Tie Changer Machine - Official Work Thread

[Benjamin Richards]

The wrap around rope is a thing of the past, very functional but probably foreign to the younger generation.

I'll file that under "things I'm not supposed to know about, but somehow have experience with anyway."

Along with rotary telephones, over-the-air TV, pumping the gas pedal to set the choke, &c.

I guess that's why I like it here.

[Ed Lecuyer]

<LIKE>

[Mike Fox]

When I had it here I was trying to get it running and counted 100 pulls as I was messing with it. I would take the plug out, add gas and put the plug back in.

The operation of it is a little tricky at first. Flip a lever one way and the machine will grab a tie and insert when another lever is moved. Throw the first lever the other way and it reverses the movement. It will take some good coordination to be smooth..

[Wayne Laepple]

There used to be an electric starter kit available for the engine.

[Bob Holmes]

Wrap-around rope??...what about hand cranks!  Though I doubt any of us actually were alive then...

[Dana Deering]

On our farm we had a Farmall F14 that started by hand crank that we used on the belt driven silage blower that was in service until the 1970s. I started that tractor by crank many times. My aunt has it now and it still runs like a top. We had a cordwood saw powered by a Model A engine, also hand crank start, that we used in the firewood business until 1997. Some of us do have experience with hand cranked starting though I can also say from experience that the romance goes out of it pretty quickly.

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

On the AMTP the coachscrew driver machine is still powered by a gas engine that starts up with a wrap-around rope, which requires some skill  and patience to fire the engine. The make of those small gas engines was Bernard that had been very popular mostly on the farms or building yards in 50's and 60's before the Japanese ones displaced them. Mind you, my lawn mower is powered by a  serviceable Briggs & Stratton that I start up easily by pulling a rope.

[Brian Whitney]

As long as it is starting/running like it is right now the wrap around rope isn't much of a problem.  Two or three pulls is acceptable.
I'll try to keep it running like a top!
I do think that I need to take off the cowling and clean out a mouse nest before we run it too much. It could overheat otherwise.
Better safe than sorry.

Brian W.

[Bob Holmes]

Always have to do that in the spring with wintered-over equipment.  They are clever rascals...

[Carl G. Soderstrom]

There used to be recoil starters that fit the old "wrap the rope cup" and some recoil
units had the cup under so if the recoil broke you could still start the engine.

If you want to put a modern recoil on that flywheel - remove the cup and replace it with
a new adapter.

Trick I use to loosen the nut (be sure of the hand of the thread) is put a piece of soft braided
clothes line in the spark plug hole, when the piston squeezes the cord against the head the nut loosens.
Be careful the cord does not go in the valve.

Screwdrivers in the vanes are not a good idea. :-)

[Brian Whitney]

The wrap around rope is a thing of the past, very functional but probably foreign to the younger generation.

I'll file that under "things I'm not supposed to know about, but somehow have experience with anyway."

Along with rotary telephones, over-the-air TV, pumping the gas pedal to set the choke, &c.

I guess that's why I like it here.

How about the starter button on the floor and the timing advance on the steering column that looks like a blinker lever?
And don't forget 8-Tracks, casset's  and CD's! I just bought a new car which is actually a computer on wheels.
The museum is keeping me young!
Brian W.

[Keith Taylor]

How about the starter button on the floor and the timing advance on the steering column that looks like a blinker lever?
Brian W.

I understand that car manufacturers are considering placing the “high beam” switch back down on the floor of the car. Too many people have been getting their foot caught in the steering wheel!

[Brian Whitney]

The problem I'm having now is that I have never owned an automatic transmission. There is basically no such thing as a manual transmission any more. So I have to sit on my left foot so I don't go through the windshield when I try to clutch the brake!!

[Brian Whitney]

On a more serious note...
It started on two pulls today, I have James as my witness.  There is a slight gas leak on the bottom of the carburator which won't be a problem for now. It is not a fire hazard. There is a gas shut off at the tank for when it is not in use. I should have the leak fixed Tuesday but it is ok to use for now for learning/training.
There was no mouse nest in it but mud bees plugged up a lot of the fins on the engine. They are all cleared out now.

Brian W.

[Brian Whitney]

Gas leak is fixed. We had a great demonstration on the machine from Wayne today. It seems that it will be very beneficial to the process of changing ties.  It was nice to see so many new people, (to me), there today. I'm still a newcomer.
Brian W.