# HLW & Kadees?



## MJSavage (Dec 27, 2007)

I'm wanting to install Kadee couplers on my Hartland Mighty Mack and I see a few listed. 

Any opinions on 779 vs 905? 

Any experience on Aristocraft tight curves (32" & 21"?) 

Is it worth it to install them on Hartland Mini Series cars? It seems to me a drawbar of sorts would work well to group them in sets of three. Anybody here already doing that?

Thanks for the help!

Mike


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

Me, Mike. I have several multi car sets of HLW gons using 3D printed draw bars. Then I put a Kadee 820 on one end of the set and an Aristo knuckle on the other end. Then I can pull them with either a Kadee or an Aristo equipped engine.


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## MJSavage (Dec 27, 2007)

Dick,

Did you draw up the plans for the draw bars yourself?


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

I have kadees mounted on HLW short kit cars and these are run on my 29 inch diameter circle. (I bent a single 8 foot flex brass track into a circle). I do have USA solid brass wheels on these to prevent derailments. My engine is home made and uses the short USA Trains motor block.
I dremmeled out the ends to body mount the Kadees and I have the Kadee height guage to make them all the same.


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

Yes, Mike. I did draw my own plans for the drawbars. They are pretty simple, actually. I essentially made a box with an open bottom, holes to attach the drawbar to the cars, and holes on the ends. I made the drawbar hollow so I could run wires through them.
I drew the drawbars in Tinkercad. That makes it even simpler. Go to <tinkercad.com>, sign in for free, then go to it. I can help if you need it.


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

Dan, that's pretty much what I did to mine. A Kadee height gauge is essential for reliable operation. In my case, I added four small washers to raise the coupler height to a more realistic (to me) height.


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## MJSavage (Dec 27, 2007)

Thanks for the info everyone. Do you guys remember which Kadees you used?


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## MJSavage (Dec 27, 2007)

Anyone? Over 100 views . . . I was hoping someone would be able to steer me the right direction on which Kadees to try to use with the shorty Hartland cars and/or Mighty Mack. Kitbashing and modification are not a problem, I just need to know what will work best as I have more time than money.

Thanks for the help!

Mike


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Mike;

I had to disqualify myself because I "cheated." I had already mounted the Ozark four pocket link & pin fitting to my Mack. Originally I used it with Lionel or Delton knuckles.

When I switched to Kadees, I simply modified the mounting area of an 831 to fit into the Ozark pocket, and placed it into the pocket that best matched the Kadee coupler height gage. I have also body-mounted 831s to the HLW tipper trucks, shimming them as necessary. Works for me, but probably not the "correct" answer to your question.

Regards,
David Meashey

P. S. Would put in a photo of the Mack, but my saved favorite for my first class photos storage is suddenly returning an "http 404 file not found." Not sure what to do now.

P. P. S. Mike, I did not realize it had been so long since I took the photo. It shows the locomotive with the Lionel or Delton couplers. They had to be mounted into the bottom pocket of the link & pin socket. Presently the MLS system will not allow me to download any photos. There is a thread about the problem on the Public forum, but no "official" response as yet. I'm afraid to promise a current photo until this mess gets resolved, so here is the pre-Kadee photo.


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## MJSavage (Dec 27, 2007)

Thanks Dave, I appreciate the help. I'd like to see a photo of the Mack whenever the issue gets worked out.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

I used the 830 or 930, one is #1 the other is G.
I used a dremel to cut out a mounting pocket and bolted from the top of the car. I cared more about coupler strength than looks and have done 30 or so of the different HLW short kit cars.
Reason I started with kadees is I was at a show and someone sold a bag of 30 couplers for $10 which got me started. I just had to use them. and theywork real well on these cars.
Also I was at another show and a box of 7 short cars was $5.00.
My metal wheels are the biggest cost on these cars.


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## MJSavage (Dec 27, 2007)

Thanks Dan. Metal wheel are not cheap but they really helped improve the tracking on my cars.


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