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1:25 scale Farm Pickup Milk Tanker. Need ideas...


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I've been toying with the idea of building a late model milk tanker. I've got the right subject for the tractor, a Lonestar with Dave's daycab conversion. But for the tanker trailer... I'm not so sure which way to go. I tought of the AMT Texaco tanker or the Lindberg chrome tanker that is packaged with the Dodge L700. The Linberg is almost ready out of the box, but then again, the AMT Fruehauf is almost the right size for a modern tanker. I see the big Tremcars on the road all the time and they're lookin' really good. I guess I could go with a PVC or ABS pipe with a trailer suspension... Suggestions welcome!

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The Lindberg tanker represents the type used for direct farm pick up and is still used today. The food grade road tanker you wish to build is going to be a scratch build for sure. I would say pvc pipe and running gear from another kit would be a good start. Some generous use of various Alcad products and bare metal foil too.

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I would agree the Lindberg tanker is the closest, although not as long as the modern transport trailers. I owned and operated a dairy farm for 25 years and saw a transport every other day for that entire time period. As you build, remember they load and unload from the rear. When you open the double doors at the back of the tanker, they have an electric pump on one side and the milk hose to connect to the milk tank in the barn is on the other side. It is attached to the pump and pulled through a door similar to a pet door in the wall of the barn. The cord is pulled through the same door and plugged in to the outlet in the barn. A sample of milk is dipped from the milk in the tank through the lid on top before loading into the trailer begins. The lid is left open so to prevent a vacuum situation as the milk is pumped into the trailer. There is one lid in the center top of the trailer for cleaning the trailer and it is opened before unloading begins at the plant. The milk is removed at the back where it was pumped into the trailer. The tanks are seamless with no baffles on the inside so they can be spray washed and sanitized. They are a pain to pull when partially loaded. My driver always talked about how it would slosh from front to back whenever he shifted gears or hit the brakes. They are not refrigerated, just double walled and insulated in between. The milk has to be 38 degrees or below but not freezing when loaded. They would often load my milk here in Texas even in the summer and transport to Florida or wherever it was needed on the market. It would stay below 40 degrees for up to 3 days. Sorry if that was too much information but it is a subject I know very well. Hope it helps.

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Milkman! What better reference! Thanks for the info Howard, it's a lot of information but explains a lot of things. This morning, I came accross this big beast getting its fuel for the day, I went to the driver and asked him if I could take pictures of his tanker for reference to build a scale model and he said no problem. So I took these:

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Edited by BigBad
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Simple enough to duplicate if you don't care much about the small step on the tank itself where the fifth wheel pin is located. most of the tank is supported by a 12 inch thick C channel. Sorry, the driver didn't have much time for me to take more detailed pictures of the frame. So this thing could be duplicated with some work and a lot of bare metal foil! I'd probably start with the air suspension from the upcoming Moebius trailer, a PVC pipe and some .040 plate styrene for the taper at the bottom of the tank and I beams from Evergreen for the framework. Some tool boxes from AITM some scratch build for the conical tank ends and valve and connector box at the back. Add some aluminum fenders from KFS... Sounds super good! I have some scaling to do! Thanks for the interest guys! Milkman, by any chance, would you happen to have pictures of tank inlets at the top?

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