Looking for a good ballast spreader in 3 rail

We use the Ballast King for mainlines. Makes pretty quick work out of it.

I have to concur with Doug above....Roger Wasson and I teamed together and are using a Ballast King.  Roger got done much more quickly than I as I ran out of ballast and need to get more...

 

Alan

I use this tool...

 

Yup!  Goes rather fast and I use these to add the glue mix to hold it all in place.

 

A foot an hour?  Maybe not doing 1 rock at a time will speed that process up a bit,

I'd probably die of boredom if I only got a foot an hour!   I just dump it on and then sweep up the track with the brush to spread it out.  My biggest sin is usually underestimating how much glue mixture it's going to take to hold it in place.  Putting ballast on modular layout modules needs the ballast to be rock solid so moving them around won't result in losing half of it.  Don't ask me how I know this.

 

thats funny John.... yes 1 hour per foot, but this area is triple tracked. So 3ft an hour....

 

is still too slow.

 

Hmm the Ballast King, kind of pricey though isn't it? Anyone have any luck with this model?

 

 

everything is pricey in this hobby isn't it?

 

with 300'-400' of track, saving hours and hours of ballasting was well worth the investment.

I hear ya, what did you do with it when you were done?

I'm also a fan of the paint brush method. Just dump a small pile of ballast and push it around with the brush.

Got one and really like it. This is the least expensive I've seen....

Yes, this is not something that improves with over-engineering or overthinking.

This is a simple hobby. You dump the ballast, you spread the ballast, you glue the ballast.

EBay.....

 

besides, who is ever done with a layout, or only builds one?

I got it!

I second use of this method. Although we found that the ballast was pretty expensive, so we first put down a generous layer of cheap, dried sandbox sand, then covered THAT with the expensive ballast. We used our finger tips and paint brushes to spread both items. After it "look right", we moistened the whole are with cheap 70% alcohol, then added thinned Matt Medium. More than 10 feet of double track main line could be done within an hour, with just two guys, plus beer. 

"More than 10 feet of double track main line could be done within an hour, with just two guys, plus beer."

 

 

I knew I was missing something.... so more beer = faster ballasting...

It's priced right for sure. Does it still ship from Turkey?

 

Mike

The beer is the secret ingredient.

 

No, don't pour it on the ballast!!!

 

We just got done with about 1,000 feet of ballasting on the club layout. Team work where one person used the ballast spreader. second person followed with a paint brush to tidy up and next two people had the wet water and glue solutions. In some areas we were also spreading some ground cover between the tracks so we could wet and glue in one step

 

Yes, Sir. Istanbul! I did PayPal and looked at it from every angle before I ordered. I figured worse case I would just go back to PayPal if there was a problem. Super easy transaction, no issues at all. Took less than a week to get here. This is one of the very few items I have purchased from outside of the US.

Most households already have what I used some years ago to ballast a few hundred feet of Gargraves using Woodland Scenics medium coarse ballast--the ubiquitous upholstery accessory attachment to a shop vac/wife's vacuum.

 

Put a finger over the narrow end, load the attachment with ballast, place the narrow end between an outside rail and the center rail and simply pull the attachment backwards--after removing the finger first, of course.  Repeat for other side of center rail.  Then do the same for outside the outer rails--a very realistic fall line is created.

 

This tool worked like a charm with very, very little ballast left on the ties to be cleaned up.

My ballast machine.

John,

i did over 400' with ballast king and recommend it. It was worth the expense for me because it made the process much more fun and that is what building a layout is about. It helped that I split the cost with a friend and did a little at a time in the evenings.

A paper cup and brush also works fine, just slower. It takes time and patience to get all the granuals stuffed between the ties. Many do it that way. I can walk you thru the whole process anytime at your house for just a few beers. Well ballasted track looks great. Use good quality ballast too.

I would use these ....

 

 

Bought one for use at the club and my eventual home layout. Works pretty well, but you have to practice with it to get the right speed. Works with Atlas and Ross/Gargraves track. ScaleTrax -- not so much because the rails are lower.

 

Still ships from Proses Hobby in Turkey. I've found them to be pretty good, but their offerings are primarily H.O. and OO scale, with a couple of O scale items with a more European look. They have some pretty interesting stuff.

yes they are my helpers... but they can't reach the upper deck yet! 

i did pour, spoon & brush.  if ballast king had been available, i would have gone for it without hesitation.

 

brennan's better ballast.

Please list full ordering information so those who aren't aware of it can order one. Name of product, website where it can be ordered, cost, etc. Thanks!

dewey,

did we ever track down that ballast spreader or get a template? That thread just died.

 

Thanks.

The Fort Pitt High Railers do a lot of work on ballast and track side display.  We use a lot of white glue and work the glue ballast, (mostly Brummy's rubber ballast), mixture with our fingers, to get a good glue to ballast application, complete through to the base of the track bed. The wet-water spray application is O.K. but seems to dilute the glue a bit too much, IMO.   Otherwise as the modules get beat-around the ballast comes loose and has to be re-applied.  

Some of the most recent ballast/module work.

 

Usually so much glue/water mixture is applied, garage floor clean-up is a major project.

 

If you look closely, you can see some of the ballast patch-jobs.

 

The green is a lot of different materials. Scenic Express, EX897B Green Adirondack Blend, is my choice for trackside green and applies easily along with the ballast and other detail.

 

Straight ballast before we add color detail.

 

After we tweek the ballast   May be not just ballast, you should be adding other stuff.

 

Gargrave track/Ross Switches have been air brushed with Model Master acrylic paint, Railroad tie brown (4885).  Top of rails are cleaned after application of paint. 

Mike that sure looks good. I am just getting started here on this scene and already learned a lesson I forgot previously .... wait for the ballast to dry if you mess up on round 1! Also I used masking tap that was extremely aggressive and tough to clean off of  the track... Oh and I learned its quicker if I stick to just the ballast, then lay the cinders, than the dirt, than the grass.....go figure....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like you didn't paint/weather the rails prior to ballasting. That makes it much more difficult then.

Maybe, Maybe not.  The Fort Pitt Highrailer's modules are old and have been worked a lot.  Granted, it is a lot easier to paint parts, before they are installed, but a good touch with an air brush can get the job done. 

This major remodel, addition of (2) Three way switches, the air brushing was done as one of the last procedures.

 

Y module project.  

 

Y module project, slideshow

 

I have always used a 3X 5 card and an air brush after the ballast is in place...

 

 

 

 

Of course I am known to work a little backwards.

I use a table spoon and lay it along the side of the rail it pretty much spreads out along the roadbed itself. I then use a small brush to touch it up a bit. Goes along pretty fast.

Moonman

RE: Yellow Ballast spreader

I finally found a note on who had borrowed it last. Unfortunately he has passed away and I haven't got the gall to ask his widow about such a trivial item. 

What is driving me nuts is that I had two and can't find the other one.

Sorry. Best bet is to place stiff thin cardboard against end of a track section and trace one.                                                                                                                       

 Maybe make a couple spreaders using styrene, and then use the "blade" to convert a caboose, or car, to a flanger when your done too