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That's a great tractor Olympic. Really like all the extra details added such as the expanded metal step, tools, hoses and wooden decking. I wish that I had moved the relief valve forward as you did so it wasn't inside the steam dome. The lantern sure is cool also. Thank you for sharing the good...

Thank you Olympic! The one pictured sure looks like regular plumber's "soft" solder. What was the asking price for the tractor? Thank you Mike! I have already purchased the tubing and valves for my build. I am using a 1/4" MIPT x 1/4" OD compression angle needle valve from Amazon because it...

A small piece of leather worked better than the tape on the copper end plates I had saved my old worn out Mapp gas torch, so I patched it up and had it in standby in case I needed it for the boiler heads. I have seriously considered the Victor Turbo torch air/acetylene set up because I have two...

Hi Krypto, For the boiler I am using Harris Safety-SILV 56 with the dark flux. I have the light flux, but it takes awhile to get to temperature for the setup I'm using so the dark type is better.

You are correct Kwoods, I believe your way is the more traditional way. Also 10/64 is not 0.312" 🤐 Started the boiler by cutting an 8 inch piece of 1-1/2" type L copper pipe and truing the ends. Drilled the boiler tube and bushing holes on the mill using center drill and finishing with two...

The steering worm and gear was made previously when the drive train gears were made. A piece of 10 gauge copper was wound CCW on a 5/16 arbor and then soft soldered to the steering chain shaft. 2 mm cable chain was purchased and fitted to the front axle using silver brazed tabs and jump links...

Thank you Nikhil I think the additional detail on the spoked wheels is worthwhile. The rivet press was a game changer for me instead of using conventional rivet snap tools. Enjoy your build :)

my interpretation is: the 5/64" dimension as the bottom of the 1/16" slot and the 1/16" dimension as the thickness of the leads because of the side view. The slot should be 10/64" or 0.3125" depth. as drawn. I didn't go by any of these dimensions as I have been building to fit other parts as I...

Thank you and good question Kwood. Yes the valve should have a 0.062 thru slot. The valve spindle needs to be turned down to 0.061 for the length of the slot as the blue arrow shows below. This way the spindle is nested into the valve and pushes and pulls it back and forth. I had to trim off...

Testing the tractor's engine and clutch using compressed air :D First time making a slip eccentric and rocker type valve actuation. Probably not the most precision way of doing things, but it worked after playing around with it. I am not a fan of grub or set screws holding things in place...

I made a super quiet air source using an old residential refrigerator compressor that was being thrown out. Bought an air pressure switch and relief valve on amazon just to be extra safe, and I use it at work to demonstrate several of the steam engines I display there. It is inside of a recycled...

Thank you Green-twin, Continued working on engine parts using Rudy's plan as a guideline for material choices and most dimensions. It's a small project in itself to make the engine for this tractor. Silver soldered the cylinder in two parts like many others had done, and drilled steam passages...

Hello Michael, Very nice work on this. I really like the aesthetics/style of the engine frame and cylinder and may take a crack at it for a future project. Could yo please explain what the casting is that covers the crankshaft and connecting rod? Oil bath...splash guard..? Is it open below? A...

Thank you John, I made a few more pieces this week. The first crankshaft flywheel was made to print (1.375") and thought it looked out of scale, so made a larger 1.750" diameter one. One can also see the clutch engagement lever enhancements on the far side. Also made the round more typical...

The clutch works but still needs refinements

Hello again, Before starting the clutch and flywheel I had some unfinished business on the gear train. Made the brass bearing blocks and replaced the socket head screws with hex head on the stack, side plates and smoke box cover frame. Filled an "extra" hole on the horn plates as I used a...

I was thinking of that also and went a different route. The original tractor uses this arrangement..... which I modeled as this..... it looks like once the thrust bearing and pinion gear is slid over that there might be some "camming" action wedging the clutch shoes in place? Not sure why I am...

I remember seeing these used 40 years ago when a tin-knocker connected a water line to the forced hot air heat ducts in basement. The water humidified the dry hot air. They were more typically used to connect ice maker tubing. I think most codes banned their use as they pierce the copper tube...

Thank you John, K2 and Doug I doodled a bit today and then modeled something different using the flat disc friction clutch and a clutch fork design. This revision 2 would permit some leather as the friction face if needed and also align with the idea of using a Johnson bar and linkage near the...

Thank you for the generous compliments:) I have an idea that I would like to bounce off you all. I would like to be able to start and steam the tractor while stationary, and the full size tractor uses a friction clutch to do this. Do you think a small cone clutch would work as sketched below...