Greasing the Big Haulers

[Rluke]

Hello-  First post on this forum -  Looks like there is a lot of good knowledge here.
We received donations of two Big Hauler 4-6-0 Locomotives.  After reading this forum it looks like one has the V5 chassis with the grease opening on the bottom.  The other is a Royal Blue with a smooth bottom and no opening for the grease.  I assume that is a V3 chassis. 
  How do you grease the gears on the V3 chassis ?  And does it have to be grease or can it be a heavy gear oil?

Thanks

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Hi Rluke,

My personal view is that a good quality of plastic compatible grease with graphite or teflon is the only way to go.   All you have to do is remove the screws on the bottom plate lift the plate up to expose the gears and add the grease. While open check to see that the gear case is tight.  Don't get any grease on the chuff sensor on the rear axle and you should be good to go!

Have fun,

Loco Bill

[Joe Zullo]

"Don't get any grease on the chuff sensor on the rear axle "

I never saw a chuff sensor on the REAR axle. 

[Rluke]

Thanks Loco Bill-    more questions to follow.

[RkyGriz]

Hi. My personal recommendation for lubrication products is Labelle. They make plastic compatible products that do not dry out over time. Use Labelle 106 plastic compatible grease on the gears  and Labelle 107 synthetic oil on everything else. You can find these at your local hobby store or on Ebay I use them on all of my locomotives and rolling stock ,and they work great!
Have fun with your train!
Andrew

[Rluke]

Andrew (RkyGriz) : Thank you for the recommendation of the Labelle products.  I just purchased the two that you mentioned. It's great stuff and I lubed up our V3 Big Hauler and it runs great now. 
Now I have more questions.  I removed 3 screws from the bottom. That allowed me to lift the bottom plate up enough to grease everything. If I wanted to get the plate all the way off to work on it more I was not sure which one is the 4th screw to remove.  I see a smaller screw on the pilot truck just past the slot.  Not sure if that was the one or not.  And it looks like in order to get the plate all the way off the drive rods would have to come off also.  How are those attached.  Can the pins that hold them in be unscrewed?  Or pried off ?

And finally: I was expecting to see a brass gear on the motor shaft but it was plastic.  So now I am not totally sure that we have a V3 chassis.  (smooth bottom, can't turn the wheels by hand)

Thanks

[RkyGriz]

Hi. The small screw in front of the pilot is an attachment point ,and it joins the front of the boiler to the chassis. It is a fairly long screw and it must be removed in order to remove the lower chassis plate. There should be no need to remove the drive wheels or the rods. I only have the version 5 chassis(all Anniversary Edition), and have never had a version 3 Big Hauler. Just take it slowly and carefully. Be aware of wires and contacts. Keep the loco upside down at all times (to keep the drive wheels from falling out!),and cushion it with a thick towel to avoid damage! Bracing it up is also a great idea. You can never take enough precautions with your loco to prevent damage!
Hope this helped!
Andrew

[Loco Bill Canelos]

HI Rluke,

Based on your report you do have a version 3 chassis.  All Bachmann chassis versions have plastic gear trains except for the Version 6 as noted in the chart at the bottom of this link:  https://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,30394.msg224039.html#msg224039

Glad your loco is running well!  Enjoy!

Bill

[Rluke]

Thank you Bill and Andrew for the good tips.  I have another question about the Big Hauler but it's unrelated to the grease question so I will create a separate post.

Rich

[Rluke]

Andrew
I also used the Labelle 106 grease that you recommended on an old Aristocraft locomotive that was having a lot of problems.  It runs like new now.  -That's great stuff.  Thanks again for the tip about that.

[RkyGriz]

The stuff works. That's all I can say.