I have never used one for my own layout - I have gotten satisfying results with a spoon and a brush, but with a lot of ballasting to do on our club’s layout and a wish to get a fairly consistent result regardless of who might be doing it (within reason), we are considering purchasing one.
So, anyone own and use one and are they worth it?
Haha! I saw the title to this thread and immediately thought “spoon and brush” before even clicking to enter here. I don’t see any applicator saving you significant time, because you’re still going to have to brush the ballast off the ties and especially the sides of the rail as you finesse the ballast into place. I suggest that you save your money.
DFF
Thanks for the response Dave. From the way your reply is worded, I would guess you don’t actually own one, and your observation may be spot on (and I sort of suspect it is), but I would like to hear from anyone who’s used one. Are they largely gimmicky or do they actually make it somewhat easier to put down a consistent level of ballast?
I suspect that due to the nature of ballast it will always require some careful repositioning in order to get it properly placed. But if the ballasting device makes any part of the job better, or go smoother, then it MAY be worth it.
Keep in mind that we may have members ranging in age from their early teens to early eighties involved in doing this on the layout, hence our interest in simplifying it and achieving a consistent look - if at all possible.
I do not own one but, like you, I use a spoon and a brush (shaped like a barber’s shaving creme brush) with perfect results. My advice is to stick with the spoon and brush and forget about the ballast device. I, not so long ago, used the spoon and brush approach on 185’ of double mainline.
Rich
I view buying a ballasting device the same as buying a static grass zapper, big money for the limited use it gets on a home layout, however, for a club situation as you describe it may be a good investment.
The Trains.com store has one so if you have enough points, there you go. Not sure how well it works as I have not used one.
I use this hollow spoon that is for administering medicine to children, you get more mileage per scoop with the hollow handle. They are free for the asking at any pharmacy.
Bat - Thanks for the idea about using a medicine spoon. The shape of it makes great sense for laying down ballast.
Plastiic spoon and 1"soft bristle paint brush,never tried the other things.
I had asked a similar question on here several years ago and got the same responses that you are getting. I then proceeded to ballast using a spoon. Another tip I picked up was to use a ketchup dispenser for the turnouts.
I spent about a month ballasting and finished the area that I was working on. I still have about 80% of my track to do so I decided to try a Proses (Bachmann) spreader. I started with a four track oil loading facility. After using the spreader to apply the ballast I still had some manicuring to do but getting that much ballast down went faster than using the spoon and being careful about not dumping too much in an area. I then used the spoon to fill in between the tracks.
My next effort was a hard to reach area that will be a tunnel. I was able to manipulate it with one hand and then do touch up with a fan brush. That spot would have been frustrating to do with a spoon.
When I am ready to tackle the rest of my track I will be using the spreader and expect to get even more proficient with practice. I am sure that there will be some spots that call for using the spoon and of course the ketchup dispenser around the turnouts. I have no regrets about the purchase.
