New KADEE #705 Couplers

[sd80mac]

Kadee has announced a new #705 HOn3 coupler. This coupler is very similar in appearance to its HO scale #58/158 counterpart, and according to Kadee, "The #705 Metal Coupler will work anywhere a #713 or #714 Coupler will work...features an all metal coupler head, shank, and centering spring and comes complete with and insulated draft gearbox and lid."

https://www.kadee.com/all-products-c-81 ... p-2035.htm

Donnell

[AstroGoat760]

That is nice. Variety in TT Scale that works together is always a good thing.

[dileTTante]

We have seen the 705 at the show in Salt Lake City. I don't have experience to judge for myself, but asked Bill Dixon. His opinion is that the coupler looks good but the box is too wide to be useful for TT.
- Terry C

[Bill Dixon]

We have seen the 705 at the show in Salt Lake City. I don't have experience to judge for myself, but asked Bill Dixon. His opinion is that the coupler looks good but the box is too wide to be useful for TT.
- Terry C

I had time to look at the coupler.
First a view from above.

Kadee HOn3 on top. Kadee 705 on left. MicroTrains 1015 on right.
The head is a good size and metal. From this angle the head is a bit smaller than the old HOn3 coupler and a bit larger than the MicroTrains. The box is considerably larger than the MicroTrains box. This will make it hard to install on some cars.
Now two side views.

Coupled to a MicroTrains they look good.
They seem to operate together OK.
I have two cars with these couplers installed and hope to have up to four more cars ready for this weekends run.
I will report back on their operation.

[sacto-tt]

I picked up some 705s to put on a few of my GC boxcars and got a bit of a surprise. The 705s use a 00-90 screw and the GC boxcars are setup for 714s which use a 0-80 screw. Luckily I was able to gently ream out the hole in the 705s with a #52 bit and use the 0-80 screw without impeding the operation.
They definitely look better than 714s, but I will only be putting them on new installs since I already have a bunch of 714 equipped cars. No operation problems that I saw.

[Richard-B]

The 705's do look good...
a better head shape than the MTs, and smaller than the 714's.

They work well on the GCR boxcars...

[railtwister]

Is anyone using the new non split-shank HOn3 #705 coupler from Kadee on their TT scale models? The coupler only comes in assembled form, but is very much like a shrunk down #5 (HO) coupler, with a coiled spring on the knuckle. Since it comes already assembled, I can’t see what kind of centering spring it uses. If you dislike the split-shank style couplers, this might be a better choice for TT than the MTL N-Scale couplers which all are of the split shank design.

Bill in FtL

[RodTT]

I have some 705s. I much prefer Kadees to MTLs, which I've found to be wobbly and less reliable. No idea what type of centring spring the 705s use though.