Older style chain fall

John,

With your permission, I'd like to mention here that I'd just put in an advert in the 'Tooling Wanted' section of this site, looking for an older American made 'Army type' chain fall, in the 1 ton or 1/2 ton size. (I'd also like to find one of those cute little 1/4 ton units, for that matter)

I'm thinking that its more likely that some of the folks who regularly read this column might have a spare one which they might be willing to sell/trade. I'd certainly be willing to consider one which needs a bit of 'restoration' if it is basically sound.

cheers

Carla

Fine with me Carla - I have a high opinion of my 1 1/2 ton Wright Army I rebuilt about 25 years ago. It has a tag right on it saying:

" Tested To 5500 Lbs"

John

What does an "Army" type chain fall look like? I have two old chain falls, one I used in my garage years ago and a second one I picked up somewhere but haven't ever used. I'll check the capacity but I doubt that the smaller of them is more than a ton.

Joe Puleo

I did a photo of the 1/2 ton Wright army type chain fall we now have, over one of our lathes.

Its similar to the 1-1/2 ton Wright army hoist that John mentioned, except that its the smaller size.

www.tactical-link.com/ebay/wrightarmytyp.jpg

(note....the only photo file I have active on this computer is the 'ebay photos' one I use for the occasional items I put on ebay......so don't conclude that I'm thinking about selling this old chain fall on ebay or whatever, I'm trying to find another like it, ideally the next larger size)

Basically Joe, the trolley is built in to the hoist. I always thought they should be Wright Navy hoists as all submarines seemed to have at least one to service each torpedo tube.

My 1 1/2 ton even had a beam clamp built in to slow it down or lock it in place - which I scrapped.

John

Tagging on to this thread - here is a 2 ton differential chain block I sold recently, its dead weight had been hanging around too long unused. This is a differential type, no doubt some will recall these from 'Machine' problems in the classroom - effort applied and load moved etc?

It is made by Herbert Morris, but not Morris in the UK as many old chain blocks in NZ are, but made in the USA. Not sure if it is the same company.

The large chain wheel is about 300mm/12" diameter (that white thing is a 300mm rule in the photo). I was hard pressed to carry the whole thing, but could lift both blocks with the chain dragging.

Curious how "chain fall" seems to be American terminology. I have never heard that before, I have only heard "chain block" - I guess related to "block & tackle" etc.

The guy who bought this unit from me only wanted the chain (there is about 10 metres/30' there), so the rest may be in the scrap bin by now.

I have a couple of those in the 1/2 ton range.

At least one has been tested to somewhere over 3000 lb, judging by the amount the hook was spread........... It's derated to the 300 lb area now, and due for replacement.

The differential type is widely hated, but they are so simple, and work well.... Hard to beat ONE moving part in the drive mechanism.

Hi Carla,
I've got just what your looking for. Vintage unit, needs a little TLC, has lots of great patina. Free!

I got this from the dump. Looks like it was sitting outside for quite a while. Everything was frozen up and I thought I'd play with it, but it's as far apart as I can get it without using a torch on it. Says- Weston's Triplex Spur Gear Block, pat. 1877, 85', 86', and 89'. Yale and Towne Mfg. Co. Stamford Conn.

It does have some good parts. The disc that the chain rolls on with the pockets for each link could be useful to someone needing to change direction of a chain. The gears are good. The swivel hook is frozen but I'm sure could be freed. Just cut the hooks rating way down, it's pretty rusted. It has a nice cast cover with all the lettering on it. If anyone wants anything just for shipping let me know. Of course Carla has first refusal.


I also have a working unit in my barn so I went to look at it and it's the cute little 1/4 ton Wright. It wasn't so cute though when I had to stand on a shakey ladder and lift it up to a beam. What's the story with the Wrights? Just a good solid hoist the military used? Or is there more. I'm keeping the Wright, sorry.

Maynah,
Put that old chain hoist in a bucket of kerosene and forget it for about six months and you'd be suprised that with a little coaxing it might just free up. If the thing wasn't so heavy I'd say send it my way and I'd soak it.

Ben

Here is some info on Wright hoist. I used to live across the street from it and my father in law worked there years ago...Bob
http://www.chesterhoist.com/Profile.html

Ben, I had Kroil working on the tough spots for a while but no go. I guess soaking would get in all the recesses. And it's around 100 #s so you would have to want it pretty badly to have it shipped. It only says "tested to 3000#s" so I'm guessing it's rated for 1/2 ton? Also says model 1898 on it.
It's rusted so much that even if it freed up it would be highly de-rated. It's just one of those challenges that called out to me at the dump. It'll probably go back to the dump but I'll keep the cover just because I like old cast iron with writing on it.

Thanks Bob for the link. I guess Wrights are/were very good units.

Maynah,

If it wasn't for the cost of shipping making it impractical, I'd take that rusted chain fall off your hands and restore it.....I've been known to waste ludicrious amounts of time restoring various and sundry old widgets for friends, some of which (the old widgets, not the friends) really should have been scrapped, by any objective standard.....but then, I'm a touch mad in spots, I'll admit it....... : )

That said, sometime a theoretically worthless old tool like that can be good practice, for the techniques involved in restoring this or that old mechanical item which does have historic or sentimental value to someone.

Sometimes, it can be rather an interesting challenge to restore old widgets....old Winchesters are my favourite sort of widget, but some old machines and tools are nice, as well.....in such a way as to bring them back to 'as new' or 'nearly as new' functionality, but also with a......well, there's no other word for it but 'counterfeit', technically.....'patina' of the normal finish aging of a well-kept widget.

cheers

Carla

Old winchesters.

Wait. Gotta ask: I have a model 62A (22 pump gun) that
does not feed cartriges reliably from the magazine tube
into the elevator. It's an older gun with a fair amount
of wear, the part is NLA from places like numrich and the
like.

Is there any secret to getting a reliable feed from the
magazine tube that you are aware of?

Thank you - Jim

Regarding the "army" low-clearance hoists: Old Ft. Hancock in Sandy Hook, NJ, which was a major Coast Artilley post back in the day, has a number of surviving coastal artillery battery structures with magazines on the lowest levels. There are bent I-beam tracks leading from the shell rooms to the shell hoist shafts. The shell of a 12" caliber coastal artillery piece is literally hundreds of lbs......I can just imagine juggling these things off their storage racks with the hoist and then dragging them along the beam to the elevator, all while trying to HURRY in a simulated combat target drill. Not to mention the fact that artillery shells are, well, shells!

The distance from the magazine to the hoist is not trivial. In a big gun battery, it could be 100 feet, even more. All this "under cover" with a fairly low ceiling consisting of several feet of reinforced concrete, sometimes with an earthen berm above that.

Maynah, if your "treasure" fits in a five-gallon metal pail, they type with a cover, then what have you got to lose soaking it in kerosene for a few months ? The kero won't cost more than $15 or so, and can be used to soak other articles in the future.

Jim R.,

The 'shell stop', so to speak, on a Win 62 or 62A (the A was the later variant of the 62 with a coil hammer spring, but the carrier assembly should be the same as the 62) is an extended area of the carrier itself, which bears against the cartridge in the magazine. The little 'rocker' part ( I forget its correct nomenclature) in the carrier which pivots to allow the cartridge to enter the carrier when the carrier is all the way down may be sticking from congealed dirt not allowing its full free travel, or have, somehow, gotten burred a bit.

I think I'd first look for a combination of a sticky or burred rocker and a somewhat weak magazine spring function. If the rifle is extremely worn or dirty, it may be that the carrier is not going all the way down, to align with the cartridge in the magazine.

It may be that some dirt/congealed oil has accumulated in the magazine tube, which is making the magazine follower a little bit 'slow' or 'sticky', the equivalent of a weak magazine spring.

Using some lacquer thinner and a suitable long thin dowel, clean out the mag inner tube by pressing the mag follower all the way into the inner tube, adding the thinner to the tube, and working the mag follower up and down to wash out the accumulated dirt, congealed oil, etc., then re-oil with 'Break-Free' or equivalent. The magazine follower should push the cartridge into the carrier with a 'snappy' motion.

An alternative to lacquer thinner for cleaning would be a spray can of 'non-chlorinated' brake cleaner from an automotive supply house. These little .22's really seldom malfunction from actual wear or breakage, more often they just become slow/sticky from accumulated dirt, congealed old oil, and powder residue.

Try cleaning around the carrier and the inner mag tube/mag follower with the thinner or brake cleaner, oil with good oil, and give it a try.....let me know what happens.

(another problem might be the rounds you are using.....some of the cheap foreign ammo is out of tolerance by American standards.....try some Rem/Win/Fed 'high-speed' 22 after cleaning/oiling, and see whether you still have a malfunction.

cheers

Carla

Thank you. I've been shooting winchester dynapoints in that
gun as they are reasonbly accurate. I've had the
action apart and have cleaned all the bits, and the
magazine tube is free and clear. I've also fitted
a new spring and follower to it.

I took the cutoff widget (the tiny flippy thing that is
pinned to the end of the carrier) out and inspected it,
it had some wear in the form of a rindge on it. I carefully
ground the ridge away and stoned it smooth. That improved
matters a bit but not 100 percent.

Because the feed into the carrier is uncertain this makes
the gun a bit unsafe to shoot. One can never be sure
that a hung shell might decide to drop into the carrier
all of a sudden for "no reason."

Also when firing, one has to check to see that the
shell has fed, and if it does not, recycle the action.

It seems oddly to be worse for the very first round
that one fires in a five shot group.

Jim

Check ebay 150242004552
Wants a lot for shipping though

Just bought an older 1 ton Wright on Ebay (not LHR / not built in trolley) .

Hoist was $20

Shipping is about $110

John

wright mfg co 2 ton improved model high speed hoist great condition was in a barn

carla said:

John,

With your permission, I'd like to mention here that I'd just put in an advert in the 'Tooling Wanted' section of this site, looking for an older American made 'Army type' chain fall, in the 1 ton or 1/2 ton size. (I'd also like to find one of those cute little 1/4 ton units, for that matter)

I'm thinking that its more likely that some of the folks who regularly read this column might have a spare one which they might be willing to sell/trade. I'd certainly be willing to consider one which needs a bit of 'restoration' if it is basically sound.

cheers

Carla[/QUOTEhave a 2 ton wright mfg co improved model high speed hoist great shape barn kept reach me at [email protected]

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Does this '08 thread have a page-2 continuation?

-Marty-