Tractor and Trailer
Built by Adrian Ashford in September 2013
The tractor is based on the Momentum Tractor featured in the August 1953 issue of Meccano Magazine. I’ve fitted a “Magic” Motor in place of the momentum drive, which drives the rear wheels through a rubber band drive and gears. The front wheels can be steered, but I found impossible to fit linkage to the steering wheel, as the motor is in the way! The trailer is my own design, based on the Dinky Toy Harvest Trailer.
As a general comment, which may be of use to other modellers, I have only recently discovered that ordinary rubber bands, (the sort you can by in stationers on a card in a variety of lengths) can be used instead of Meccano Diving Bands very successfully. Although thinner and lighter, there is far more stretch in them than Meccano ones, and they cause much less friction. The Meccano 2½” one is so short, it is almost useless, as it causes a lot of friction in a drive as soon as it stretched. I find the rubber bands, being thinner, can be stretched far more, with less pull on the shafts.