Posted 9 years ago
hotairfan
(385 items)
This 1/8th scale (overall length = 14 inches) Steam Donkey Engine was built by an instructor at a trade school. I purchased it from a friend. It was run on air by the previous owner. It has a working boiler, a gear drive winch, with a brake and a loud working steam whistle. To get an idea of the size of this working model, look at the oil cup that is located on the bearing support next to the winch reeling spool. (last photo) This little oil fitting is 1/16 inch in diameter and is a perfectly copy of the original. I am in the process of fitting the necessary and safety hardware to run it on steam. I have the pressure gauge and burner to go.
What is a steam donkey engine you say?
Comprised of a boiler, steam engine and a powerful winch, these steam donkeys were used in the lumbering industry to drag the cut down timber from the felled area to the landing yard where they would be loaded onto lumber trucks and transported to the lumber mill.
The dangerous job of dragging cut timber was done using a series of signals between the loggers and the donkey operator via the use of a steam whistle.
These whistle signals were the only communication between the workers applying the cable choke on the felled trees and the winch operator. Any misunderstanding of the whistle signals could result in the injury or even death of the felling crew as they were often out of sight of the donkey operator.
I worked with modern 1970's logging towers on Vancouver Island when I was a teenager. It was dangerous for sure especially when a log broke off the choker all we heard was lots of noise and started running. The guy on the whistle would try to signal the operator to stop usually it was too late as the log had already been snagged on rocks or some other obstacle and it would snap off. We logged up hill or down hill both were dangerous. After packing a few hurt workers up the mountain side on a stretcher a few times it was time to find a different type of work. All in all it was a great experience didn't pay much construction payed better.
Thanks for the input roddyq, I never had the oppertunity or the stamina to be a logger.
Too.... dangerous and too... hard work. My hat's off to fellows like you who tackled such challanging careers.
Your Donkey engine model brought back memories of this experience of my logging days. The logging towers were a chore to set up stringing out guy lines and packing pullys to the backend before stringing out the straw line to pull out the haul back lines. The men who had to set up the donkey engines would of had a greater challenge then we did. Thank you for sharing hotairfan!!
I have a miniature steam machine shop, with the engine, machinery, line shaft and belts. Once you get yours running on steam they are really fun to run and enjoy.
your right pajrr, I have it running on steam now. Steam seems to be more responsive than air and steam gives a better control of power.