[TM333TX]

Rail line got shot down. Wife says lazy river comes first

 

[zulu]

Lazy river?
What a great idea!!! Mortar barge!!!
Zulu

 

[double d]

Trey for the mortar barge you will need ball racks and pole holders as well as a live well.

 

[TM333TX]

I'm thinking I simplify. Sell the house on the lake, move to a river, buy a cheap pontoon boat and dress up the sides with 4x8 sheets of plywood. Everyone's happy.

 

[TM333TX]

The t-bar, spacer plates, and side plates are complete. It took a while with an angle grinder to slowly clean up some edges / round some corners for all 5 pieces that make up each side to fit together. One side is now complete. 6 of the 25 bolts would not quite line up thru all 5 holes. My die grinder will clean them up. Glad it is only 6 that need it.

This is the inside and shows 3 of the 5 pieces.

This is the inside of the right side of the bed. The bolts come thru a bit more than I'd like. I knew they would I was concerned a 1/4" shorter bolt would not come thru the prevailing lock nuts far enough. I may trim them all - only 50 of them.

I like the look of the carriage bolts on the outside of the bed.

Not counting the nuts and bolts, each side weighs 164 pounds.

I'm working on fitting the plates that make up the left side of the bed together later today. Once both sides are assembled I can test the fit of the mortar on the bed and see how well it sits in it's new home.

 

[Fredstaple]

Wow that is looking awesome, 164 pounds per side. It is a monster!

 

[double d]

Looking good. We have to get this COVID thing over with, so I can bring Seeppot down and help you build a bowling ball reef in the lake.

 

[TM333TX]

I finished assembly of the 2nd side yesterday. Heavy steel either fits or it doesn't. Trying hard not to remove any more of the edges than necessary meant both the inside and outside plates were on/off many times before they would drop in to place. Picking up each side plate so many times caused some fingers to cramp. Happy they fit now.

I'm going to use some 5/8" all-tread to make a couple temporary spacer bars for the inside front and back to hold it together while I test the fit of the mortar on the bed today.

 

[zulu]

You remind me of me. Each cheek just under 300 lbs. Plus 11' long!
Zulu

 

[TM333TX]

I've told others - I don't know how you did what you did with the room you had to work with. I would have banged the wood so many times I would have been starting over again and again.

 

[zulu]

I didn't even have a machine to pick my stuff up. Just my lovely assistant.
Zulu

 

[TM333TX]

The test fit assembly went well. A bit of a challenge to pick up the mortar with my tractor fork. The breech end of the mortar has all the weigh and with the powder chamber the fork was limited on how far in it would go. Moving along with great caution we were able to get some boards under the fork so the mortar could not tip back before I could tilt the fork up. I don't know that the forks can actually handle the 4K pounds they are rated for, but I can say one fork will handle 458 pounds.

Once the mortar was lowered to the bed it fit well. Now we have His and Hers

I'm extremely pleased with the trunnion cup / cap square fit, especially after having had to re-shaped them. We wondered if the weight of the mortar would cause it to drop forward - big NO !

Next on the list is the side to side plate in the front and bar in the back. And the 2 maneuvering / lever ears (if there is a term for them, I don't know what it is).

The mortar is truly a beast. It's really out of my weight class but so far so good. I'm fine with picking it up by the trunnions but not so much via the bore with the fork. Hoping I only have to do that one more time.

 

[double d]

Trey, Is this going to have a thread rod elevator? I have left over from the GoW cache a piece of 1-1/2" 4tpi x 36 Acme threaded rod. I think George was going to use this for this mortar-maybe. It weighs right at 25 lbs. It has three threaded nuts and an unthreaded sleeve.

Do you want it? Do you want part of it?

I can cut it if you wish.

 

[zulu]

I'm going to bring this up because I don't know any better.
It looks like the mortar is mounted backwards. Shouldn't it be pointed the opposite way?
The longest part of the bed should be in the rear, right? That would help prevent this monster from flipping over backwards.
Plus, the way it is, the majority of the weight of the bed is in the rear. Just doesn't seem right to me.
Zulu

 

[TM333TX]

Thanks Douglas. I have pondered an elevation screw. Clearly there is no way to adjust the elevation without one. This would work well, and that it was George's, even better.

 

[TM333TX]

Zulu, I've wondered the same thing

 

[double d]

Doesn't that style carriage have a large wooden bed on front for a Quion?

https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/79/114/cyrus-alger-co-10-inch-model-1840-mortar-with-bed

 

[GGaskill]

It looks like the mortar is mounted backwards. Shouldn't it be pointed the opposite way?

What we have here is a combination of an 1841 style mortar tube and an 1861 style mortar bed. I would show some pix but the Robinson's Battery site is not responding.

There is a facebook presence but I don't do facebook. So could one of you with a facebook account logon to their facebook site and ask what happened to their website?

 

[double d]

Trey is that carriage you have built from the paperwork that George had for that mortar? Wasn't there a AOP Plan book number 42 with that. I know there was one here at one time. I just checked my stack and I no longer have that book. I thought I passed the plan book and some wood with the tube.

The Confederate base.

George is right I think . That carriage is for a mortar with barrel mounted trunnions.

 

[TM333TX]

Yes, you gave me the plans. Included in the book of plans was GOW's pencil drawing of the plates he had cut, and that's pretty much what I have worked from. I made a few modifications - 1" taller, 1" slope across the top cap square area, bolt flange / tab at the rear.

This is as close as I've seen for a rear trunnion mortar to GOW's drawing. It does have the front platform and channel for the Quoin to sit on/in. I still have to fab the front platform, and considering options, particularly with adding an elevation screw. The elevation screw kinda takes it off the list of "that's exactly what they looked like" but I can just lie and say that until someone here that knows better stops by for a look.