Mc Donald Model tractor

Looking forward to seeing this on its wheels.

I remembered where I'd come across a vertical split gearbox before. My grandfather owned a Turner Yeoman of England with a similar arrangement. It was a v4 diesel if you fancy building another oddball.

Edited By Adrian R2 on 02/03/2021 11:12:05

The photo shows one of the rear wheels under construction and also the hub parts for the second wheel. I made up a wooden jig on which to build the unit as this enables me to centralise the hub to the rim and also give the correct offset from the outside of the wheel. It’s the sort of job where you need octopus hands and you need to plan out the order of work and assembly. The hub was silver soldered up to hold the six pins and one of the spoke plates in place with the second spoke plate being added later. The collet was more difficult to make than expected and again it was planning the order of the processes that was important ( holding the work for slitting and making sure both the taper and parallel bores were accurate). I will drill all the rivet holes before the final assembly and hope that it will all line up and be concentric - may even have to call in my wife to give me a hand and I know she will be thrilled with that!

Fred

It just keeps getting better ...

Lovely work Fred

MichaelG.

One down and one to go - rear wheels that is. The job proved to be more difficult than I anticipated as trying to keep every thing concentric and to size was not easy. The second wheel should not take as long as I have now work out the order of work and made the various jigs and tools. The tractor on which the model is based does not have any form of tread but could be fitted with “ spade lugs” but I am contemplating fitting rubber blocks to offer some form of grip. As autumn is here I have to spend some time preparing the veg garden ready for sowing and as a consequence the second wheel will have to be put on hold for a couple of days. Plenty to think about.

Fred.

George, wonderful work !!

whereabouts in Queensland are you? Currently up here from Tassie

regards

Mark

Some traction engine type strakes wouldn't look out of place, or there is one here that has been fitted with solid tyres.

https://cobahcastiron.weebly.com/mcdonald-tractor-twb542.html

Mark if you are in the Bundaberg area give me a call ( I am in the phone book) and we can arrange a meet.

Regards,

”Fred”

( George Punter).

George, thanks for the kind offer to catch up! Not sure if I will get that far up, currently in Caloundra at my daughters place doing all the jobs she wants doing!! Looks to be 3+ hours from here to Bundaberg ??
regards

Mark

Progress on the Mc Donald came to halt this last week as I was preparing for a model railway and other hobbies exhibition in town. I have just returned from the last day of the show feeling rather tired but satisfied having met and chatted to many of the public and hopefully inspired then to take up a practical hobby. There were traders, many train layouts in Z, N and HO scale, model boats, planes and model engineering. The photographs show our effort ! Next week it will be back in the workshop building the second rear wheel and thinking about the front wheels.

Fred

It’s good to be back in the workshop and making bits for the Mc Donald. The show was very good but tiring on the legs and voice. The photographs show progress on the seat and the conical spring that is fitted underneath to give the driver some degree of comfort! The seat was beaten out of 1.0mm steel. The shape was photocopied to scale from a photo and then the slots were cut out with a piercing saw. The shape was beaten down into the wooden block and the raised centre section on the aluminium block with the groove machined into it. The red jig at the front was used to bend down the outer edges before planishing on a stake.The conical spring is made from 2.0mm fence wire (that gives just the right amount of spring) and wound on the tapered mandrel shown. 3.0 mm copper wire is used as a spacer and later peeled off. I had intended to make the second rear wheel but the laser cut parts have not yet arrived. There is still plenty to think about and do.

Fred.

It doesn’t look much for the days of effort that went into making it! The photo shows the small casting and pattern that was used to make it. The finished casting is bolted to the right hand mudguard to hold the seat in position. The seat can be swung through 90 deg to give easier access to the rear of the tractor. There were many “ funny” angles and curves in the shape and I had to make another visit to the tractor to check that the details were correct. At least at the end of the day I achieved what I had set out to do but just as well it wasn’t being costed by the hour! I still haven’t received the laser cut parts for the mudguards but the type of jobs we ask the laser cutter to do are probably more of a nuisance so I do appreciate that fact that he will actually do the work. If any of the readers of this project have any question I will do my best to answer them.

Fred

No questions Fred - but I am certainly loving this build. Fantastic attention to detail and a fascinating array of processes being employed.

Being a helpful forum I think a lot of members save their comments for when they feel they have useful advice to offer the builder. This has the unfortunate side effect of the most accomplished builds having relatively few comments. Rest assured though, there will be an awful lot of people following this keenly!

Regards

Dom

These photographs show the front wheel full size.

Yes, indeed. I am in awe of the attention to detail and the quality of the workmanship. I look forward to seeing each posting.

Peter

Fred, following closley, terrific work. looking forward to the next installment.

Andy

It did rain over Easter but not as much as anticipated. After many months of thinking and days of making the pattern for the hubs they have been cast today and I am now in the process of cleaning them up prior to machining the flats for the spokes to be screwed onto. The casting was a tricky operation and a process that you may not find in a book or commercial foundry as I used a cardboard mask around the outside of the pattern to pack the first box . It was then removed and the second box packed. With the pattern and mask removed the aluminium was poured in and you can now see the results. Both sides of the hubs have the flats machined at different angles (72 and 75deg) to accommodate the “dish” effect of the inside of the wheel. All this adds to the complexity but that is how the full size tractor was made and this is scale model and should be correct as near as possible. Thanks for the comments.

Fred.

Those are some trickey castings. I'm still following and enjoying