Posted on February 1, 2021
FRANK PATTON -” WS&C SERIES”
THIRD OF THREE PART SERIES ON THE PATTON PRODUCT LINE.
https://www.facebook.com/100009071998679/videos/pcb.3725715520841285/2690970791215294[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Posted on January 31, 2021
Frank Patton-“FP numbered series”
Second of three part series on PATTON product line.
https://www.facebook.com/100009071998679/videos/pcb.3725313177548186/2690911094554597
https://www.facebook.com/100009071998679/videos/pcb.3725313177548186/2690911234554583
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What’s the difference between fp12 and fp18?
Shawna
Shawna Wise one is wood beam, the other steel track. I probably miss spoke in the video.
Steve[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Posted on January 30, 2021
FRANK PATTON- “PAT APPLIED FOR” SERIES.
First of a three part series on Patton Product Line.
https://www.facebook.com/100009071998679/videos/pcb.3722224527857051/2689750988003941[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Posted on February 22, 2018
Can anyone tell me how to find the correct original colors for FE Meyers MY07 1886 era trolleys i see muliple colors of resoration projects on line???
Phillip[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
I HAVE SEEN DARK HUNTER GREEN AS THE STANDARD FOR EARLY MODELS, THEN A BREIF BLACK PERIOD IN THE MIDDLE, FOLLOWED BY SILVER AFTER 1900. CHECK FOR COLOR UNDER THE BOLTS, THERE ARE USUALLY TRACES OF COLOR AS YOU DISASSEMBLE THE UNIT. WILL LOOK GOOD IN EITHER COLOR. IF YOU GO HUNTER GREEN BE SURE TO LOOK FOR RUSTOLUM DARK HUNTER GREEN, ITS VERY CLOSE TO EARLY MYERS GREEN.
Steve[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Posted on January 27, 2018 Stuck vs unstuck wheels. Here’s how I do it. Works 99 percent of the time. Last 1 percent, torch or 2 weeks in dilute caustic solution. Was taught this method by the late George Fogle.
https://www.facebook.com/100009071998679/videos/pcb.1589517634461095/1886077981704583
https://www.facebook.com/100009071998679/videos/pcb.1589517634461095/1886078041704577
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I’ll have to give this a try , Would it be better to have support on the underside or not necessarily?
Doug
Yes, I use wood on underside of the wheel if it is really stuck hard. In the thousands of wheels I’ve unstuck I only busted two. Myers o k loader spoked wheel are fragile if you stay on them to long and to hard. If you can’t get them loose in 3 to 4 minutes get the torch.
Steve
Steve, does that tool have a solid head, or is a whole lot of needles? What is it called, please?
David
It’s an air hammer. It’s an attachment that fits into an air chisel. Napa or similar stores have it
Doug
Yes, solid head.
Not sure what it’s called. I call it button head tool. Looks a lot like an engine valve with a fat head.
Steve[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Posted on January 2, 2018
Hi all, I recently bought two “identical” HHF carriers, which I intend to use for a project (I hope this doesn’t enrage the purists). I’m adapting these pieces to use as rollers for a large door which I am hanging in barn door fashion. The door is is circa 1920 (I think) from a train station. It is quite large, so I wanted something robust and different for rolling hardware. These HHF carriers appear to be just the ticket. When I received the carriers, I noticed they were slightly different. I’m curious if anyone can tell me more about them, when they were made and if they are just modifications on the same model. The website shows a model 1126, which appears to be the same. But these have different markings. One has 503A cast in the side rail and one has 1053. The catalogue image on the web site shows that the 1126 has the 503A mark. The wheels are also slightly different. Below are some pics. I can post more if needed. The one with the 503A had a larger, heavier more complex pulley, but both pulleys say PAT Oct 4 1910. The larger pulley also has a date of May 22 1926 on it. Is that another Patent date, or is it a manufacture date?
Pics below:
1, 2. disassembled carrier rails
3. marks on 503A
4. marks on 1053
5. large pulley
6. smaller pulley
7. project door
Also had a question about the bearings on the track wheels. The advertisement indicates that the wheels have roller bearings. Is this really the case? I want smooth operation, so my intent was to have machine work done to remove the wheels, and outfit them with bronze bushings or perhaps ball bearings. Any thoughts about attempts to restore the old roller bearings? I assume I’d still have to have the wheels milled off, then have the bores honed, find shafts, rollers, etc. to rebuild each wheel. Seems like a lot of work.
Thanks for any information.
Keith
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SO, YES THESE ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME FOR WHAT YOU ARE USING THEM FOR. ONE WHEEL TRUCK IS JUST AN UPDATED VERSION OF THE OTHER. THE UNDER CARRIAGES, WHICH YOU WILL NOT USE ARE WHERE THE DIFFERENCES ARISE. THEY LATER VERSION WITH THE 1926 PATENT DATE HAS AN ADDITIONAL FEATURE INVOLVING THE ROPE BREAK. THE “ROLLER BEARINGS” ARE IN THE LARGE LIFTING WHEEL, NOT ON THE WHEEL TRUCKS YOU ARE USING. YOUR IDEA OF PUTING BALL BEARINGS IN THEM IS A GOOD IDEA, AS MOST OF THE WHEEL RIVETS AND WHEEL ARE WORN OUT. YOU MAY WANT TO USE ORIGINAL TRACK, WHICH IS “Y” SHAPED. THE “Y” WAS USED TO KEEP THE TROLLEY FROM BUCKING ON THE TRACK. TURN OVER THE WHEEL TRUCK AND YOU WILL SEE A SMALL LIP BELOW EACH WHEEL. IF YOU MAKE YOUR OWN TRACK, IT MIGHT BE WISE TO GRING THESE LIPS OFF SO THEY DONT INTERFERE WITH THE TRACK YOU FABRICATE. GOOD LUCK ON YOU PROJECT. SEND USE THE FINISHED PROJECT PHOTO, WE ARE ALWAYS INTERESTED IN WHAT FOLKS DO WITH TROLLEYS.
Steve
Thanks so much for the information Steve. I didn’t think the track wheels had bearings from what I had read, but there was one ad that made it sound like all the running gear had bearings. I’m just starting the planning and designing of the system now, and it is clear that I’m going to have to do some non-trivial modifications to shoehorn these things into my door system.
One followup question – in that photo of the pulley from the later model, you can see that the big stud that holds the wheel truck together is still in the pulley frame. In the other one, that stud slipped right out of the pulley. But this one seems to be captured in the mechanism. I don’t want to go wailing on it with a big hammer if in fact it has a flange or something on it that holds it in there. Will I need to split that pulley assembly open to get the bolt out?
Thanks very much.
Keith
BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I RESTORED MINE. I WOULD JUST GRIND THE TWO RIVETS DOWN AND PUNCH THE RIVETS OUT. OTHER WISE YOU MIGHT BOGGER UP THE THREADS.
Steve
That’s what I figured. Those carriers are absolutely beautiful. Is that an original color? I’m thinking about what color to go with, and that deep red really is nice.
Keith
RUSTOLEUM SATIN COLONIAL RED SPRAY PAINT IS THE COLOR
Steve[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Posted on February 5, 2017
When finishing in just oil or wax, what is the process and what kind of oil or wax is the best.
Marc[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
Oil and Wax Process – Disassemble the trolley. Wire wheel or hand wire brush all the parts. ( make sure you wear a respirator and eye protection). I personally prefer to use a soft wire wheel and I lightly remove the heavy rust and dirt, this leaves a very dark finish when your done. A more aggressive approach will leave you with a lighter more metallic look when done. Once all the parts are wire wheeled or brushed I cover them in oil. Most oils will work, I prefer motor oil. A lot of people use used motor oil. I then heat each individual piece with a hand held torch until the oil begins to sizzle, bubble and and smoke. At this point while the metal is still very hot I wipe the excess oil off while wearing heavy gloves. I immediately rub the piece down with wax. Once the wax dries and is hard I buff it out.
I use Minwax paste finishing wax. It can be purchased at any lowes in the wood stain and finishing section.
Clint[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Posted on January 31, 2017
What is the best way to clean and restore the wooden pulley wheels? Many I have seen have had an orange cast of color. What type of finish is on those wheels? Thanks![/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
So many things you can do to a wooden pulley. All a matter of personal preference. I prefer to gently clean the dirt off using windex and a rag. I then apply a few coats of hand rubbed Tung Oil. If the wood is light in color, I like to darken it using Minwax provincial stain.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Posted on January 8, 2017
I am a newbee at this and This is my first trolley and my first restoration.
I picked this thing up in port Huron Michigan from a Craig’s list add, lugged it all the way back to Los Angeles and couldn’t wait to get my hands on it to tear it down.
I wanted to figure out who made this thing as it had very few markings on it. I started doing my research and had no luck until I stumbled across this site. Thanks to you I learned that the raised stamp on that trolley had an M over a horizontal I was for moline iron works along with an HC921A number. I was so excited and felt relived. Now that I knew who made it was time to tear it down and bring it back to life. I used PB blaster to break all the nuts loose and it was effortless, I cleaned up the rust with some oil and a fine steel wool, torched off the exces oil and clear coated it with gloss lacquer to preserve the patina. Please let me know what you think about this particular hay carrier and would love to hear some feedback. Thank you for reading. 
Hadi
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Posted on July 31, 2016 I found your forum here after working on a barn teardown yesterday, gaining a couple good finds from it… and wanting to research what on earth I now had.
These photos are from yesterday…..
A friend and I were given a 1920’s (?) eight cow dairy barn to tear down. Initially it looks not too bad until you go to the south end of the barn and find that 1/4 of the roof is torn off and half the wall is missing — the bottom half— and 1/4 of the loft floor. It is located in the rainy Pacific NW after all. I don’t know about this location, but at my house we get 90-120″ of rain a year, and this barn has been opened to the elements for at least 20 years. My friend gets the barn to reassemble (with a few new parts) at his place, but my reward for this crazy wonderful endeavor is the hay trolley system, and the brick from the milkhouse to make my new root cellar at my place. and learning how to dissemble a building to put back up again.
This is what we were up against. This is the floor of the loft which was crashed down about 8 feet from where it ought to be.
This is what it looked like hours after jacking it back up into place. We have to restore this part of the floor in order to walk on it in the loft to start tearing down the roof, trusses, hay trolley track and ect. Yes, we have to rebuild part of the barn to take it apart. After this photo was taken we placed another huge beam under all of these timbers and braced everything.
This is looking up through one of the holes in the loft floor (it looks awesome in this photo, trust me, it is all rotten out) at the complete hay carrier complete on its rail. We took all of it down but the rail. It is 20ft above the loft floor. We had to haul 1″ plywood sheets up there for stability for the ladder (and us). When we went to go see this barn for the first time, I seem to be the only one who noted there was this beauty in the loft. The owners took everything out of the barn they wanted, so this is MINE!!!
After shoring up the barn in a few places (the photos above were not the only places which needed bracing), we decided to take the trolley down. I believe this is a Louden Adjustable Senior Hay Trolley Carrier (please correct me if I am wrong). The Barn Owls are not going to be happy that they are losing one of their perches, but then again, they are going to be losing their whole barn within the month. We are going after the track at the same time we are taking the roof off the barn.
It has numbers 1717 on it, as well as 1804. I saw another similar to it on this forum, but it had the number 1803. I am dubious as that is their year of make. Does anyone know what the numbers denote? Patent numbers? Does anyone have a potential year/s this was made?
And the Meyers-Ashland (?) 6-tined Hay Grapple.
My intent is to restore this to working order, if possible, as I have with a few other smaller scale heritage agriculture machines/mechanisms. One of the next barns to dismantle is for me to take home and reassemble, and I would love to have this in my loft for hauling up ~2 ton of hay, once a year.
The wheels are slightly frozen, thankfully the whole thing was under the part of the barn which did not lose it’s roof, and other than a bit of owl poop, it is not bad looking, is not pitted and with a good spray (or three) of WD-40 or some such thing I think it would move nicely. My partner in this teardown wants me to keep it in the patina it is in, but I think it is calling for me to sand blast it, and repaint it red (I think that is the original colour since it has a bit still on it).
I am trying to find more info on the Meyers Hay Grapple, and I have it in my mind what colours I would like for it, but I want to get other opinion from you experts. I see alot of topics on the carriers themselves, but little on the things they hefted. Can we start a thread on those too?
The next task is to take the roof tin off at the same time as taking the track down. I have not identified what kind of track it is, other than metal, not wood. It too, is in good shape.
This is my first Hay Trolley and I can feel the addiction (I am also addicted to fanning mills too)
Cedar
PS Thank you for having this awesome forum/site[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
I am back to working on the Hay Trolley and Grapple as of today. I got it back from the sandblaster today, where it has been sitting for a year, as due to kafuffles I was not able to go get it until now. It took more than wire brushing, so I sent it off.
I decided to not leave it with the patina I found it with, and I have inquires out to various museums to see if they can tell me what the original colours of these would have been. He hit it again to touch it up. I was AMAZED!! It looked brand new. The man who did the sandblasting for me, said that it did indeed pretty much look like that new. It took 300lbs of blasting material to make it feel refreshed.
The photos above as how and where I found it.
This photo below is how I saw them today, after they had been sandblasted
How it looked straight from the sandblasters
And after I started to primer it today. I have to go get more primer tomorrow. I did not get all of the hay grapple done. This photo was trying to show the color difference of the primer and the bare metal. It eventually got two coats today. It must be the sunlight, as it is much greyer than the white-ish it shows in the photo. When I was painting it, it was difficult to tell where I had already painted.
And after I started to primer it today. I have to go get more primer tomorrow. I did not get all of the hay grapple done. This photo was trying to show the color difference of the primer and the bare metal. It eventually got two coats today. It must be the sunlight, as it is much greyer than the white-ish it shows in the photo. When I was painting it, it was difficult to tell where I had already painted.
WHY did I want this? I actually did not know I wanted a hay trolley, but I looked up into the dark loft of the barn, saw it, and I wanted to give it a working home. Someday I will have a barn again (hopefully a salvaged elderly one), and I want it in my barn as a functional antique. Both my museum quality fanning mills were ruined due to the kafuffle, but I will start collecting mid-sized farm things again. But while some people collect tractors as antique farm stuff, I tend to collect the stuff which is still usable (or can be made so) and show the next generations. I have several messages and emails into different museums around the country to see what the original colours where on these items. But like painting the bee-hives, this is one of my ‘in-between’ the other projects. But I had to hurry and get primer on it, as it literally could start rusting again overnight.
It had been hanging in that barn 96 years.
Cedar
Got a little further along on my restoration. Eventually this will be restored to working condition. It is able to lift 1,200lbs (the complete trolley system, not just this part of it, and I have no intention of using it for that much weight). I want to get the lettering on, but in reality, I need to loosen the track wheels, retap them, white grease them, etc. before I get to do the artsy stuff, as paint is going to have to retouched after taking the stuck parts out I am sure. I had a machinist tell me a little secret about my track wheels today, which made them even cooler. But this section of the trolley is done (other than the bolt and nut which are in a bucket 70 miles away), so I did one side of the lettering, will wait for that to dry overnight, and letter the other side tomorrow or so.
I know it seems kinda weird, but little cheap projects like this, are what is keeping my ‘sanity’ for the last two years, since multiple other projects have been stymied for various reasons.
Antique Hay Trolley & Grapple, entire 100-some feet of track, trips, and blocks = Free Salvage
Sandblasting = $40
Primer – $6.99
Paint x3 = $14
Model Paint = negligible amount of money
Paintbrush = Already had.
around $60 project.. .
Cedar[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]