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Author Topic: rtr tugs... once upon a time.  (Read 3374 times)

Robert Davies

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rtr tugs... once upon a time.
« on: October 13, 2007, 10:34:55 pm »




Two of my comprehensively re worked Graupner Southamptons at work manoeuvring a steam crane barge at Gresford earlier today.

Each of the tugs has both throttle steer and conventional rudder steering available to the operators.

The lead tug is just undergoing a training phase under it's new owner's control - my tug at the rear is providing stabilty and rescue should things have started heading south. (note to self: pay more attention to the tow rope and less to the photography).

Things didn't so much head south at the front, so much as go quiet.... The new owner had spent his time playing with the his new tugs party trick - pirouetting on the spot - and had run the batteries down  - D'OH! Oh well... I only had to dock the lot in reverse, around a jetty, across the wind.... etc etc All in a day's work! :)

Having checked my receipts for the commissioned Southampton + refit, total price not including 4 channel TX = about 230 quid - fun factor = priceless! :)

-Rob
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norry

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Re: rtr tugs... once upon a time.
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2007, 11:47:23 pm »

Nice looking wee tugs & barge Rob... What Bollard Pull are you getting from them ?...Do you still have the original motors in them ?...
I bought a Ready To Run Southampton with the intentions of Re-fitting it with more powerful motors but never got round to it...

...Best Regards...Norry...
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Ghost in the shell

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Re: rtr tugs... once upon a time.
« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2007, 11:50:00 pm »

Norry I have reworked My southampton as well, and with the transmission set up the motors need to fit inside the gearbox casings.  they will actually give some serious pull, I dragged a 1/35th scale barge around that was some 6 feet in length, the PMBC barge "Westport Challenger"
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Robert Davies

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Re: rtr tugs... once upon a time.
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2007, 12:00:43 am »

Nice looking wee tugs & barge Rob... What Bollard Pull are you getting from them ?...Do you still have the original motors in them ?...
I bought a Ready To Run Southampton with the intentions of Re-fitting it with more powerful motors but never got round to it...

Y'know I've never bothered to measure the bollard pull! It pulls the club's Dory rescue outboard boat quite nicely :)

Original motors fitted running through the original gearboxes + uprated batteries = pretty much all day pootling about, or half a day's hard slogging!

There's the odd bit of extra detailing on mine, plaque, doorhandles and the odd fitting painted in properly, a liferaft container added to the rear gangway + extra lifebelts added to the rear of the side gangways and the exhausts have been drilled out, oh, and there's a deck crane been added for buoy and chain handling. It's also had a fair bit of lead added to ballast it down to it's marks, it looks like it's stuffed full of bunkers! It goes very nicely indeed and is largely unaffected by wind, weather and water.

-Rob

edit: speling(!)
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Ghost in the shell

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Re: rtr tugs... once upon a time.
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2007, 12:13:29 am »

to pull a real steel takes some doing as well, I know.  I tried to shift a 30ft canal boat with mine
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meechingman

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Re: rtr tugs... once upon a time.
« Reply #5 on: October 14, 2007, 10:19:20 am »

We have a 5' barge here at the Eastbourne club, that I'm slowly renovating. My Southampton moves that with no problems.

I've noticed that the run times I'm getting from my battery backs (2300 and 2700 mah respectively) has lessened. I wondered if that's got anything to to with the increased noise level from the drive train. Has anyone experienced this and cured it?

Andy
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Robert Davies

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Re: rtr tugs... once upon a time.
« Reply #6 on: November 15, 2007, 11:50:53 pm »


OOPS!

Just found your reply Andy  :embarrassed:

I have found that backing off the screws that hold the Motor/Gearbox combo to the hull reduced transmitted noise quite a bit when it's out on the water. Reduced runtimes suggest mechanical drag or charging issues. Noise from the gearing stems from them being straight cut - good for low power losses - bad for noisiness. A car's forward gears are generally helical cut, or some diagonal cut derivative, whereas reverse gear is generally straight cut - hence the whine that most cars make in reverse gear (most competition cars have all gears straight cut with 'boxes that sound like they have several loose bolts rattling around in there!).

Charging-wise since dropping 75 quid on my all singing Ultra peak digi-power charger my batteries have lasted ALOT longer - it doesn't take the loss of many 9.6v 4300mah batteries at 30 odd quid a literal POP to make the charger pay for itself - it also does lead acid, nimh, nicad, and lipo too.

-Rob
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portside II

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Re: rtr tugs... once upon a time.
« Reply #7 on: November 16, 2007, 01:11:57 am »

Andy ,i had a go with my southampton last week with my 5 foot R.M.S. coaster ballasted down with 6 litres of water ,she pulled it ok then the wind got up pulled the rope from the grog iron and promptly fliped the tug over .result wet on the inside and two days drying out ,but it's ok now  :)
daz
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Ghost in the shell

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Re: rtr tugs... once upon a time.
« Reply #8 on: November 17, 2007, 03:15:29 pm »

well portside, did you use the locking hatches?????

I was towing in 2006 and got flipped, mine stayed pretty much dry on the inside, I was upside down for about 15 mins
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portside II

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Re: rtr tugs... once upon a time.
« Reply #9 on: November 18, 2007, 06:53:30 am »

err no the only hatch was the one on the rear deck ,the battery one got lost in the shed but it wouldnt have made any difference as there is a hole between the funnels i cut for access to the motors .oops :embarrassed:
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Mr Andy

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Re: rtr tugs... once upon a time.
« Reply #10 on: December 05, 2007, 06:57:10 pm »

Sorry for laughing at the turttle tug, but that also happened to me after reworking mine, a lot of entertainment for others, and wuill it still work off me. Two hours later it was back in. O0
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portside II

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Re: rtr tugs... once upon a time.
« Reply #11 on: December 05, 2007, 11:01:42 pm »

well the southampton is working ok now and the hole in the deck filled ,i finaly managed to remove the deck (once i had located the two screws under the rear bollards and the one under the antenna base)turned it over and fixed a piece of plasticard over the hole .that just leaves the hole under the wheel house as i cant find the hatch cove ,thinks me threw it out  ::).
the esc was a bit damp sorted that whth the electric heat gun .
so its back in the water this weekend  for some tugging O0
daz
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