Kadee vs. McHenry Couplers

[brothaslide]

I use McHenry Couplers on my rolling stock. I like to use McHenry because they are easy to drop in and install. I have heard a number of comments about poor performance from McHenry. I wanted to hear the pros and cons for each coupler based on your personal experience. I know there was an article in MR a while back comparing all the couplers but I wanted some first hand input.

Thanks in advance,

Sean

[fiatfan]

Hi, Sean

I am using the McHery couplers. In my opinion, they are easier to install since they have the built in spring. I have a number of cars with Kadee couplers that I am gradually converting to McHenry. They seem to work better. Altough I must confess, the Kadee couplers are 20-30 years old. I haven't tried the new ones.

Tom

[AggroJones]

I use mainly Kadee's because they are sturdy, they always open and close properly, and they line-up straight in the coupler pockets. When I don't have Kadee's on hand, I use Mchenry's until I can replace them.

[Eriediamond]

Hey ya'll. I have just about every make (brand) of coupler and find no real problems with any of them, but then I'm not running 100 car trains either. I prefer EZ-mate II over any of them though and don't ask me why. I here from my modeling friends at my club and on these forums about Kadee brand being the best of the best and won't attempt to argue that they may be. My only draw back about Kadee is the centering spring set up they use and the trouble I have with it. Other than that, I do have high praise for Kadee, but I won't go so far as to say it's the "only" reiable coupler out there. In my opinion the key to good coupler reliability and operation is maintainence, no matter what brand it is.

[sparkingbolt]

Hi fiatfan

You say your Kadee couplers are 20 to 30 years old? Kadee has made some subtle but significant changes on their couplers since then. They are all finished with a shiny coating that makes them slippery, thus they couple and uncouple better. And the #5 type draft gear boxes have a design that lowers friction for the delayed uncoupling action. These changes made good couplers much better. They really don't need the dry graphite lube they needed in the past

When I got back int model railroading about 3 years ago, I replaced the old Kadees on the few remaining cars I had from before with the newer Kadees. The difference is appreciable.

In all honesty, using the old Kadees as a comparison really isn't accurate. Dan

[Anonymous]

I have used the Mcs snap ons, on the Riv passenger cars only and they
are not the ultimate solution.

[emdgp92]

I use mainly Kadees, with a small amount of McHenrys thrown in. The McHenrys aren't bad, but I'm not sold on them. The Kadees are more sturdy.

[orsonroy]

I've tried every coupler on the HO market with the exception of Sergeants. Kadees are bar none the best. Not only do they make the largest selection of couplers in the hobby, but they always work reliably (except when "operator error" comes into play). Their metal construction makes them extremely sturdy, and they work as shock absorbers if you happen to drop a car onto the floor (the coupler will break, but it'll usually save the model from the worst of the impact). The new Kadee #58's have been slightly redesigned to look even better than the first #58's, and they're my new standard coupler for my fleet.

The only worthwhile plastic coupler on the market are the ones by Accurail, because they rarely fail. Unfortunately, they also don't like to mate reliably with any other brand, so you'll have to convert everything to Accumates. Every other plastic coupler on the market is a piece of poo, IMHO. They break, the whisker springs don't last ONE operating session, the coupler faces will twist, contort, and fail, and they won't work well when trying to support a heavy train on a grade.

Don't cheap out and buy POS couplers. Kadees cost a whopping twice what McHenry's or other couplers cost, but will last forever. I have some Kadees running on my layout that my father installed on his freight cars in the mid-1960s, and they're still going strong.

[Anonymous]

Having installed most of my couplers when Kadees were the only choice (aside from the notorious X2F), I've tried McHenrys because they are so much less expensive. They are just not as reliable or as sturdy - and guess what, that's probably a result of their being cheaper.

Let me say, I'm glad that the Kadee patent ran out (as patents are supposed to) even though I hope they did well during the time it ran. The additional options will ultimately help everyone. More specifically, the availability of cheaper, easier-to-install brands is what has enabled a shift by loco and rolling stock manufacturers from X2F to Kadee-compatible couplers. Even if I replace the coupler later, it sure is nice to buy a locomotive that can be at least test run using the coupler with which it came.

Having said that, I'm still sold on Kadees. They are more reliable, in my experience they work better when properly installed and adjusted, and they are stronger. Above all, their selection is unparalleled.

Let me finish by remarking that in my experience, it is HIGHLY desirable to choose your brand - whatever it may be, the competitors' products do work - and standardize on it. While the compatibility claims are technically correct, my own experiments convinced me that every brand works best when mated with its fellows.

[ndbprr]

If it ain't broke don't fix it - Kadee all the way. It is my undesratdning that the Kadee coupler never was patented. It was the coupler box that was. I can't name one thing Kadee does that isn't a quality product.

[Anonymous]

I've been using Kadee couplers for 30 years. As the saying goes, "There ain't nothin' like the original!!" I've gotten new cars with the McHenry and also Easymate, and those just don't uncouple. Totally frustrating. These two new versions don't seem to have eniough metal to make them magnetic enough.

[Anonymous]

The only good thing about plastic couplers is painting them a rust colour and placing them in a junk heap on your layout, great detail! Any new models I build that come with any of the so called knuckle coupler replicas, are promptly replaced with Kadee to avoid the certain frustration that will happen, quickly.

PS. I use 4-5 inch lenth of plastic runner/sprue from model kits, file one end to make a 4 sided pioint (similar to a phillips screw driver point), and it works great as a manual uncoupler, any where on the railroad, even curves if you leave some slack between cars. Quite prototypical too!

[BentnoseWillie]

By "Those two new series" - do you mean the 58's and 78's? I use the 58's extensively and uncouple them with a magnetic pick-up tool. I haven't tried them with track magnets, though.

For my money, though, it's Kadee. I only buy 58's, have almost exterminated plastic couplersr on my equipment, and am starting to gradually replace 5's with 58's. Can't wait for the new 58 (with the gap between body and knuckle fixed) to land at the LHS.

[Anonymous]

There are NO plastic horn and hook couplers anywhere on my fleet. I do not consider cars with Horn and Hook unless I can remove the box and install a Kaydee #5 box.

I tolerate similar couplers such as McHenrys etc but when these fail (and they will) a Kaydee is installed. Properly maintained, a Kaydee is superior to the others.

I do not run 100 car trains (No room) and dont know what these do to Kaydees.

Bottom line, Metal wheelsets and Kaydee magnetic couplers are easiest to achieve consistency of reliability and operation. Nothing goes onto the fleet roster without passing a Kaydee Coupler Gauge test.

[2cents]

Lee

[CP5415]

I do prefer Kadee's over everything else.
I will however use the couplers that came with the cars just to use them up. Then I will replace them with Kadees.
No sense wasting the cheap couplers.

Gordon

[Anonymous]

I prefer Kadees, though some of my stock does have the EZ-mates that came in the box until I get round to fitting Kadees. The built-in spring on the EZ-mates doesn't work so well for delayed uncoupling, which is a nuisance.

[cacole]

The original McHenry couplers that used a small plastic finger as the knuckle spring were not made out of very good plastic and were easily broken. Their newer knuckle spring couplers are, in my opinion, just as good as Kadee. I've used McHenry and Bachmann knuckle spring couplers with no compatibility problems, along with the newer Kadee scale size coupler. I haven't tried McHenry's new scale size couplers yet, but will try them next. So far, every brand has worked well with other brands. Another bad one is the Intermountain couplers -- they, too, use a small plastic finger as the knuckle spring, which is no good because those types of springs are too weak.

[Anonymous]

I haven't tried the recent McHenry offerings with real knuckle springs, but I had problems with their older plastic finger model. When I started in model railroading (again), I bought a quantity of the McHenrys and installed them in any model that came with the horn-hook type.They were cheap.

My worst complaint was unwanted uncoupling, particularly of a caboose or any other car with little coupler strain, when running over an uncoupling magnet at scale speed. I replaced them with Kadees and the problems disappeared. In my limited experience a few cars with shallow draft gear boxes (like some from MDC Roundhouse) are better with the thinner plastic Accumates.

[Anonymous]

I have never used McHenry couplers, but I do use Kadee couplers, as they are quite stroung[:)], and reliable[:D]. BUT I do have to admit that the FIRST thing I do with them is cut off the uncoupler bar from underneath them[:D]. This way when people see my photos, they say "where'd you see those trains", and I can say to them "at my house"[;)]

[cisco1]

I've tried the plastic knuckle couplers a time or two but when running up to four powered locos MU'ed pulling 25-30 cars up the 4% grade, NOTHING compares to Kadees. I've been running #5s on everything for two years now with only one failure!
HIGHIRON is right. Kadees with metal wheelsets and a good maintenence program is the only way to go. And yes, I've still got a few plastic couplers around.They're on MOW and non-revenue stock only at this point. Good thread guys!

[Anonymous]

I've been using Kadees (mostly #5s) for years and never had any problems with them. My model railroading has been mostly 'armchair-type' the past 10 yrs or so and a lot has changed! The only choice back then was to install Kadees, and after following this string I see no reason to not stay with Kadees. Are newer design Kadees compatible w/ older #5 design? Any neat ways to avoid having the tiny coupler springs from launching into the carpet? I've tried tweezers, a very small screwdriver and even various X-Acto type hobby-knife blades with varying degrees of success. Is there a specific tool that I should use to make it less stressful to install a couple hundred pairs of Kadees? Are the newer design Kadees less of a headache to install? I have approx 100 pairs of #5 Kadees stockpiled and hate to not use them. Thanks in advance..

[BentnoseWillie]

Bill - yes, the older Kadee MKD-5, the newer #5, the 58, & the 78, are all compatible with one another and with other knuckle couplers, including Accumates. The Sergent Engineering "finescale" coupler does not mate with Kadee and its clones or with Accumate.

The Kadee 58's use the same shank and centering spring as the 5, and install in the same draft gear box. The only glitch you might have is that they do not come in different shank lengths or with offset shanks, so special installs require some ingenuity instead of just dropping in an offset-shank or extended-shank coupler (which I think look silly anyway). I have not hit a piece of equipment yet that I couldn't install a 58 in and end up at the correct height with a little work.

As for the knuckle springs - Kadee make a spring "pick" to make handling them easier. I just use a hobby knife. Make sure to slip the spring over the longer prong on the knuckle first. These springs are recessed into the side of the coupler on the 58 and 78. Haven't had to replace one yet on a 58, so I now have a mighty stockpile of spare knuckle springs!

[Fergmiester]

I am a Kadee guy as I find these are the most robust and reliable. I have found the plastic couplers have a "memory" and if they are kept in the "sprung open" position for a prolonged period then they will stay that way and loose all closing ability.

[Anonymous]

I use kadee the most and I'm completely sold on them. There are study and work great,McHenry what are they made out of,paper? In my opinion Kadee is the best.
Sante Fe 4-8-4[:D]

[Anonymous]

hey 'BentnoseWillie' -- Thanks for your quick response1

[BentnoseWillie]

One is glad to be of service. [#welcome]

[Anonymous]

Fergmeister... Your use of the word "Memory" is fantastic. You probably wanted to show that the plastic has fatique and loses tension to the point of being no good.

Biill, you could send me those 100 couplers, Ill use em eventually (Just kidding =)

Recently I had an issue with a 300 dollar Broadway engine not having Kaydees on the front, I wanted to clarify that the BLI's plastic coupler as come with the engine will work with a Kaydee equipped rolling stock. But you need to lift the engine up and out of the car to uncouple. (there is a thread with photos and assitance from Tony's Hobby Shop on how to install Kaydees)

One of the "Light Bulbs" that came to me recently is using the offset couplers on my Athearn 50' Express Reefers. I was tired of stacking spacers under the trucks to the limits of the screw thread. These Kaydee off sets will raise the knuckle high enough off the track and couple! YAY!

But it is my hope that someday Locomotive Builders will allow a "Drop in" slot for Kaydee or similar couplers without having to cut.

[CBQ_Guy]

Go Kadee....

Buy the best and toss the rest.

[Anonymous]

I've used Kadee since I got into M RRing. I'm now using the scale #58 ones, although these require good trackwork and smooth joints to operate because of the smaller coupler lips. I will advise anyone to use Kadees. They couple much better than Bachmann's E-Z mates, the only plastic couplers I've had experience with.

[bruce22]

K/D's by choice.