Tag Archives: crane

I Like to Move It*

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Technic vehicles are one of the reasons this backwater of the internet was created over a decade ago. Making things move is one of our favourite aspects of Technic, and today’s brilliant crane tipper truck by Alex Ilea exemplifies this wonderfully.

Controlled via BuWizz bluetooth brick, Alex’s creation replicates the movements of its real-world counterpart thanks to three Power Functions L Motors, and ingeniously a fourth M Motor that switches the model between ‘drive mode’ and ‘crane mode’ via a gearbox.

In drive mode the aforementioned electronics allow the model to drive and steer, and tip the load bed, whilst switching to ‘crane mode’ automatically deploys the stabilisers, with the motors then operating the crane’s rotation and two-stage elevation.

It’s a great example of how motors and mechanics can bring motion to a Lego model, and there’s lots more of the build to see at both Eurobricks and Alex’s Bricksafe gallery.

*Today’s title song. Or alternatively…

Need a Lift?

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We love functions-packed creations here at The Lego Car Blog, and few this year have come packed with as many as Wiseman_2’s spectacular three-axle crane.

Making their TLCB debut, Wiseman_2 has constructed the model for a Eurobricks contest, equipping it with working steering on the first and third axles (via both the steering wheel and ‘HOG’), all-wheel suspension, a six-cylinder piston engine connected to a four-speed gearbox driven by the un-steered axle, and working two-stage outriggers that both extend/retract and lower/raise.

Of course a mobile crane needs a boom and winch too, and Wiseman_2’s is superbly served in that department, with a three-stage boom that extends to over a hundred studs in length, raising and extending via mechanics on the right hand side of the rotating superstructure.

It’s a fantastic feat of Technic engineering and one of the finest models of this type we’ve featured yet. There’s plenty more to see – including work-in-progress and photos showing the crane’s mechanics – at both the Eurobricks discussion forum and Wiseman_2’s ‘Three-Axle Crane’ Flickr album. Click the links above for a very good lift indeed.

Crapper

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We like merging words here at TLCB, but – much like a bulldog and a shih-tzu – we’re not sure merging ‘crane’ and ‘tipper’ has worked particularly well…

No matter, because the creational cause of the linguistic faux-pas is rather excellent, being both a crane and tipper truck, and a beautifully engineered one at that.

Constructed by previous bloggee Thirdwigg (aka Wigboldy), this neat all-mechanical Technic crane-tipper combo features functioning steering, working support legs, a 6-cylinder engine under a tilting cab, a two-way tipper, and a three-stage extending and rotating crane grab.

It’s all brilliantly packaged and highly playable, and there’s more to see of Thirdwigg’s model on Flickr. Click the link above for a cracker of a crapper.

Achtung Baby

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This is a Mercedes-Benz Unimog U20, one of hundreds of Unimog variants, but unusual in being the only ‘forward control’ version, and – by TLCB maths – exactly ten times better than a long-standing Irish soft rock band.

It comes from previous bloggee and Master MOCer Thirdwigg, who has packed it not just with working Technic functions, but also an array of attachments and tools in much the same way as the real thing would be.

Working steering, pendular suspension, a piston engine, and a tipping cab all feature, with a folding crane, three-way tipping bed, street sweeper, and snow plough all attachable via the adjustable hitches and mounting points.

There’s much more of Thirdwigg’s excellent Technic Unimog U20 to see at both his Flickr album of the same name and at the Eurobricks forum, where full imagery and yes – building instructions are available too!

Steamy Erection

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A long time ago it wasn’t diesel, electricity, or gasoline that powered humanity’s vehicles, but steam. Very heavy, with minimal range and requiring regular impractical refuelling, steam-powered vehicles were nevertheless immensely powerful – far more so than those powered by other fuels – and thus they were the engines of choice for heavy duty applications, even as all other vehicle types moved on.

This is one such steam vehicle, Nikolaus Löwe‘s fabulous Fowler traction engine, here outfitted with a working crane. Connected to the tractor-part via a wonderfully complicated-looking arrangement of ratchets and gears, Nikolaus’ creation harks back to an era of coal, soot, noise, and perhaps a little magic.

Get steamy at Nikolaus’ photostream via the link above, whilst we ponder if today’s electric fuel of choice – being very heavy, with minimal range and requiring regular impractical refuelling, but nevertheless immensely powerful – really marks a century’s worth of progress from when this was trundling down the roads.

My Other Recycling Truck is a Recycling Truck

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The LEGO Technic 42167 Mack LR Electric Garbage Truck is a thoroughly good addition to the 2024 line-up. Small, cheap(ish), and packed with proper mechanical functions, it’s a welcome return to the roots of Technic.

It’s a set that can also be used to create a properly good B-Model, as proven here by mpj of Brickshelf, who has recycled his Mack LR into this excellent cab-over tipper truck.

Complete with a mechanical crane behind the cab, working steering, and a tipping box, it’s as functional as the set upon which it’s based, and there’s more to see at mpj’s ‘42167 B-Model’ album via the link above.

Respect Your Elders

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The creations we publicise here at The Lego Car Blog are the most current, freshest, and up-to-the-minute available. And sometimes they’re even newer than that. Mostly because we want to show you the latest builds from around the world, and partly because we like beating The Brothers Brick.

Except all the above is technically, um… not true. Apart from the beating The Brothers Brick bit of course. That’s because it’s usually but not necessarily the creation that is new, rather the imagery, and today we have possibly the best example of this; Dennis Bosman’s incredible Scania LS111 truck, Nooteboom low loader trailer, and Menck M154 crawler crane, each of which was built twenty years ago.

Utilising LEGO’s old 9V motor system (pre-Power Functions or Controlled-Up), classic System and Technic pieces, and – at the time – photographed outside, Dennis’ astonishing three-in-one creation set the benchmark for large scale Lego modelling.

An inspiration for countless Lego creators today, Dennis’ early work still represents astonishing brick-built realism, and he has recently re-photographed the Scania, Nooteboom and Menck in-studio two decades after they were first constructed.

Wearing their original decals, and with faded parts swapped for fresher replacements, Dennis’ models remain spectacular, and there are more newly-released images to see, alongside those taken twenty years ago, at his ‘Scania LS111’ album on Flickr.

Click the link above to take a closer look, and you can see more of Dennis’ amazing works via his Master MOcers interview page here at The Lego Car Blog, itself now ten years old.

Urally Good

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We may mock President Putin as regularly as we can create a tenuous link to his dickwittery, but the country he dictates is an amazing one. Spanning from the Atlantic to the Pacific across eleven time zones, responsible for the first animal, satellite, and person in space, and with a history uniting fifteen separate countries into one bloc of… er, communist misery, Russia and the former Soviet Union are a major part of our current world.

They also make probably the best off-road trucks of anyone, which are needed to traverse a vast and wild landscape, with most having their roots in the Military. Founded in 1956, off-road truck-maker Ural shares this history, and still employs 4,000 people today building trucks like this, Vladimir Drozd‘s beautifully presented Ural crane truck.

With a working crane that rotates, elevates, extends, and winches, Vladimir’s Ural functions as good as it looks, and there’s loads more of his superb model to see at his ‘Ural Crane Truck’ album on Flickr. Take a look via the link above, or here for a tenuous link to Putin’s dickwittery.

The Lego Truck Blog

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We seem to be a truck blog today, what with us publicising exactly no cars, but five trucks or vans. This one was found on Flickr and comes from yelo_bricks. A suitably yellow Scania three-axle truck, there’s a folding crane behind the cab, functional (kinda) stabilisers, and some clever SNOT techniques at work, all fitted to a vehicle that’s only 6-studs wide. See more of yelo’s Town-scale Scania via the link, whilst we remind the Elves of our website title.

OK Boomer

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This mighty Mack Granite boom truck was discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr, and – as we unfortunately discovered – it’s just the sort of vehicle that can be used to raise an Elf to a door handle, enable them to break into the stationary cupboard, and eat all the glue sticks. Thanks JLui15.

Still, the model is excellent, and the aforementioned heist-come-feast isn’t exactly JLui’s fault. An elevating boom, a working winch, and functional outriggers all extend from the exceptionally tidy Mack Granite base, and there’s more to see at JLui15’s ‘LEGO Technic Mack Granite Boom Truck’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to boom on over.

Picking Cherries

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Here at The Lego Car Blog we cherry-pick the best Lego vehicles from all around the world-wide-web. Well, the places our Elves frequent at any rate. Cue today’s creation, which is cherry-picked cherry picker, if you will, as built by NoEXIST of Eurobricks. Based on an Iveco Eurocargo, the model features a working piston engine, functioning outriggers, ‘HOG’ steering, and a rotating and raising cherry-picking hoist. Building instructions are available and you can pick your very own cherries via the link above, where an equally good Mercedes-Benz Atego truck by the same builder can also be found. Cherries come in pairs after all.

Bigger Than it Looks

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This is a Liebherr LTM 1100-4.2 mobile crane – well, a Lego version obviously – and it comes from Mateusz Mikołajczyk, making their TLCB debut with one of the most highly-detailed small-scale creations of the year so far.

Despite being only roughly Town-scale, Mateusz’s model looks much larger, thanks to some brilliantly intricate detailing, much of which utilises LEGO’s fiddliest tubes and clips.

The model works too, with a slewing superstructure, tilting control cab, working eight-wheel steering, functioning outriggers, and – most importantly for a mobile crane – an enormous three-stage extending boom complete with a working winch.

Superbly presented, there’s more to see of Mateusz’s Liebherr LTM 1100-4.2 at his Flickr album of the same name, where you can also find images of the model shown in a considerably larger configuration than it appears here.

Honey I Shrunk the 8110

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First appearing here in December with a suitably rubbish Christmas pun, Thirdwigg’s Mercedes-Benz Unimog U423, complete with working steering, suspension, piston engine, power take-offs and free building instructions, is just the sort of creation we like.

Of course to be a proper miniature Unimog, an array of attachments and implements should also be available, to which Thirdwigg had duly obliged, with a snow plow and gritter, three-way tipping bed, and knuckle-boom crane all able to be mounted to the truck.

One combination that was missing however, was the set-up from the spectacular and considerably larger official 8110 Mercedes-Benz Unimog set, where a tipper is combined with a rear-mounted triple-boom crane and stabiliser legs.

If you missed the chance to get hold of an 8110 set when it was available, Thirdwigg may have added just what you need, creating a small-scale version of the 8110 configuration for his 1:20 scale Unimog U423.

As with the previous iterations, free building instructions are available so you can create your very own miniature 8110 at home, and you can see more of Thirdwigg’s excellent model on Flickr by clicking these words.

Siberian Cladding

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If you’re into building-a-house-in-the-wilderness type TV programmes, you’ll know that – along with having royally impractical work surfaces, owners who insist rather too much that the wood stove is so warm they’re glad they don’t have central heating, and that the whole build only cost half as much as a conventional house (although their parents did give them the land… and the power supply… and the labour… for free) – trendy off-grid lifestyle houses are absolutely all clad in Siberian larch.

Cue Vladimir Drozd’s excellent KamAZ 4310 logging truck, pictured here transporting a hefty of load of the finest cladding material known to the tiny house movement. Despite being only (kinda) mini-figure scale, Vladimir’s KamAZ is packed with features, including the jockey trailer thingy, posable steering, and a crane mounted behind the cab so the truck and can pick up and deposit logs without the need for seperate crane grab to be present.

He’s also photographed the model in ‘Vladimir Putin’ mode (i.e. it’s got no wood*) and there’s more to see of this fantastic build at Vladimir’s ‘KamAZ 4310’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to clad your own tiny house in Siberian larch, whilst insisting the wood stove really is warm enough, honestly. It is.

*Yes, we’re still making ‘Putin has a tiny penis’ jokes, because Putin does indeed still have a tiny penis.

Weekend in Drag

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This a dragline crawler crane, used in open-cast mining for digging really big holes. Built by previous bloggee Beat Felber, this incredible creation is a fully-working replica of one the world’s largest; the 700-ton P&H 2355 diesel-electric dragline that worked the Rix Creek Mine in Australia.

Remotely controlled by three SBricks, Beat’s creation can hoist and drag the bucket, rotate the superstructure, raise the boom, drive and skid-steer, and even raise the two access ladders thanks to seven Power Functions and two Micro Motors.

Four pairs of LEGO LEDs illuminate the floodlights and interior, whilst removable panels give access to the motors and winches within.

It’s a spectacular build, with a fully detailed machine room and interior to match the astonishing working mechanisms, and you can head to the mine via Beat’s ‘P&H 2355’ album to get in drag.