Hill Climber

Designed & Built by: Jim Picton - June 11, 2016

This model turned out rather well as it can easily climb an incline of over 40 degrees. It is a 4 Wheel Drive, with a low center of gravity chassis.
It features a 700 Series 6 volt motor with a 19:1 gearbox attached. The motor was in the Locomotive Set as well as a few others.

The track used was a 12" x 48" piece of K3 Shelving Board propped against a table top. At stand-still the unit will slip down the board at this angle but when powered up it climbs right along. It does not 'power out' from lack of power but looses grip with the board when trying to raise the board higher than 42 degrees.

The Chassis Rails consists of 2 x 7-1/2" Flat Girders to which a 1" x 1-1/2" x 1" D.A. Step Bracket is attached to each end. 2 x 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" Flanged Plates (flange on sides) make up the floor of the chassis. 8 x 1-1/2" Plastic Strips used as spacers are bolted between the Flat Girders and the other components to allow clearance for the Battery Pack which is placed so that batteries can easily be changed when needed if making several runs in competition.

There are 2 Flat Trunnions bolted to either side of the chassis. These serve two purposes, to keep the wiring in place and to balance the machine. An Axle Rod was passed through the upper holes as a pivot point. Weights (2 x 2" x 1" x 1/2" Girder Brackets) were used to balance the machine.

Side View of Unit showing general layout of the Motor & Battery Pack

Bottom View showing Split Drive Shaft and Balancing Weights

The Motor / Gearbox has a 19 tooth pinion driving a 57 tooth Gear Wheel making up the Drive Shaft. To make the drive shaft easily removable, a split shaft was used joined by a 3 Hole Coupling. This shaft has an 11 tooth pinion on each end driving a pair of 25 tooth Contrate Gears.

Rear Drive Axle

Front Drive Axle

Tyres (D002) and Wheels (C996) are from the No.15206 Desert Adventure Set using Triangular Axle Rods. (not my favourite due to too much play with the wheel hubs).