The ONLY thing going for McHenry couplers is when they are FREE… Remember you get what you pay for. Case in point: Intermointain cars.
Kadees are an after-market product, and cost about $0.75 apiece. Such a Deal!
The #5 ‘flat spring’ works (when one follows the directions), otherwise get the ‘Whisker’ coupler. It was designed for those who find coupler assembly too much ‘‘work’’.
Kadees have always worked well for me. The knock offs are the only ones have failed, sometimes spectacularly. I buy the high detail (expensive) freight car kits and scratchbuild/bash/superdetail other cars. I’m not going to put lots of hours in a super-detailed car and then cheap out on the couplers. BTW: I like to think of myself as thrifty. If I could get quality couplers for less, I would.
I did have string of intermountain reefers head towards the floor due to the failure of a McHenry coupler on another car ahead of them in the train. They let go on a steep grade and didn’t make the curve at the bottom of the hill. Not too much damage but lesson learned. I don’t have those kinds of grades or couplers (McHenry) on the new layout.
Guy
Hi!
I’ve installed a lot of KDs and am a big fan. The McHenry’s - when they first came out - had the selfcentering couplers that were preferrable to KDs for certain installations. However, KD now has the whisker couplers and you can get them in bulk. Now there is no reason not to use KDs, and I highly recommend them.
Mobilman44
Over the years, I’ve had McHenry, Proto, Kadee and Bachmann’s couplers. They have all had one or more broken couplers EXCEPT the Kadees. Also, they don’t seem to mate all that well with other mfrs and some are more tempermental than others and don’t even matcch weel with their own kind. But the Kadees are like the Energizer bunny, I’ve had some since the 70’s and never a problem (other than an occasional knuckle spring getting lost). So, if I buy something and it doesn’t have Kadee, it’s removed and a Kadee replaces it.
These are my experiences and my preferences. It doesn’t mean they are best for everyone. I’m not looking to get into a war over this, but just responding to your question.
Ken
Hi…I would like your opinion…I am trying to “re-coupler-ize” my fleet of AHM/IHC/etc passenger cars…which size/number of coupler - kadee coupler - would you suggest?
Jim
I tend to be pretty cheap about this kind of thing, so I usually wait for the plastic Kadee clone coupler to break and then replace with a real Kadee. That’s assuming the plastic coupler has a metal knuckle spring. Couplers with plastic slivers for springs get replaced immediately with Kadees due to the tendency of the slivers to fail in keeping the knuckles closed. I won’t buy the plastic couplers outright - I’ll only use them if they’re pre-installed on a car I acquire.
To directly respond to the OP’s question, the only strength to McHenry is that it might already be on a car when you buy it, so the model can enter service without an immediate trip to the shop. The lower cost of plastic couplers is a false savings due to the failure rate.
1000 pairs of Kadees later - what was the question again? Hal
Since you have resurected this old thread with this question: The answer can be found here:
http://www.kadee.com/conv/holist.pdf
That is a chart to find about any conversion to KaDee couplers from KaDee.
Some,new Forum Members,May find this interesting,and or helpful…
Cheers,
Frank
Kadee vote from the S scale crowd, I do shun the no. 802 for the no. 5, personal choice based upon 40 plus years of Kadee usage in two scales, also a heads up to NWSL for metal wheel sets.
Dave
Kadee Rules.
I could say the same about Walthers Protomax II…Those are great couplers since they are all metal have a knuckle spring and looks like a KD #5 twin.
The Protomax II is my second choice after KD’s 148.
Yes the Walthers freight cars that i have that have them on they stay.
ONLY THE BEST THAT I"VE USED … KADEE SCALE SIZE, #58 WHISKER COUPLER. I REPLACE OTHER COUPLERS WITH THESE BEFORE THE CARS GO ON MY TRACK. NUFF SAID, DOC.
Yeah KADEE is better. But I got a large lot of the McHenry Knuckle Spring couplers cheap a while ago so I have both. If you mount the Mchenry’s at the proper height - very important - and run only short trains, say 10 cars or less like I do since I model a shortline - they work OK. But the standard of comparison is now to the #148 Kadee Wiskers, not the #5’s which is all I had when I found the McHenry’s. Kadee #5 is a stronger coupler, but I like the McHenry springs much better.
The #158 Kadees are the best looking and closest to scale, but the smaller size does make them a little more trouble prone. For my money if I am starting now it would be Kadee #148’s all around.