[MOC] ŁM-50 - a tracked front-end overhead loader

[dmaclego]

 

Hi, Happy New Year!

Please, let me present my latest 1:13 creation.

 

 

Machines like this one used to work on Polish coal yards and road construction sites in the 1960's. Today they are mostly scrapped but one was preserved in a museum: 

 

 

Being a front-end overhead loader, this quirky little machine does just that (loads from front-end overhead ;) ) using just one simple winch.

 

 

I used CaDA Medium Pro motor for this function, plus two excellent CaDA micromotors for driving and CaDA LEDs for both front and rear lights. Why not LEGO? That's rather obvious, I guess: it's cheap, it's RC (and not IR) and it's super compact (especially the micromotors). In other words, it's everything that Power Functions and Control Plus are not. But I digress. As always, I tried to re-create not only functions of the original machine, but also the looks. The large, curved beams in the front part of the ramp are rather rare LEGO parts, of course, belonging to a really unpopular ZNAP system, launched and promptly extinguished in the late 90's.

 

 

There is one manual function in my model: you may use your finger to roll a worm gear in each track assembly to adjust tension of the track. And that's it, I guess. All the functions are presented in the video:

 

 

Enjoy and comment at will!

dmac

 

 

 

 

[Jundis]

What a cool Bulldozer!

Never knew there were some bent ZNAP components!

[Thirdwigg]

Very cool build. I have always been intrigued with those curved ZNAP parts. I bought a couple to use in a hopper of a garbage truck, but I could never get them to work. I'm happy you were able to use them and find a good way to use them.

Great job!

[jorgeopesi]

I am shocked. what a pretty and cool machine you have done and it has an epic mechanism, congratulations and happy new year too.

[2GodBDGlory]

Interesting machine, great aesthetics, and great use of Znap parts!

[Berthil]

Great model, interesting parts and mechanical concept brought together in a great way!

[GerritvdG]

A great way to start this year, thanks for sharing this loader!

[gyenesvi]

Wow that has a pretty interesting mechanism! Before seeing the video, I thought the whole arm would be lifted by the winch, but this is more cool!

Great looks as well. And those micromotors are quite powerful for their size!

[dmaclego]

Thank you all, guys. I'm glad you like my model.

And yes, the micromotors are a blessing. I suppose I could have used regular Medium motors but wanted to test the strength of the micromotors and I'm really satisfied with the result.

About the ZNAP parts - yes, they have perfect shape for this particular model but I'm still not in love with them. They are made of a different kind of plastic (not ABS, I think; you can see it clearly in close-up shots) and the building system itself, with all those rotating connectors, is rather awkward at best.

Thanks again!

 

[dhc6twinotter]

That’s very cool.  I didn’t know such a machine existed.  Very nicely executed build!

[Jurss]

looks good, and also functionality is unic, like on original (at least it is something new for me)

[trekman]

This is a really nice replica, right down to the function.  All proven in the video.  Thank you for taking the time to show us this.  Well done.

[Erik Leppen]

Never seen such a machine, but I love this as a Lego build. It's a nice size, has a neat original function, it's a really nice mix of system and studless, which looks simple, but all is finished nicely, and the functionality works very well (seen from the video). Especially the tilting top section of the rail is nice - I suppose it's operated by some clever linkage so that it uses the same power source (the string, I suppose?) as the movement of the bucket?

Also, of course, great usage of the Znap beams. I love seeing rare parts being put to good use, and it really doesn't look out-of-place even though Znap is such a different system.

[Paul B Technic]

That is very cool and has a crazy level of detail.

[dmaclego]

Thank you all once again, guys.

 

15 hours ago, Erik Leppen said:

I suppose it's operated by some clever linkage so that it uses the same power source (the string, I suppose?) as the movement of the bucket?

 

Thanks but all the credit goes to the designers of the original machine - they managed to use just one winch and let the gravity do its job. Once the bucket is at the very end of the ramp, the string pulls it down. When you unwind the string, gravity allows the bucket (and the top part of the ramp) to return to normal position. But I must admit figuring out this crude mechanism in LEGO was probably the most difficult part of the whole experience. (Number two being track tension system, which had to fit within the three-stud-wide wheel assemblies).