Are they worth it. I am looking at a set of coal hoppers on Ebay, and also my local hobby store has them as well. Are they good? Will they work with the magnets to uncouple them? Just wondering. This will help me in my decision. Thanks
They’re not bad. They work, they’re cheaper than most but they’re all plastic. Kadees work better, they’re all metal, they look better, and now they have there new “whisker” couplers out that are lot easier to install. Cost more though.
Yes, McHenrys work with the magnets.
Some McHenry couplers have a METAL knuckle spring - thier KS line; which I believe is all that they currently make.
Not all Kadee couplers are all metal; the 20 and 30 series have plastic shanks.
I have all McHenry couplers on my 200+ fleet. I went to the scale version which is 3/4 the size of regular knuckle couplers (I believe this is correct).This style has the metal spring in the coupler side and metal trip pin. I have had these installed for over 5 months with very little trouble.The old style McHenry had a plastic coupler spring which in a few months got weak and your cars would uncouple. The thing with KD’s they do withstand a little more abuse than McHenry.
I just bought two packs of bethgons off of ebay w/ Mchentrys…they are junk!!! Will be replacing them with Kadees very soon. They will not stay coupled and they are some god-awful looking brown plastic. Kadees are pretty cheap, so buy the cars and replace asap.
In my opinion there is nothing wrong with the McHenrys with the metal knuckle spring. They are not as strong as the KDs, but they are quite a bit cheaper, and I haven’t broken either one in years so I think the strength is a moot point. Last broken one was accomplished while testing with KDs just for strength as I recall, now. The ones with the old plastic knuckle spring would occassionally lose spring tension and uncouple, or so I have heard, but I only had one fail and on that one the knuckle spring plastic broke. I remember losing two to broken shanks (in service) some years ago too. The brown plastic looks as good as the black KDs to me. I look at prototype couplers every day and haven’t seen a one that truly matched either one on the little ones.
KD makes a lot of “specialty” couplers to fit the odd application, and I applaud them for that, and their coupler gage too. Best automatic short available anywhere ! [:D]
The Mchenry couplers with the metal coil return spring are more consistent and robust than the couplers with the monofilament (plastic) return springs. The monofilament springs work well or they just about don’t work at all (there pretty much doesn’t seem to be any middle ground in my experience). Stick to the better quality Mchenrys (not the bulk pack versions 20 couplers per pack) or stock up on the Kadee couplers (virtually trouble free).
I use Kadee #5’s almost universally. Any new locos or stock that I buy that have the McHenry with the metal spring are left with them installed until they eventually fail. The metal metal sprung McHenry is 300% better than the plastic sprung one, which is a POS and is about the same color.
Woke up this morning and somebody bought the cars I was going to buy. Thats the bad thing about Ebay. Thanks for all of the info, and most of the cars on Ebay have them, and I might use them for now. Thanks againg, everybody!!!
McHenrys arnt bad but still perfer Kaydee. Tell ya if a Mchenry comes with a car,BB or RTR. They stay on that car until it fails then it gets changed to a #5 KD. Kevin
I bought McHenrys a few years ago, before the new metal spring. I cannot recommend the older ones at all. After a long period of non use, the couplers are now in a permanently “open” position and I am replacing all with Kadees. I guess after my experiece with the older ones I am reluctant to get the newer style, so I am sticking with what I know and trust.
Rick
I no longer change out the McHenrys with the metal knuckle spring…The ones with the thin plastic spring gets changed out before the car/locomotive goes into service.
I use KD #5s and KD #148s. I will also use the McHenry with the metal spring in it and the Accurail Accumates are pretty good in HO. The N scale accumates are about like the Plastic Tab McHenrys.
You only buy kadees ONCE…you cannot break them. Spend the coin and get the ‘good’ stuff…try not to buy something that will break or wear down over time.
David
David,I have broken 3 KD couplers over the years…I have replace numerous knuckle springs over the years where they became fatigue with club use.While the KD coupler is the best choice its not exactly unbreakable or maintenance free.[:D]
I have had Kadee for years and learned many new cuss words for the brass centering spring.
When McHenry came along I jumped in to use them in place of Kadee.
If Kadee had made a whisker type way back when there would have never been a McHenry!
I now use either coupler and having equal problems with both brands.
The only thing to watch is to get the McHenrys with a spring The plastic dodad is not good.
Agree with all above. Kadee’s are the way to go, and ditto about the darned centering springs–a real pain in the *** but previously, little choice, and were what are in the 30’s series kits that I needed for my F and E unit conversions. Now, though, whiskers!! Not only the 148’s(equiv. of the #5 in whisker design) but 158’s(to parallel the 58) and the 153 and 156(short and long shank respectively). As mentioned on other threads, suspect Kadee will convert to the whiskers exclusively in the future, provided they do well in long term follow-up/reliability over time.
Jim
One additional point about Kadee vs McHenry is the ease of manual uncoupling. I don’t know if others have experienced this but I find that Kadees are far easier to uncouple manually using the “pointed stick” method.
Joe