Old school Technic - Manure spreader from 8888

[Heppeng]

I was lucky, the very first technic sets were introduced when I was just old enough for them, my first being the 851 Tractor which I absolutely loved. I also got the 8888 ideas book which I also built many models from. I was however frustrated by the lack of instructions (and bricks) for some of the models I wanted to build, one of which was the manure spreader designed to work with the 851 tractor. So now with the aid of bricklink and LDD I hope to put that right.

So after painstaking study of the two photos and two partial drawings, I think I have pretty much got it - at least as far as LDD will allow!

So here you have it, a fully functioning muck spreader with conveyor belt and flails all driven from the tractors PTO in a very prototipical fashion. And very few holes!

The most noticeable difference is the wheels, I don't think LDD has the right ones, so I have substituted them with ones which appear the same diameter. Similarly the connectors on the flails at the back are not the right type but pretty close. I could not find the plates with holes that the drawbar is supposed to be made from, although the holes are not actually required so it does not affect the way anything fits on the model. one thing that it was almost impossible to discern was the type of red plates used for the floor, i could not see any joins in the photo so they may well have been one 6x24 plate for each side, which whilst contemporary I would not have thought many would have had two of them! As I will be bricklinking this and the 6x24 plates will help add strength and are not expensive that is what I expect to use, but there do not seem to be any in LDD!

[DrJB]

Very nice .... Planning any field testing ... ?

Edited March 25, 2014 by DrJB

[Heppeng]

Just to add, this is what I had to work with:

Very nice .... Planning any field testing ... ?

Maybe - what would make a good manure substitute?

[DrJB]

I remember that tractor ... it was my first lego set ... and I had just started high school back then.

No idea what a good substitute is ... as long as it can be cleaned easily after the demonstration.... maybe rice grains?

[Hrafn]

Maybe - what would make a good manure substitute?

Megablocks?

[Heppeng]

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[D3K]

Wouldn't that classify as proper manure?

By the way; wouldn't the flails be driven in the wrong direction? That is assuming the conveyor conveys front to back?

[Carrera124]

Well done @Heppeng

(btw., studded technic rules )

[Heppeng]

Following the gearing through, it would seem that when the tractor moves forward the belt does indeed move towards the back as you would expect. This would mean that the flails would appear to rotate the wrong way as built. I also wonder that as the belt is slack on top, whether the links would drag on the floor a they are unsupported for quite a long distance. That might affect its operation. I don't know how thoroughly lego would have tested this model as it was never sold, so the design might not have been as slick. I guess I will find out when I build it!

[Heppeng]

Well the parts have been ordered - along with the missing bits for my 851 and also my 856 loader. Could make for a nice little scene - the 856 loading the manure spreader hauled by the 851!

[Chilly]

I've built some things from the 8888 Ideas Book, but that spreader was one that I wanted to make but had no idea where to start. Looking forward to seeing yours when it's done.

[Kumbbl]

I have build this spreader last year because i thought i would be a very good attachment to the 851 tractor - but in the end i was quite disappointed: the spreader is too big for the tractor, the mechanism do not work really well.. there are much better models in the 8888 book

It is not too hard to build this spreader but of course it needs some try & error... I made photos of all relevant components so i could check if i can find this photos... if anybody is interested i could upload them to my brickshelf folder....

[Heppeng]

Yes I am interested! - I had it on LDD - until my computer got a virus that wiped the files. The only difficult part was getting the tracks in the right place. i will take some photos when it is built.