Trailed Potato Harvester for 42054 Claas Xerion 5000

[Waler]

Hi!

After a long break without Lego's I come back with new model: Trailed Potato Harvester for 42054 Claas Xerion 5000

Potato / beet harvesters are divided into 2 categories: self propelled (often with haulm topper, up to 4 rows at once) and trailed (smaller with less functions, maximum 2 rows).

In this nomenclature my harvester is single row trailed potato harvester with bunker (collection container). There are many brands that make this kind of harvesters. Most known are Grimme, DeWulf, AVR or ROPA.

Construction visually is based on Grimme products but it’s not an exact copy of any particular model. My goal was to design a harvester that will suit Claas in shape and also looking like official set (for example ¾ pins on conveyor belts are in tan colour, main propulsion shafts are yellow, there are no illegal connections etc.). But to make it more real I’ve added couple stickers (some of them are original like side warning flags or computer controls - rest I’ve made myself). And so Grimme logo transformed into Harvester logo intentionally maintaining its original shape, other stickers stayed unchanged (like yellow warning signs).

 

I didn’t want to use any additional engines inside harvester. Instead this I used tractor PTO for delivering power to all conveyor belts. And it works. But to achieve overall sufficient performance of harvester I had to make 2 changes in Claas. Firstly I’ve added one more clutch onto PTO shaft to increase force needed to make them slip, secondly M engine is replaced by L (with no additional bricks used).

 

Another problem was how to transfer motion from tractor providing full freedom of movement. I decided to go with BALL JOINT which is mostly used in suspensions. To provide a fast and easy connection I’ve also built a special mount for Claas. It’s compact, versatile and lets you connect any type of attachments which use ball joint connection.

 

Overall dimensions of harvester are: 450mm length, 323mm width, 214mm height. It weights almost 2kg. Estimated part count: 2300. From Claas PTO power goes to gearbox which splits movement into 2 directions – for moving main and sorting conveyor belt (simultaneously), and unloading belt. For main belt overall gear ratio is 1:4,68, sorting 1:14,1 and unloading 1:18,75. To control which conveyor belts should be moving there is a lever on the right side of harvester. Turning it left engages main and sorting belts, turning right – unloading belt. Additionally right lever puts main belt into transport mode.

Every moving part is secured by clutches inside tractor. The most challenging part was finding a “sweet spot” for main conveyor belt and brushes to make “potatoes” collecting possible. Lowest point (tiles) is around 1mm above the ground which means that harvesting is possible only on flat, smooth surfaces like table or floor. Maybe 1x1 round bricks would look better as potatoes instead 2x2 but in this configuration they are too small for this.

 

After passing brushes main conveyor belt transports bricks to the top where originally is stone and earth separator. As it is only a Lego model and it uses single motor I didn’t want to decrease power by adding more brushes or moving parts so I’ve simplified this a little bit.

Next stop is sorting belt. Now it’s a time for human workers. Even there is a separator it may happen that bigger stone (simulated by gray bricks) came through. Their task is to take it and put into ejector that is located at the end of harvester. After that clean and inspected “potatoes” land into collecting container called bunker.

 

When work is done it’s time to unload yields. To do that simply switch lever to right and potatoes will unload itself. On this occasion I’ve made a “slightly” modified trailer from 8063 set which I’ll describe later in separate topic.

 

When there is a need to transport harvester, main conveyor belt can be raised and lock about 5mm above ground by switching second lever.

In addition I made here a blockade. When main conveyor belt is in transport mode it’s impossible to turn it on. Only unloading belt can be engaged. It works in both ways so when main belt is moving it can be raised but can’t be locked.

 

 

More additional photos:

 

Okay, more or less I’ve described how it works and why it looks like this. Of course best experience beside looking at pictures (especially for Technic MOCs) is to watch a video.

Inside it basically there is everything which I described above so if you didn’t read it all is not lost :)

 

Feel free to comment and ask questions.

Thanks!

Edited May 15, 2018 by Waler

[1gor]

Looks good Tumbler tire with it's width resembles flotation tire very well
 

[lcvisser]

This is very cool! Obviously well engineered and I bet a lot of fun to play with  I'm amazed it can actually harvest.

The photo's and video explain very well how everything works. I particularly like how the conveyor lift mechanism locks the engage switch. The ball joint connector is a good find and a lot easier to connect than the regular PTO. Thanks for sharing! 

[Paul Klop]

Wow! This thing is just amazing . You did an amazing job building this potato harvester. Thanks for sharing and explained details.

[Aventador2004]

Super, Claas is very versatile.

[Thirdwigg]

Absolutely stunning. Very well done, and good to see you back again with another MOC. I love the simple Bionical tooth for the level. 

I love all the tractors I see in LEGO, but I see more opportunity for well designed implements. Thanks for giving another option for 42054.

[Ox1337]

Wow, very nice! It need to have mindstorm's color sensor with extra drive to sort out non-potato 'bricks' 

[teflon]

What an inovative (for Lego) contraption. It's excellent blend of form and function. And it works, too. Amazing!

[KD123]

Thanks for sharing this great moc.  I like it!

[BusterHaus]

Very good model, the pickup mechanism with the brushes works great.  I like the video quite a bit, it showed your model but also explains how its real life equivalent works.  

[Paul B Technic]

This is amazing, it has given me some ideas for my own attachments.

[Leonardo da Bricki]

Impressive attachment! Very well done, it looks great, and functions great too. Excellent video as well.

[Shiva]

Nice!

[Ivan_M]

I love your attention to detail and how "complete" it looks and works.

[Jeroen Ottens]

Great model, it looks very polished and it seems to work flawlessly

For me it looks a bit too detailed to pass as an official model, but personally I like the added details like the manual chute for the rocks

[JLiu15]

This looks like such a great compliment to the Claas Xerion! I like how the scale was right on and how densely packed it looks. And the Tumbler tires look really good on it.

[ColletArrow]

I love this MOC! It's apparently simple and clean, but features many excellently engineered functions, and perfectly detailed with neat stickers. You've definitely achieved your goal of making it look and function like an official LEGO set. Brilliant work, very well done.

[Maaboo the Witch]

Brilliant work Waler! This looks just like a Grimme SE 75-55, and the belts are a work of art. 

[Jurss]

This is real Technic!

[BrickWild]

Such an awesome model! You should put the model and building instructions on ReBrickable! ;-)

[Waler]

I'm glad guys that you liked it . Unfortunately making an instruction for me is a pain in butt and takes sometimes more time than actual model (yeah, once I've made in Ldraw 250 pieces model, and oh boy...). I'd rather spend this time on making something new than instruction.

[AFOLegofan66]

Thanks for the nice video and the awesome explanation of how everything works...lots of work to get this just right!!

[mzzl88]

what a nice build,  I'm sorry to hear that there are no instructions for this beautiful attachment. is there somebody who can reverse engineer this thing...? I would love to build this thing..