked at the wheel and the gear and decided the gear needed to be outboard of the wheel. There is not really enough room for a moose to walk a treadmill mounted between wheels gauged two feet apart! I had some steel rod which is the right size that the wheels could be pressed on. I cut it to length, longer than the original, pressed the wheels on and … Dang it, the hole in the gear was a bit large! Off to the lathe and a bushing was machined from brass. I made some journal bearings for the wheels while I was at it.
I also had an arch bar truck in said bin. It was probably figured to be 1/24 scale or something but looks fine if you like 12" diameter wheels. Moose does! This is the underside. I weathered the woodwork with india ink in alcohol.
The decking actually does not go all the way across. you see the bottom of the treadmill between the main beams. there are two slots in the decking- a big one for the treadmill and a little one for the gear.
OK that gear was collected from some stuff getting thrown out back when I worked for the navy in the '90s
I worked at getting the gears to mesh and the treadmill fairly tight and sloped so Moose’s weight would work for him.
Oh and this is the first use of my Pin Nailer…Not a bad tool at all! I didnt split too many of the planks!
Looking good. The Moose Mobile seams ready to meander.
Doc Tom
Very cool
Moose and I had to expend some effort to get the chariot to roll freely. The treadmill was a whisker too wide and would fetch up on something…couldn’t tell what. I unshipped both rollers, shortened the idler a bit, sanded the edges of the belt, a and reassembled it. Moose felt it was still too stiff for him, so I made am custom extension to the gear axle and powered it with a drill motor for a few minutes…that seemed to do the trick! Now it will roll without jamming and even coast…a little.
Ah, the old “break-in” trick! 
All of our ideas are “genius” on paper until we deal with the realities of making them work using cobbled bits. (This is why scientists keep the engineers around.)
I’m surprised that Moose hasn’t complained about continually walking “uphill.” I know that when I add “incline” to my treadmill, it just gets harder to walk on.
If Moose walked the other way, he would always be walking “downhill” so would have no “grounds” for complaint. (Also seems like a downhill walk would be easier to make the legs work as the treadmill pulls them up and gravity lets them fall back down.)
Todd take pity on Moose knees, he’s a big guy!
I made some more progress today on moose’s treadmill. He had told me he felt a little afraid when standing up on the treadmill on the car. after looking over my track he felt sure he would be pitched off as the chariot rattled down the track. I told him don’t worry those are just frost heaves and by summer the track will be smooth as a baby’s … er well this is a family site. but He was having none of it. he wanted a nice sturdy railing he could lean against when he wanted to.
I can see that I’ll need a place to sit and with all the complaints from the prime mover I can see I’ll have to get my freind a sweater. Sweater? he snorts I need a good fur coat!
Here is a little clip of the treadmill test:
That runs very well. Like the creaking sounds as well.
Tom
Gotta Love It!
I am very curious to see how Bullwinkle articulates on that treadmill.
He is going to have to Gallup to keep up with that wee red rocket, probably see nothing but a blur!
Vic Smith said:
I am very curious to see how Bullwinkle articulates on that treadmill.
me too
Wow that is really coming together Eric.
I really am just very impressed with the serious level of ingenuity abounding the challenge projects. This one as with all of them are remarkable in what can be done with so little.
I second that the sound this treadmill makes is just great. Maybe the moose handler needs a platform from which he can stand in front of moose and offer a handful of grain just a bit out of reach.
Devon Sinsley said:
I really am just very impressed with the serious level of ingenuity abounding the challenge projects. This one as with all of them are remarkable in what can be done with so little.
That is what is so cool about this challenge. With a limited budget and time frame it is amazing what guys dream up and build.
keep up the good work Eric and all other builders
Thanks Guys…Ive been having a great time with this and trying some new stuff. this is really the first time I have attempted to weather wood using the alcohol and ink trick…works pretty good! I also recently got a pin nailer and this project was my first time…hey that’s fun!
I also really like seeing what you guys come up with.