Got a little more done on the gin pole truck. The rigging is mostly done, air filter is built and attached, and the winch is basically detailed. Still need to do quite a bit more and do some weathering. Next time I will use brass tubing for the gin poles instead of styrene. The styrene flexes and it is hard to keep the rigging taught. Until the load it is lifting is built, it will have to have something with some weight to stretch the cable and keep the rigging taught.
Paul, I agree with Steve, your truck looks great. You might get in contact with Paul Slavens, the guy who is rebuilding Frisco caboose SLSF 1291 and SLSF 1288. He has oilfield equipment and would probably provide you some photographs and other information. I do not know how often he looks at our website, but it would not hurt to try. If you do not hear from him in a short time, let me know and I will give him a call. He lives about 15 miles from me. Joe
Joe, That is a terrific idea. Thanks! There are quite a few oilfield folks here and I have asked questions of three of them, but new information might be just the thing. Tom Holley and I have talked at length regarding the oilfield trucks. His brother works in the oilfield, as well. When I decided to build this truck with the poles up, I started looking for a load to have it lifting. At this point I am thinking a Caterpillar diesel engine on I beam skids with a radiator, etc., similar to what would have been used to power the draw works, but smaller. The other thing I have thought of is to have the oilfield truck helping out the railroad by rerailing a freight car. The Tulsa Winches on these oilfield trucks were normally capable of lifting 100,000 pounds. Look up a Tulsa 80 winch. That could easily pick up an unloaded end of a boxcar. Just an idea, but I would rather have it lifting something oilfield related. Any ideas on a load that is being lifted are welcome! Thanks, and I will contact Paul Slavens. Paul Moore
We expect a 500 word report for the information on what Paul says. Just kidding. I can call Paul if he does not respond in a few days. Need to make a trip to see his caboose progress, SLSF 1291 is almost done. He has been posting on Facebook lately and just recently got back from vacation. Joe
Greetings guys! I will be happy to share some cool pictures of old oilfield trucks and anything else that may be useful. I will get a few images tomorrow. Thanks!
Thanks, Paul. The photographs will be fun to see and helpful. If you have any photographs of gin pole trucks lifting something, that would be terrific. The truck I am finishing up needs a load! Paul Moore
Took a day off from working on the property to play a little. The truck is getting close. Still needs the simulated amber lenses on the cab roof marker lights, needs mirrors and a load to be lifted. I am still debating on which style of mirrors. But it is close.
Okay Steve, Andre, or any of you large truck people out there, The next project is a lowboy trailer. It is supposedly a 1950s era model, but who knows. It is a soft metal kit by Alloy Forms and I have a few questions. Attached is a generic photograph of the completed kit. After looking at prototype photos for two hours, I have not found one lowboy trailer with a winch on the actual trailer. Most tractors have the coiled airlines for brakes from the tractor to the trailer. 1) What about electrical lines for a winch? 2) Would the winch apparatus actually be on the front deck of the trailer or on the rear portion of the tractor? 3) Have you ever seen a flatbed trailer with tiedown ears sticking up on the edges of the bed? I already drilled them out so they will accept a hook, boom or chain. But I could always cut them off, drill new holes and add tie down loops on the sides of the trailer like most flatbed trailers have. Thanks in advance to anyone who knows more about this than I do, which would not take much. Paul Moore
I do not recall any trailer with a large winch like that. A big winch behind the cab, power take off (PTO) driven is what I would expect. Another possibility is a PTO driven hydraulic pump for the winch. Tabs sticking up are odd because they can be in the way for some hauls. But if it was purpose built, it is totally plausible.
Your thoughts are exactly what I was thinking. The tabs or ears for tiedowns would definitely be in the way of some loads. Would the winch necessarily be enclosed, like the oilfield truck winches, or could it just be on the frame behind the cab? Unless it is purpose built or modified for some specific load, I have got to figure out how to mount the tiedown loops on the sides of the trailer.
Only lowboy I have ever recall seeing with a winch mounted forward was a special built lowboy for transporting on-track equipment. Typically, general service flatbeds or lowboys, there are locations on the side rails for chains, cable hooks or straps but not atop the deck. However, I am not an expert and it has been decades since I was a paid professional driver.
Yeah, either D rings on the side or a circle cut at one end and a slot off that. So it just holds a link of chain. I can take pictures if you need too.
Sounds like I have to figure out how to mount tiedown loops or D rings on the side. The D ring is not the problem. It is the thin, flat, curved strap piece that holds it to the side of the trailer.
Paul, Would a small jewelry bead work? Just cut off a little bit on the side that goes on the railcar. It would be tedious and hard to handle, but if you find a way it might work out. Just the first thing that came to mind. I used a cut jewelry bead on my radio control Formula 1 car for the mirrors. They are tough to cut though. Maybe not worth the time and trouble. Joe
Joe, Thanks for the idea. Holding the beads to cut them sounds extremely tough! When this whole oilfield idea hatched, I bought quite a few hooks and several feet of chain, knowing that it would be needed for the different models. Part of that purchase was some O-scale chain to be cut into individual links to make D rings, etc. In order to get individual links, you have to cut every other link. The cut links were turned into elongated horseshoes. Pairs of vertical holes were drilled into the sides of the lowboy trailer, five pairs to a side. An individual link was put on the horseshoe and the horseshoe was attached into the drilled holes. It works, but is not really correct. The actual D ring holders have a flat profile and are much smaller than the horseshoes I made. But I could not think of any other way to do it. The brass chain was soaked in weathering solution for a couple of minutes, giving it a dark rusty appearance. After the trailer is painted, some of the paint will be removed with a toothpick or Q-tip with thinner on it. Once it is painted and the weathering shows through, it may hide the incorrect attachment. Thanks for the idea! Paul Moore
