Yesterday I took out my Lionel Intermodal Crane for the first time in many years. Upon powering up Left and Right Drive functions both worked, carriage travel left and right worked, clamping and unclamping worked but up and down didn't work. I could here the motoring turning but no action. I was hoping there was some locking mechanism or twist tie I failed to remove and not the dreaded broken gear(s). The instructions didn't mention a lock or twist tie so I searched the forum and found a 2013 thread by Ricklab that mentioned the exact issue I was having. The thread contained a wonderful link by @Susan Deats to her repair of the Mi-Jack crane. Armed with her photos and an exploded view provided by @Mike Summerville in a 20202 post, disassembly began. After removing the cover and watching the operation it appears my issue is the small Spool Drive Pinion Gear, Lionel # 2741-325. The search for gears is on. I remember Henning producing metal replacement gears, a visit to their web store shows the metal pinion gear, but if I also need the larger, Winding Spool Gear, Lionel # 2741-285 I can only find a plastic gear.
Question 1: Is it good practice to replace one metal gear and have it meshing with a plastic gear? Would the plastic gear be prone to excess wear from meshing with the metal gear?
Question 2-4: Both @prrhorseshoecurve and @laz1957 used JB Weld 5 Minute Epoxy to glue the original gear back together. How did the glued gear hold up, what kind of surface prep was necessary and did you use a brush to apply the epoxy?
