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kfox
06-16-2004 19:47:19
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Re: Re: H Wheel Weight Bolts in reply to TomH, 06-16-2004 17:00:27
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A B&O, so the story goes, was invented by a railroader on the B&O Railroad, sometime in the late 1800s. They used it to knock track bolts out of the fishplates between the ends of the rails. It looks like a sledge hammer, kinda, but one end of the hammer head is a drift punch, and the other side of the head is like a hammer but more rounded some. It's made to be struck, not used for a hammer. The B&O comes in a lot of different sizes, from 1/4 inch up to 1 and a half inchs. At least thats the biggest I remember. The smaller sizes, up to around 3/4 inch have hammer handles about 14 inches long, and the bigger ones have sledge hammer handles. The long handle ones require two men to make it work. One is holds the B&O in line with the bolt to be removed, and the othe guy hits the B&O with a sledge hammer.Takes a little team work to do it right. The short handle B&Os can be used by one man, or two. We used them around the mines for all kinds of repair work. Makes short work out of D-11 track bolts & pins. The reason I posted this message is because I've never seen a B&O in any tool catalogs, and most folks I know have never heard of one. Now you know why I wanted to post a picture...ha ha My old H had wheel weight bolts that may have never been out since 1941. It required 4 or five licks on a short handled half inch B&O to get a couple out, the rest were easier. If you use one, be sure to wear safety glasses, and if something valuable is in line with the bolt you're driving out, like a newly painted gas tank, or settlement bowl, put your new Carhart jacket, that you got last Christmas, over whatever could get busted. Sometimes stuck bolts come out like bullets. Good luck, Ken
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