Tripping the light fantastic

[nerdsforprez]

Sorry for the obscure reference in the title, but this phrase exactly describes how I feel about cranes. The idea of large cranes seems so Neanderthal, so many pulleys, cables, etc.... almost Rube Goldberg - like. But unlike the infamous RG machines, they are completely functional. Lifting thousands of tons in some cases. IMO there is such a simple, almost clumsy way about them, but at the same time they are completely beautiful and mezmorizing to watch (perhaps not our Lego models, but I mean real, huge cranes).

There has been so much talk on the forum as of late about cranes, likely due to our TC8 contest. "Cranes on the brain" one might say, and I've got it as well. Last year I built a version of a Liebherr 1500 8.1, and attempted to lift the 8070 supercar. Well, I failed (as have others, RebrickableLEGO on youtube also tried, and failed).

But I am too stubborn, and with all the talk about cranes, I thought I would give it another try. Took apart the superstructure and installed a L motor instead of the M that was in it. Increased the amount of pulleys. Redid the "Y guy" arrangement to make it stronger and more accurate, and made the counterweight heavier. It worked perfectly. Lifted my version of the supercar (little heavier than the regular 8070 supercar; 1433 grams) perfectly. Also had some fun lifting other things. Perhaps the crane is not as pretty as Lifting Bricks' cranes (com'on Nerds......not even close) but more literal

More pics and information @

http://mocpages.com/moc.php/420370

Edited October 10, 2015 by nerdsforprez

[dr_spock]

Good job recreating that Liebherr lift.

[Kiwi_Builder]

Very nice The crane looks really good. You make me want to get back to working on my crane.

[Kman860]

Looks awesome

I love the crane lifting the crane lifting the crane

[2LegoOrNot2Lego...]

Impressive build