modern culvert loader issue

Did you see if there's some binding along the way?  Sounds like something is holding it up enough for the wheels to slip.

John Couldn't see anything impairing travel. I may just try to disassemble the claw. / motor assembly to see what I can find.

Certainly sounds like something impeding the travel from the description.

I had the same issue with mine. I think it's a design problem. The weight is not evenly distributed between the motor and the claw and the wire coming from the little man tends to push the one side up off of the track. I added some 1/4 oz wheel weights to the bottom of the motor at the end furthest from the track and it runs smoothly now.

I had the same thing happen with my new Bethlehem Steel culvert loader.  What was causing the roller to spin was the wire mechanism that sends power to the claw wasn't out all the way from the base.  I had to pull some of the wire out to get it to run smoothly.  It now works fine.  It will take a little bit of trial and error but it will work.  Hope this helps.

The remaining issue I have with mine is the loader doesn't always drop exactly right when it releases the culvert.  It appears that it swivels on the inside claw and drops it sideways into the car.  Since there are holes in the car, if it's too far off, it's sitting in there cocked and you have to manually straiten it.  It "appears" that I could take some material off the plastic claw and improve it, but I'm reluctant to do irreversible mods unless I have a spare part.

Gunrunnerjohn, run a wide piece of black electrical tape along the ramp in the car.  It covers the openings and the culverts don't get hung up.  It's unobtrusive.  I did mine many years ago and it works fine.

That's a good idea, I think I'll try that!   Here, I was thinking I had to solve the problem on the other end.

After reading this thread, I went and operated my culvert loader and found that it too moved very erratically along the track.  I tried adding some weight to the motor mount with a little improvement.  I then decided to very thoroughly clean the track, (top, bottom, outside and inside) with isopropyl alcohol.  Problem solved.  It runs as smooth as new.  Hope this works for others.

 

George

My unloader had a bad rubber wheel, the rubber had hardened to a solid slippery wheel.  Cutting the rubber off and putting on two of the right sized O-rings for a replacement, and it runs better than it ever did.  If they ever wear out, I have lots more.   In my case, I cleaned the track as you described, and the operation got worse!  That's when I started looking at the wheel.

John,

 

My comment about track cleaning was in reference to the Culvert Loader, not the Unloader.  I have had no problems with my Culvert Unloader, which has always run very smoothly along the top rail, so I have had no need to attempt cleaning it.  I did make an adjustment, ala a Mike Reagan video, to the travel of the pickup magnet along the rail, when it was not moving far enough through the drop-off gate to release the culverts properly.  Simple adjustment which solved that problem.

The loader and unloader have very similar drive mechanisms, so cleaning the track would be useful for either of them.  They both have a rubber drive wheel that is held in contact with the rail.