When british rail tipped stone like this they couldn't reclose the doors till the hopper was empty. This did at times bury the wagon if the train stopped while tipping. All good fun back in the day

A piece of flat bar positioned just in front of the rear wheels to ‘grade’ the gravel to the rail tracks height would be the obvious solution for excess gravel.. I love the content ✅

This is great fun to watch this project progress. Looks like the new channel is picking up steam!

11:47 Conveyor belt? You are standing right next to the engine that could power the conveyor belt, tim. Get to it! 🙂 I´d love to see such a conveyor...

What i like the most about your videos is you show the things that didnt work it full detail so theres no need for others to waste time trying it.

Another quarter of an hour of railway fun. Thanks Tim. Looking at your ballast I wonder whether it’s the right grade. Let me explain, railway ballast holds the track in place and provides both springing and drainage. To do all this we at SNCF (and all other railways too) use regularly sized stones but more importantly they are never rounded and have relatively sharp edges, angles and corners. This is so they lock together and hold the sleepers better. When we need to renew ballast on our tracks it’s usually because over time the sharp edges wear down and the stones round off and no longer do their job.Just à thought.

I was preparing to comment how smoothly it rolls over your PROPER point... and then it did a very good job on the silly point too. Shall we viewers start a pool on when your loco will be ready? I'm voting for June 2022.

What you built is very much like the 100 ton capacity ballast hoppers used in the USA, only much smaller. These special hoppers dump ballast to either side of the track, too. Then a Jordan spreader, pushed by a locomotive, comes behind to shape the ballast profile. This is followed by a ballast tamper and other machinery as needed. A small army of specialized equipment is required to re-ballast main line track. But in your case, you are the one-man army!

"Disappointingly simple" is often the best way to go. 😃

That’s a great ballast wagon. I saw a video about a man who made a locomotive from an old rototiller. That’s great because someone else has done all the hard work of gearing down the engine.

I love it Tim, it's a great invention. We had a much bigger one at the now closed Dome Mine in Timmins Canada, that was fabricated by an outside company, Wabi Metal Company. Anyways ours was used to ballast the center of the underground railway line, it had a gear driven chute that opened and closed with the use of a wheel that operated it, it worked very well and had the ballast capacity of about two tons or more. It was pulled by a five ton Mancha (Goodman company) storage battery powered locomotive, which were the standard size locomotive at our mine.

I think your points will need the stones cleared out! But I just love the way you tackle any problem in such a pragmatic way. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again... You’re a very clever man. Thanks for so many interesting videos. Les in England!

I think maybe pedal powered puller/pusher would be a cool project made of bike parts not sure what sort of grip the tracks would provide but could do some sort of rack and pinion set in the middle of the track with low gearing it should work would also give you a brake to hold the different carts in place if needed With had a need for one so I could have my own mini rail system you definitely have some cool ideas

The stone size seems perfect. It doesn't all just flow out immediately, you have to shake it to get out. Control!

Hi Tim. Hope you and Sandra are well. Just a suggestion regarding how you prevent a buildup on the tracks. Instead of the divider stopping the stone hitting the tracks, you could place a V shaped piece hanging vertically between each wheel and the chute (Four in total). Have the bottom of the piece almost but not quite touching the tracks. The V will push any ballast that falls on the tracks to the sides as you push the wagon along. It may also help with the bridging problem and avoid you having to create a complex agitating mechanism. Greetings from sunny Australia.

Maybe attach a motor with a Half circle on the end kind of like they do on dump trucks, should give you enough to shake the stones out. Maybe even a cordless drill might do it. I love it sir thank you. Make On

Impressive, I enjoy watching you figure things out through a bit of trial and error and tidbits of logic. Thanks for sharing.

Great progress, thanks for the update!

Problem solving is by far the best skill set to have and you have it in spades

I look forward to each episode!' It has been fun following along. Bill in Utah, USA

a (portable) conveyer belt would be great! Could be used for loading not only the stones but the wood and the charcoal too

You are so smart! I feel like im learning more about Engineering watching videos on your channel than when I went to University.

For somebody with Covid, that's amazing work.

I think I'd just shake it rather than build an agitator... it's not exactly a single-use project, but I do think it's something that will be rarely used once the railway is gravelled-in.

Intrestingly thats actually how the big rail operates and builds that type of hopper :)

Tim, love the rail way. Engine suggestion: repurpose the working guts of an electric golf cart. If one electric motor doesn’t do the job you can always add a second electric motor to another axle. Bonus: use batteries or an engine powered welder. They produce DC power in the right voltage range for the golf cart motors.

This is wonderful!! I could never move that much stone all at once with a wheelbarrow

I love this, Tim. Trial and error. That's what it's all about. But the main component is an inquiring mind and the ability to turn ideas into finished items. All of these you have and the videos keep us 'I wish I could do that,' armchair mechanics happy. Keep em coming.

I have to get back to bottling and drying this year's pumpkins and stop thinking about this. You can do away with the plank and send the eight-year old back to school if you have a little winch/crank that allows you to raise the skip a foot or so when empty. Of course, you have to shovel/lift the load that extra distance/height, but it eliminates the input mechanism of plank/lever/ratchet etc. Cheers Chris

Have a look at the conveyor belt systems used in mining - a conveyor belt or wheel for scattering the hardcore would work for scattering. Yes, a conveyor belt formed of scoops on a chain drive would enable uploading and downloading.

Looks very well designed over all. Considering how short of a run you have, I wonder if it's even worth the effort of adding an agitator; the handle of a gravel rake or shovel might be enough to poke in and get the stones moving. Either way, I imagine you'll have a much easier time working with your railway with this ballast spread out to provide some solid footing.

I always enjoy your content. This video in particular was really nice because we could see the whole progress from idea to "finished" product.

Add a wheel sweep to clear those stones off the rails. Kind of like a cow catcher but way smaller….. Excellent progress Tim and Will…..

Your videos always seem to make me smile. Your knowledge and ingenuity never fails to amaze me. x

This looks remarkably like the old British Rail “dogfish” hoppers… To help spread the ballast away from the flangeways you could attach a small pin or plate in front of each wheel. For an agitator I’d imagine that a rebar sort of rod running just on top of each of the divider plates, then wiggle it back and forth like a little crank.

Dude.... you are one heck of a fabricator. Absolutely astounding. Love your videos

This is awesome! I can't wait to see what you come up with next. a conveyor belt sounds like an interesting build.

The stones you have are quite smooth, real railway ballast is very angular. Once it’s settled in position, then these angular pieces are gonna lock together and form a very strong platform for the heavy engines and rolling stock as well as allow for drainage when it rains

Just what we need after a very stressful day and week.We just love Ireland and your channel now the nights are drawing in .GodBless to you both.🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌆🌆🌆🌆🌆🌆🌆🌆🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️

SUGGESTION: You'll probably want to make baffles to direct the stones more precisely. I don't think you want the stones dumping beyond the ends of the ties. These don't have to be really strong, so you probably can get away with cutting up tin or aluminum cans for this, which will help not to add much weight. Also, you'll want to add wedges to prevent stones from piling up in those three spots. Again, doesn't have to be a thick piece of wood. As far as an agitator, you could get away with a small electric motor with an offset flywheel. Doesn't have to be big, just has to get the motor (and what the motor is mounted to) rocking. Also, you'll probably want something to pull it for you. I suggest a miniature pony. And when not in use on the railway, they can be saddled up for the young tikes to ride.

Such a clever guy ❤️

Hi Tim, love the field railway, true to the Light Railway principal in every sense. Just one thing that has occurred to me watching this, having such sharp curves, how about having one wheel loose on the axles, secured by collars? Watching you push the loaded hopper you can see the wheels having to skid as you go round the curve, this would enable the wheels to turn independently as needed. Wouldn't be too much extra work during building either.Phil.

That's a fine looking wagon you've built there.

Emma: He's got two new inventions just to make the tracks so you know he's having fun. Me: Oh good, he painted the cart "Tim orange" and added the brackets. Glad to see you're feeling better and making things again!

I’m loving this! Back in the 1960’s a friend of mine had an exceptional large garden in which we built an angle iron railway and used a child’s pushchair as the ‘train’. But this is on another level ….absolutely compelling!

I love the battery & paint pot counter balance for the saw!

I feel like I'm watching real-life minecraft sometimes. Perfect version of the hopper minecart.

I WOULD THINK ALL THE WEIGHT ON JUST TWO WHEELS WOULD BE FINE,AS WITH RIGGING HEAVY WEIGHTS,EVEN THOUGH THERE MAY BE FOUR SLINGS OR CABLES,IN REALITY,TWO ARE CARRYING THE WEIGHT AND TWO BALANCING THE REST! LOVE WATCHING YOU WORK,ON A SHOESTRING, THROUGH THESE CHALLENGES, AND THE OUTCOMES NEVER DISAPPOINT!

Nice job you do great work and are very creative just make sure after you get the rock down to lift the track up and get the ballast as we call it here under the sleepers to raise them out there f the mud

You know what you need, is some sort of conveyor belt. Only jesting, good job but I think I would have started at the muddy end!

Bulk grain and coal cars in North America use giant shakers to help with unloading.

Great fun, Tim! Can't wait to see more as you progress!! I know all of us think the same thing, that loco may be a life-saver at some point! Perhaps an old mower engine connected to a drive? I'd imagine that once you get more cars hooked up together, you'll need that pulling power. I'm happy to see with each episode what you come up with!! Won't be long before you start using this railway to service plenty more on the farm! Can you give us a bit of an updated "map" of what you've done so far? I know it's just the line from the entry to the drying tunnel, as well as the 2 switches, but I'd love to see the progress.

I love how this all started with a little monorail, what is next a steem engine made from a donut machine and a leftover guitar playing biits?

Your neighbor is a great pack mule and great help.

Wow.. that ballast wagon looks great !

Watching you slip through the mud at the start of the journey had me thinking "maybe ballast the rail from the start?"

This seems like far too much fun🙂 that said, the inspiration could well end up costing me a fortune…first step being to find a small holding. Really enjoying this.

Your dedication to engineering is amazing. I have built many hobby HO scale railroads but just think it would be cool to build a railway in my backyard just because I can? I think I love to build more than anything.

Can’t wait for a locomotive!!

I think you could take a very cheap palm sander and screw the platen to the wooden bin, and this would provide enough vibration. Perhaps battery powered makes the most sense for you. Or perhaps the power of the wagon moving could turn an imbalanced counter shaft that was coupled to the wooden bin. There is something very appealing about it not requiring any electricity or batteries

What may help as 'agitator' is to use elliptical wheels, configured in such a way that when the left wheels are on 'small' part of the ellipse, the right wheels are on the wide part of the ellipse, causing the cart to wiggle when you push it. I hope my comment makes sense.

I'd love to see your take on some buffers for the ends of the tracks.

I built a dispenser for nuts and bolts last month. I believe you can find a short video on my channel. For M6 nuts and bolts it needs to be 100mm in diameter. So for your stones probably 250mm.

That's a good looking ballast wagon! If I could make a suggestion...You might want to put a V shaped rib on the inside of the hopper so that you don't have that flat spot in the middle of the bottom next to the doors. It could help a bit with the rocks going through the bottom doors.

They also jam up in full size ones, you just take the lining bar and hit the sides.

I love this idea! You can always be counted on to make an incredible invention that fills a niche idea. It's always a blast to see what you've come up with!

normally railways would put the ballast then sleepers then rails! but i love the enthusiasm, and determination. keep up the good work lad!

You should add a sloped track at the end of the line so you can easily take wagons on and off the rail

you got some good tools and you are a handy man

I really like your wagons, they remind me of the ones from the Dinoric quarry in Wales, maybe its that oxide red haha!

Love this channel...I've got serious 80s early morning programming vibes.

I love this channel. It is such fun watching you go through the design/manufacture/test/repeat procedure. I see you have found a use for a spare Rose Hive box too. Give us more Tim!

You are having way too much fun!

I'm loving seeing this come together, what a great series this is! Can't wait for the next installment :)

Adding a blade to grade the ballast would be easy to add in between the wheels and the chute.

Brilliant video

Absolutely fantastic. Can't wait to see what else you will create.

looking good so far.

Great job, Tim! I really enjoy seeing the results of your plans.

Absolutely brilliant and very entertaining. Thank you for sharing.

Strangely a lot of wheelbarrow advertisements came up under this video, as thought they were saying hindsights 20/20!

Wow! This is the first I have seen of your panel saw. How wonderfully simple! I love it!

That's wonderful!

Nice tablesaw safety!

Its like your own little rail way Like the mid sodor

Awesome! 👍

Why do I find myself grunting while you’re pushing the car lol

This has quickly become my favorite youtube channel

Hurrah! Thank-you!

Perfect for the garlic garden ....

Notbad, it works and looks amazing

I too hate when I'm working on something and create this nice, probably over engineered solution to it I'm proud of and want to show off, only to realize it won't really work the way I want it to and then realize there's a much simpler way of doing it that isn't worth showing off

Magnificent!

It looks like the steel arches are flexing sideways, which seems to help the agitation process as the hopper slides around a bit relative to the frame.

Anyone agree he should make a mini shunt yard for all his wagons

Very impressive

Loved the video Tim, as always very jealous of this project! Hope you start feeling better soon!

The people on the main channel are missing out so hard if they didn't follow the workshop channel 🚂🚂🚂🚂

great work :)

Tim, continual pressure is on you to produce "an engine" (presumably carbon-fired) to push/pull these wagons, but I realise that, as the "great, heavy lump" that you are, you have addressed these issues in the clockwork donut cart. You need an escape mechanism (you are proficient in that), a ratchet (ditto), and a long plank (ditto again). Put these together and I can see you, or Sandra, or better yet, any kid not at school when they should be, failing that a well-trained dog or two, at one end of the line hopping on and off the plank repeatedly. The plank's leverage translates this exchange of kinetic energy to ratchet a weight to its full potential. Hop off the plank the last time, release the brake, and the clockwork mechanism translates the potential energy to kinetic, and the trolley makes its lumbering way to the other end of the line where you put down your currant bun and mug of tea, shovel in a load, hop on and off the plank a few times, release the brake ... In case you are wondering what size rock you would need as a weight, the answer is at hand: The skip/container load of material is its own reservoir of potential energy. You are levering the load up a foot or so, and as the load descends it propels the wagon forwards. With a smile on your face you pick up your currant bun ... Cheers Chris