DetroiTug's Tug is going together

[DetroiTug]

The Silverado has a V8 330 hp engine and an Allison 6 speed, it pulls the big heavy tug and trailer no problem at all. I really have to watch it, a few times I was running over 70. I try to keep it around 65. I went to Kentucky in the fall, big hills, it just walked right over them. The biggest issue I have pulling that is watching the gas gauge, when it starts dinging, I've got about 10 minutes to find a gas station

Got the rails mounted this evening. Tig welded the two bronze rods or rails together in the center so they could be rolled properly in the ring roller. Worked pretty good, my last foray with welding bronze was not too good. I learned don't get it too hot and wire brush in between welds. The zinc in the bronze forms a nasty oxide coating that just halts the welding process if not removed.

So much nicer on the foredeck now, there is actually something to hold on to.





Going to paint the roof again and fill that gap in the center, some of the stuff left over from my frantic finish job two springs ago.

-Ron

[Lopez Mike]

Beautiful. And it looks like the tweaker meth addicts might not be able to get the bird off easily!

If it's bronze, by the way, it had better not be zinc deposits. That would be brass? Should be Tin perhaps. But there are about umpteen things called bronze and I'm not a shark on these things. And I'm for sure not a welder.

I am in the middle of a big mud wrestling session getting the old prop shaft out of Folly. For reasons lost to history the old fool who built the boat used mild steel for shafting. And a tight fit in a ordinary steel pipe stern tube. What could go wrong? The shaft took root in the cutlass bearing, the stern tube, the packing gland (home made from pipe fittings), the thrust bearing (redundant as the engine has thrust bearings), and the universal joint at the rear of the engine.

Fortunately I have a fair amount of Irish logger blood, a big hammer and an abrasive cut off wheel for my 8" hand grinder. Good thing I don't need to save the shaft. It's out on the ground in bits now, I've stopped most of my bleeding and I'm headed for the press to save the prop.

My neighbor was standing by the whole time with cell phone in hand and the first numbers of 911 dialed and ready.

If I had a time machine and an assault rifle there would be some scores settled!

Mike (calming down slowly)

[DetroiTug]

Ok I'm gonna be one

Admiralty Bronze is made up of 70 percent copper, about 1 percent tin, small amounts of other elements, and the balance zinc.

I ran a cold rolled 1018 shaft for the first season, I knew I'd better get it out and change to stainless or it wasn't coming out without removing the engine, boiler and wheelhouse. Or in a bunch of little pieces.

Oh yeah this is a scrappers dream come true. I don't leave it parked out anywhere unattended. Heck, here in Detroit they steal the manhole covers out of the street, rails off the railroad tracks (no exaggeration). If your car breaks down and left unattended, good possibility it will wind up on the nearest scale. A famous bronze statue downtown - the "Spirit of Detroit" Someone took an axe and tried to chop the arms off of it. Oh and the new thing, the control cabinets for the streetlights that sit on the corner of of the intersection? They wrap chains around them and rip them out and away they go. About $30k to replace each. Very entertaining living here.

-Ron

[Lopez Mike]

Aha! I thought it looked too shiny and nice for straight old Copper and Tin. I would walk a long way to avoid welding such things. I'm a machinist so I have a soft spot on my heart for brazing and silver soldering.

I finally broke down and got a nice MIG machine. Even a machinist can weld with that thing, if you actually call it welding. I just poke the wire down in the puddle and pull it down the crack.

I got the prop off of the stub of a shaft. It was double nutted with plain steel nuts. I had to cut them off with the grinder. The whole shop jumped when the shaft finally broke free of the prop.

I haven't kept a log but I strongly suspect I have spent far more hours working on this thing than steaming. About the same ratio of work to use as a helicopter.

Does anyone know who the designer of Steve's hull is? R.B. Parker it says on the drawing. I sent an email to Steve asking if he had taken up watching TV or something.

Mike

[DetroiTug]

For Steve's hull here is the website:

http://www.parker-marine.com/prices.htm

It's the "24 Launch" on the price list.

-Ron

[Lopez Mike]

Thanks. Looked it over. I wish there was more about it without spending the $25 for the study plans. I guess I'll just have to review Steve's posts for now.

Mike

[S. Weaver]

... Does anyone know who the designer of Steve's hull is? R.B. Parker it says on the drawing. I sent an email to Steve asking if he had taken up watching TV or something.

Hah-hah! That would be the day ... I'm deep in the bowels of this thing. Not very photogenic at the moment. Reuel B. Parker, like Ron noted. I replied to your email.

[Lopez Mike]

I knew we could smoke him out.

[DetroiTug]

Here is the engine I'm drawing up for the castings I purchased from Tiny Power.

It will have Roller bearings on the crank and connecting rod both ends. The whole lower end is built without castings. The column is a weldment fabricated from 1 X 2 X1/4" square tube. The gib will be adjustable with slots (not drawn yet). The valve linkage is not drawn yet. Interesting feature will be the dual cone and roller thrust bearing integrated into the crankshaft.





-Ron

[DetroiTug]

After a long hiatus with steaming along on four wheels it's time to go steamboating with Iron Chief again. Pulling a hydro and getting her wooded and oiled up for a two day run. Really looking forward to it. It may be the last time I fire this VFT, the next big project is to reboiler her with an Ofeldt. I may regret it, but I've never been able to maintain much above 60 psi with the big twin simple. It runs satisfactorily at that pressure, but the Ofeldt in the Locomobile has sort of spoiled me, typically having more steam than needed and not using much fuel to make it, fast start up times etc.

-Ron