Trucks around the yard

Neat work on the tyres (can I use the proper spelling here?! :smirk:) and those adaptations you make to lift them. The building design work also looks very impressive!

cheers
Michael

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@cosimodo, well Michael, that is a gray/grey area… :smile:

I went about resolving a few problems. First, spending some time on the bed and mounting the forklift:

The forklift tower now sits perpendicular to the bed when attached to the bed, which was the goal.

And, spent some time detailing the front axle:

This worked out as well as could be hoped. The steering linkage geometry is a bit weird, but it does not bind turning full left or right. That said, if this were a larger scale and had less mixing and matching of parts, I might have added steering limiting bumps. I’ll add shock absorbers and a few more hoses and wires to the fender wells.

OK, on we go -

Cheers
Nick

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I’m taking a seat here.

Looks like another great journey in Nick’s world of scratch building, kit bashing and conversions and the best part is- it started not too long ago. Oh- and am ready to take some notes too…

Go Nick, Go!

Cheers,
Angel

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Loving the truck and forklift…looks amazing without paint on and you can see all that sweet detailing.

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That looks amazing, Nick. Is it military or civilian? (Sorry, I didn’t read the entire thread).

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@ayovtshev, Hi Angel, thanks very much - yes, please keep an eye on this, and if you have any ideas, please feel free to share them. This has a while to go and will require all sorts of materials and techniques to pull it together -

@Johnnych01 thanks, John - you know, I’ve thought about that on a few projects, but specifically on a couple of T55s with the Aber 3 volume PE detail sets - wow - they almost look better without paint!

@Trisaw, Hi Peter, The 6x6 began life as a military 6x6, a Mk.23. But, it is a short bed with independent suspension, and for this project, I want a civilian 6x6 used in a lumber yard. So I extended the chassis and converted it to solid front and rear axles from a variety of kits. I’m glad it’s working out as planned - while I really enjoy building suspensions, a constant source of anxiety is if despite my cutting and so on, will the axle centerlines be the same height front and rear? - so far so good!

As for today’s update, something different - a radial arm saw:

I can’t imagine a lumberyard without one. So, I found some pictures of old Dewalt saws, with large blades (14 to 16" diameter) and went from there. The saw is made up of extras and whatever looked about right. The table wings have rollers so that material can be moved back and forth relatively easily. I think with some paint and weather it will look fine. The guy offers some sense of scale. As the table is relatively short, I’ll use some A-frames with rollers in the dio to serve as as-needed table extensions.

Thanks for having a look

Cheers
Nick

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Not much to say about that … except genius idea and build …I know its not a vehicle , but somehow I like this little build the best so far …

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The saw and table look awesome. :+1::+1:

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The saw is great. Looking for the next project?


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I watched a YouTube film about those trucks … real monsters … a few the bloke found had just been abandoned … impressive though.

@18bravo and @Johnnych01 perfect! another big out of the ordinary for the dust collection zone! ~ meaning, where all of my projects wind up!

For today, essentially the exact opposite, something also a bit strange, but a lot smaller - a cradle lift:

Looking for prototypes I found lots a versions, from very old to what look like relatively current. I’m guessing with the advent of good fork lifts, these became obsolete. Interesting looking though, so good for this project!

The picture above is pretty clear, so I’m using it as a general reference, but I am mixing and matching as I see fit.

For starters, the engine and cab, well, I am using the Thunder Models Case tractor:

A fundamental challenge was establishing scale and dimensions, but like any scratch built project that was worked out. The Thunder kit is pretty nice, but it is not that easy to build. A few of the parts are pretty small and have somewhat weak connecting points, and the PE, might as well be cut foil - it is very thin!

It’s coming together. The basic frame was a bit of a headache, using evergreen, old sprue and some cut up white metal 1/32 scale aircraft landing gear and engine parts (as you can see as ends on the axle). Speaking of the axle, it’s from something else, and I cut up the transmission and added a short driveshaft. Still a way to go, but making progress -

Cheers
Nick

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Fantastic. I’ve wanted the Next Mad Max movie to feature a much larger version o9f that with an enormous electro-magnet underneath, to snare its victims.

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Wow what a beast - I see a couple of gas turbines slung in the cargo area for a quick getaway. Does this beast have a name…hopefully not a Timbamova? I hope you leave the chain-drives open i.e. not covered.

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Ok, now we talkin’ :grin:

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Straddle carriers are still used in lumber mills today. Yes they are old machines since they are generally used for short distances to pull a completed unit, on the wooden blocks, out of the stacking bay and into the yard where it can be banded and then moved by a fork lift. The mill I worked in, back when I had some hair, was a combination of a re-saw and planing mill as well as a retail lumber/builders supply yard. The saw mill that fed the operation was located in a small town at the edge of the foothills west of the planing mill which was out in the valley.

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That just adds to the pile of brilliant !!!

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I read somewhere that these were Patrick Tilley’s inspiration for his Amtrak Federation Wagon Trains in his books. It might even be in the books themselves.


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Hi guys,

This has turned into a really interesting build. There is more going on than meets the eye, and it has taken me a while to understand this, and then figure out how to represent it. I say “represent” because I’m still not sure of how this works, but am fairly confident that this is what it looks like:

The idea here was to build what I can see from old photos, and then guess how they work. This little machine’s apparatus appears to function mechanically, but, there are also parts that look to be hydraulic, and I don’t know how to confirm which is which. So, I decided for myself! it remains chain driven (something I’m still working on) with mostly hydraulic apparatus. I added a hydraulic PTO, valve block, some controllers and so on.

The four arms, on each corner - I think those are used to adjust ride height. If you look at photos you can see that there is an arm on top that pivots, with a fixed point on the inside, and a variable point (hydraulic ram) on the outside. The more I looked at this, the more this seems reasonable, something like a rocker arm in an engine - a lifter and spring, but in this case a lifter and pivot, which forces the center point up or down - or, not! :smile: :man_shrugging:

So making progress

Cheers
Nick

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Looking at your photos I can’t figure it out either. Your representation looks on point tho :face_with_monocle:

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It seems as if a research trip is in order, complete with local pubs and other entertainment.

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