Yesterday, I purchased a “used” Kadee Spiker i found at the Great Train Expo here in So Cal. I’ve been looking for one of these tools for a long time since they are no longer in production or available. I was shocked to see a 30 dollar price on it! The last time I saw one of these tools was on E-bay for around 150 dollars. The only problem with the deal was that it came in an open box minus the maintenance / operating instructions as well as the parts break down illustration. Does anyone own one of these spikers who will be willing to photo copy and E-mail these to me? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Kadee sold these as parts for some time after not selling them all together. They may have those on their web site. They used to several years ago.
The only thing I could find in a Google search is a 2 page pdf from Kadee on parts breakdown/numbers.
Bob, that was a great buy. I bought one probably thirty years ago and hand laid code 100 rail on Clover House ties on my last layout. I also bought the conversion parts that allow it to be be used with code 83 rail, but haven’t converted it yet. The biggest problem might be obtaining the special long, narrow staples. If these aren’t available it wasn’t worth the 30 bucks except as an expensive paper weight.
A word to the wise. It cuts the center out of the staple and drives the remaining “spikes” on either side of the rail. If you apply moderate pressure they will be securely seated. BUT, you need to get a large horsehoe magnet to go over the roadbed to pick up the thousands of little metal snippets.
The result is a nice shiny spike head against weathered rail. But I found that a wash of vinegar diluted with distilled water cause them to eventually turn to a nice rusty color.
You can get the Parts Break Down right from Kadee’s web site. Look under the “Handouts” near the bottom and you should see it listed.