How do you change the traction tires on a F7

[Skeeter]

I have a problem on a Bachmann F7 Traction  wheels, how do you put new traction tries on this Engine?    HO Scale
Dan

[Yampa Bob]

Hi Skeeter,

Your loco must be before my time. I was not aware that Bachmann ever used traction tires. Can you please advise the Bachmann part number of the locomotive.

Just a suggestion, when asking a question on the board, you should always list the manufacturer's part number. The number is on the box.

The more information you can give us, the better equipped we are to help you.   

Regards.

[Jim Banner]

Locomotives with pickup wheels on one end, power truck with traction tires on the other end.  Used to be a common way to build train set diesel locomotives.  I seem to remember three ways of replacing their traction tires:
(1) popping the bottom off the power truck and removing the axles;
(2) popping the side frames off the power truck and replacing the tires with the axles still in place; and
(3) slipping the tires between the side frame and the wheel.

As I remember it, Bachmann, PlayArt, RSO and COX were all type (1), Life Like was type (1) or type (2) depending on when they were made, and Tyco was type (3).

One trick I used to do with these locomotives was to permanently couple two of them together back-to-back, then wire their motors together.  This gave eight wheel pickup, eight wheel drive all traction tire equipped.  They still didn't start too smoothly, but they would pull stumps.  The only time I ever saw the jaw of a Kadee coupler straightened out was in a train with a pair of old Life Like locos on the front, the kind that had separate motors before power trucks became popular.  They were pulling a train up a 3-1/2% helix when a car about 30 back from the locomotives dropped its coupler.  The dropped coupler jammed between two ties, stopping that part of the train instantly.  Immediately a coupler about half a dozen cars back from the locomotives straightened out, let go, and the cars between it and the locomotives catapulted over the locomotive and into the bowels of the scenery.  I eventually found most of the pieces of most of the cars, but to this day, I am still one short that I never did find.     

[pdlethbridge]

Would bullfrog snot work?