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I'm still not clear on exactly how much of a "base" you need on the driving wheels, how to apply it prior to applying the "snot." I have tried the "snot" without anything under it, but traction is problematic. Also, in my experience, the "snot" does not last that long....2-3 months or so depending on the amount that its being run. It then seems to dry out and separate from the wheel in part..leaving little green strings attached to parts of the wheel.

If this is to be expected, then it might make more sense to just replace the tires, albeit with something to affix them to the wheel for some stability.

Also, does the wiring up of the engine (and tender if necessary) to run the engine to apply the "snot" pose any risks of short or electrical damage?


Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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You had better luck than i did.I tried it and had a mess.I will just stay away from that stuff.I think this stuff is bets used for h.o. and n scale.O gauge trains well at least for me.Is a big no no for me.
quote:
Originally posted by KevinH:
I'm still not clear on exactly how much of a "base" you need on the driving wheels, how to apply it prior to applying the "snot." I have tried the "snot" without anything under it, but traction is problematic. Also, in my experience, the "snot" does not last that long....2-3 months or so depending on the amount that its being run. It then seems to dry out and separate from the wheel in part..leaving little green strings attached to parts of the wheel.

If this is to be expected, then it might make more sense to just replace the tires, albeit with something to affix them to the wheel for some stability.

Also, does the wiring up of the engine (and tender if necessary) to run the engine to apply the "snot" pose any risks of short or electrical damage?


Any thoughts would be appreciated.
I have it on a few models also, and it sure seems to work fine. Some tips:

1) Make sure the groove where the old tire came from is CLEAN!!! I use lacquer thinner and let the cleaned groove dry fully.

2) Put on a thin layer of BullFrog Snot first and let it set for awhile (30 min to an hour).

3) Put in a second layer and let THAT sit for awhile.

4) Use a third layer as needed, and then let it sit OVERNIGHT at least. I think I have waited one or two days, prior to turning the locomotive right-side-up and test running it in the yard for some time.

Haven't thrown any of the BullFrog Snot off yet. Plus, I especially like it on steam locomotives, since you don't have to remove any of the side rods.
I tried it on a couple of engines and had mixed results. I couldn't get enough of it on a wheel to fill the groove but it did work for a while. That same E6 MTH engine took a dump on me that same day although unrelated and blew out the circuit board that controls all the lights. I also put some on a Lionel 2-8-0 consolidation and it seemed to work better. Since then, I have gone back to traction tires. In the future I will only use snot where it would be a lot of work to remove rods and or valve gear to replace a tire.

Ray
quote:
Originally posted by NCT:
quote:
Originally posted by gg1man:
Dennis has the best alternitive to traction tires. Frog Snot out right stinks. It's costly and dries up like a rock once you open the jar.
Stay away from it.;


Mine is still good a year after I first used it. Confused


They must of had tomuch hardner in the jar I got , NCT. I made sure the lid was tight and the jar was only open for a minute or two the frist and only time I opened it.
I think it was about three months when I came back to it and after what I paid for the crap I was very disappointed to say the lest.
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis:
If you would prefer to try using silicone sealant, I can email you instructions and a photo of what to buy.
.....
Dennis


I used Dennis' silicone sealant method. It works extremely well, stays on a long time and is easy to apply. Nearly all of my engines have silicone sealant tires. Traction tires only last a couple of times around the layout on my Atlas track.

The best thing about silicone sealant is that you can get it at any hardware store and it is inexpensive compared to Frog Snot.

Thank you Dennis for the tip and instructions in a past forum post.

Joe
quote:
1) Make sure the groove where the old tire came from is CLEAN!!! I use lacquer thinner and let the cleaned groove dry fully.

2) Put on a thin layer of BullFrog Snot first and let it set for awhile (30 min to an hour).

3) Put in a second layer and let THAT sit for awhile.

4) Use a third layer as needed, and then let it sit OVERNIGHT at least. I think I have waited one or two days, prior to turning the locomotive right-side-up and test running it in the yard for some time.



I dunno. If you have to go through all this work for a replaceable product...ie it wears out, just like traction tires, then, seems more work/pain than benfit to me.
I am not sure how long silicone rubber lasts because I have never replaced any "silicone tires" yet. It happens that the factory tires I have had to replace mostly so far are on my PS-1 engines that I don't run as often as my newer PS-2 engines. I have only replaced the tires with silicone on one of my PS-2 engines so far. I know it is my method of choice now though. Any engine that throws a tire will get silicone rubber sealant as a replacement.
.....
Dennis

P.S. I cannot claim credit for this idea because I learned it on this forum many years ago from another forum member. I am the "passer on-er". That is what I love about this forum. It has "institutional knowledge" that can be passed on by "students".
quote:
Originally posted by gg1man:
Dennis has the best alternitive to traction tires. Frog Snot out right stinks. It's costly and dries up like a rock once you open the jar.
Stay away from it.;


Mario,

This is a very unique report. BULLFROG SNOT has a chemically spec'd shelf life of 5+ years. If it's 'like a rock', then it's likely been allowed to freeze. Instructions warn you about that.

Bill
quote:
Originally posted by Rdgnut:
quote:
Originally posted by gg1man:
Dennis has the best alternitive to traction tires. Frog Snot out right stinks. It's costly and dries up like a rock once you open the jar.
Stay away from it.;


Mario,

This is a very unique report. BULLFROG SNOT has a chemically spec'd shelf life of 5+ years. If it's 'like a rock', then it's likely been allowed to freeze. Instructions warn you about that.

Bill


Hi Bill, yea but I had it on my shelf over my work bench. It never gets below 65 degrees down there even in the dead of winter. On the other hand it was in January when I placed my order, maybe it froze in transit, but it looked good when I opened it. Of course we have to remember I never used it before so I have no real idea what it should look like in it's fresh state.
I guess after reading what others have to say about it maybe I should of gave them a call. It could of been just a bad batch that I got. But, I'm not the only one to have this experience with it, though the others complained at the same time that I did on these pages. Confused
Mario,

Well, it does not have a 'hardener', it just out-gasses. When frozen it looks like a lump of slimey silly putty because the polymers take a set, and that's all she wrote. I have some of my experimental batch maybe 6+ years old, still going strong.

In O the main complaint is that you can shred the SNOT when really pushed. But Garden folks have had good results too. See here.

Bill
quote:
Originally posted by Rdgnut:
Mario,

Well, it does not have a 'hardener', it just out-gasses. When frozen it looks like a lump of slimey silly putty because the polymers take a set, and that's all she wrote. I have some of my experimental batch maybe 6+ years old, still going strong.

In O the main complaint is that you can shred the SNOT when really pushed. But Garden folks have had good results too. See here.

Bill


That's what it looked like Bill, not so much a lump but it was like a watery "lunger". That, so I thought is where they got the name Bull Frog Snot. Big Grin
Bill got in touch with me by e-mail and they are going to send me another order. A more gracious fellow one could not ask to deal with considering what I said above.

Now after I try their product again and it proves to be as good as is stated above I'm going to have to do a retraction / eat crow thread. But then again I should be use to that by now. Roll Eyes

It would of been so much simpler if I would of just given Bill a call in the first place. Thanks
Originally Posted by gg1man:
Dennis has the best alternitive to traction tires. Frog Snot out right stinks. It's costly and dries up like a rock once you open the jar.
Stay away from it.;


I agree with gg1man

I worked with frog snot in the past using it on solid, no groove, drive wheels.

It goes on a few mils thick when appied properly. if applied too thick it will not dry properly.

To replace traction tires on O gauge trains, Dennis methood  of using silicone is the best alternate in my opinion

Let's face it, when it comes to traction a lot depends on your grades ( I have a 3.4% ruling grade)  and the lenght of trains you are attempting to drag up hill.

 

I've been expermenting with various types of products, including the snot.  Currently, I'm back to traction tires but I'm still looking for that "holy grail" of O-Gauge traction.

 

Bull Frog snot - I had good success with it at first, but after a few weeks engine traction actually got worse than with plain rubber tires.  Seemed to me the snot became imprenated with track oils/dirt.  At first, installing the snot wasn't as easy as shown in the video's because of the tire grooves.  I did come up with a fix for that.

 

I took a small piece of plastic sheet and filed one edge to match the profile of a drive wheel without the t-tire groove.  Simply apply the snot per the video and then immediately place the tool against the wheel while it's still turning to remove the excess. This will completely fill the groove quickly & easily leaving a perfect snot tire. 

 

I'm considering adding a small amount of fine sand to the snot to see if that aids traction.   I haven't tried that yet.  Not too sure running sand on the rails is a good idea.

 

I have tried regular silicone with disappointing results.  Works ok for a week and then it falls apart.  I alos tried a "sanded silicone" product found in the tile section at Lowe's.  It dried hard as a rock and made a for very rough ride.  It's heck to get back off too.

 

Currently, I'm applying a drop of black paint to the wheel groove and then reinstalling the traction tires. The paint seems to help the tires adhear to the wheels better and isn't as difficult to remove as CA glue.

 

For now, either double heading or doubling the hill appears to be the answer.

 

 

I have been using "horse ties" for about a year with good results. These are small diameter elastic bands used to braid horse manes and are found in most equine stores. A huge bag is cheap. I use ( very sparingly) a small drop of CA to avoid slippage but I think this is overkill on my part. I have used them on MTH steamers and prewar as well as Marx engines. I have an unopened jar of the green stuff and thank heaven I thought twice about it..it just looked like a potential mess.

An example is here: http://www.horse.com/item/braiding-bands/SLT053916/

Originally Posted by Tiffany:

hello guys and gals............

that bullfrog snot seems more trouble to mess with than to just replace the traction tires itself........... I will stick with traction tires less messy.

the woman who loves toy trains

Tiffany

Well it is a LOT easier to use Bull Frog Snot on steam locomotive models than tailing the side rods off to re-instally the ****ed tire!

Dennis-
Could we trouble you to post the instructions for the Silicon Seal traction solution in this thread?
Much appreciated!
 
-steve
Originally Posted by Dennis:

I'm sorry but my file on this is in my home PC so I will have to rewrite the instructions.  Give me a day or two as I am traveling and visiting friends right now and just checked the forum before going to bed.  I'll be on the road again tomorrow too.

.....

Dennis

Originally Posted by Hot Water:
Originally Posted by Tiffany:

hello guys and gals............

that bullfrog snot seems more trouble to mess with than to just replace the traction tires itself........... I will stick with traction tires less messy.

the woman who loves toy trains

Tiffany

Well it is a LOT easier to use Bull Frog Snot on steam locomotive models than tailing the side rods off to re-instally the ****ed tire!

All the steam engines I have, the traction tire is on the end drive wheels.

You remove the hex head machine screw on that wheel, the side rod drops down, you replace the tire and then replace the machine screw.  whole process takes less than five minutes per tire.

Originally Posted by pennsyk4:

The problem with bullfrog snot in my opinion, it is designed for drive wheels that are flat [without grooves] and to be put on the wheel evenly, as it rotates, a few mils thick.

It seems to me the silicone is a much better approach, if you are not going to replace the traction tire in kind.

You could be right, but a few of us in the Independent Hi-Railers, Midwest Division, have applied Bull Frog Snot to a few MTH steam locomotive models, and have had no problems. However, we do layer the snot with multiple applications, 30 minutes to an hour apart, thus filling the tire groove completely, and then let the model sit up-side-down over night to cure.

Originally Posted by Bobby Ogage:

I went in to hobby shop to buy Bullfrog Snot and was blown away by the $25 plus tax price for a small jar! That's way too expensive for traction tires, so like Dennis does, I will use the silicone.

I've wondered if "Bullfrog Snot" is maybe similar to "anti-squeal compound" used on the back side of automotive brake shoes. The stuff I used some years ago for a brake job has the appearance of thinned-out red silicon caulk RTV. It is still in useable condition after several years and I have occasionally used it for sticking weights into rail cars etc.

 

I prefer steel wheels with weight for traction like real trains, but I do have a few secondhand O-gauge powered units with traction tires.

I tried this stuff on a postwar Lionel 2026 without magnatraction that wouldn't pull more than three cars without slipping.  This stuff worked.  Now the 2026 will pull a standard 5 or 6 car postwar train without slipping.  I haven't tried any longer trains on account of I don't think the motor on the 2026 is built to take more than the standard postwar freight set.

 

Sorry to dredge up an old topic, but I just spent a half hour of pure frustration, trying to put a tire back on a diesel. I even used dental picks, but it is impossible to get them into that small space, and there is no way to see what you're doing.

 

For most diesels, Lionel recommends that you take it to a service station. You have to disassemble the entire engine to free the truck then unstake the side frame, change the tire, and restake it. What a pain!!!

 

For the cost of the gas and the labor, not to mention the two week wait, the $25 jar of Bullfrog Snot seems cheap and easy. I wish I could just leave the tires off, but I'm not sure how well that would work.

RTV silicone works just as good as Bullfrog snot and is about 5 dollars for a tube. Follow Hotwater's advice and layer it and let it cure. Winter temps affect curing times greatly, no heat in my train room, and it took about a week. But that was over two years ago and it is still going strong pulling 11 passenger cars.

Good luck,

Bob

Originally Posted by gunrunnerjohn:

What specific diesel are you putting this on?  I've put them on tons of diesel models, and I've never had to unstake anything!  You do have to remove the sideframes many times, though I can get them onto many without doing that.

John, it's the middle wheel on an SD-70. Is there a screw that holds the side frame on? Without taking it all apart, I can't see how it is attached. I just remember that a lot of older engines had the side frames staked on. I don't own an arbor press.

 

I must admit, I haven't worked on modern equipment much. I have more experience with MPC and PW.

Last edited by Big_Boy_4005
Originally Posted by SteveG:

For my MTH Premier Hudson from 2004 volume 2 catalog, it was just one hex screw that comes off, then I slipped the worn tire off and used a replacement tire that came with the engine.

Not too bad, maybe took me 10 minutes.

 

Steve

Lucky you! Ever own a Lionel Articulated where the tire goes on the wheel BEHIND the steam chest?

Post

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