MTH Hand Car

WScott posted:

I have a MTH Hand Car that will only hand pump once or twice and it quits...I haven't used it in a while...it almost appears to be locked...any suggestions to get it to work. I purchased it at a flea market and no instructions...used to work great...was in like new condition. Thanks for any suggestions.

does to have roller pickups or the flat copper bar?

First thing I would check is the auto reverse bumpers.  I have the M&M handcar, and if that switch isn't all the in, it does funny things.  So make sure it's pressed in all the way on one end.

It has roller pickups.  Any ideas.  If I take the hands of the men off the bar, the bar moves pretty good but once I put the hands back on it is very sporadic. Thanks 

Two issues with the had cars.  1: the bar must engage the fork under the shell that provides the up/down motion.  If the body was removed, it may not have been reinstalled correctly to properly engage the fork.  If the arm is forced, the pin on the arm that engages the fork will break off, necessitating replacing the arm assembly.  2) the idler gear may disintegrate causing the mechanism to jam.  It is nearly impossible to replace this gear.

I'll take a look at the fork. 

Any tricks getting the fork and arm to line up. One hour later and still doing the hit and miss. All misses so far. Thanks 

Best way to do it is to power it so the fork stops directly in the center, then with the arm level, lower it squarely over the frame.  You can sometimes peek through the slot or from the bottom to see if the fork lines up with the pin.