[MOC] LTM 11200 Mobile Crane

[mdemerchant]

Update: free instructions have been created by @seregiz

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-169020/mdemerchant/liebherr-ltm-11200-mobile-crane/

https://bricksafe.com/pages/mdemerchant/ltm11200

 

I thought I'd share a project I was working on recently, a Liebherr LTM11200 inspired mobile crane.  I know the subject matter has been done several times before and my version certainly doesn't compare to some others I've seen but I enjoyed building it.  Please excuse the photo quality, I know I should use a white or plain background but I didn't have anything big enough.

I was super inspired by Jeroen Ottens' mechanical masterpiece but I lacked too many important parts to attempt building it so I thought it would be fun to try building my own from scratch instead.  I worked at a smaller scale, using the 49.5 tires since I happened to have 18 of them.

I just wanted to build a functional crane based on the general layout of the LTM11200 and I think I achieved that with the major functions included.  It's definitely not a scale model, notably the width is way out of proportion compared to the other dimensions, the steering and drive is not replicating the real thing and of course the boom only has 3 sections instead of 4 (or 8).  But I think it looks ok and recognizable.  Except of course for the colors   I built with parts I had since I don't intend to keep it together for display.  I was built modular so the superstructure, boom and out-riggers are easily detached.

Powered functions

• Middle three axles are driven using one C+ XL motor.  These axles are not steered.
• 3 Front and 3 rear axles are steered, driven by one C+ L motor.
• Fake V8 connected to driven axles.
• First stage out-rigger movement (the X shape) by one C+ L motor
• Boom luffing using one C+ L motor
• 3 section boom, extension using one C+ L motor
• Winch 1 using one C+ XL motor
• Secondary winch using one C+ XL motor.  Either winch 2 (built-in) or winch 3 (detachable luffing jib winch) can be operated with a manual selector

Manual functions/features

• Out-rigger extension and jacking.  Outriggers are largely cosmetic, they definitely won't lift the carrier.  But I was surprised to discover during an accidental test that they can actually keep the crane from topping sideways.
• Crane slewing.  Making this manual is a poor choice for an RC crane but I have small children and the first thing they do upon seeing a crane with the boom raised is grab it and try to turn it.  I didn't want to be constantly taking it apart to repair a broken slewing drive train.
• Articulated and tilting operator's cab
• Working Y-guy assembly with raising/lowering, spreading of the arms and lockable winches on each arm.  The whole assembly can be easily removed/attached.
• Detachable winch 3 assembly for the luffing jib
• Folding guard rails, stairs and step platforms on the super structure
• Detachable ballast plate (no winches to lift it, just pinned on with four axles)
• Attachment points on boom to add truss adapter for modular jibs
• Various modular jib sections:  Simple truss, Y-guy attachment truss, Hydraulically adjustable section, Luffing jib assembly

Size is just under 1m long in road going configuration with the boom mounted.  It's 17L wide which is way more than it should be to scale but it was driven by the width of the boom plus the actuators to lift it.  Maybe I could have come up with a workable narrower actuator design but there's a lot of force there so I used what I knew would work.  The boom extends to about 1.5m so total height is around 1.65m with no jib attached.  It can get considerably taller depending what sort of jib is added.  The photo below shows a luffing jib configuration that easily reaches the 2.7m ceiling of the room it's in. 

Overall the functions work pretty well with two exceptions.

The drivetrain I used for the outrigger deployment is kind of flimsy in one spot.  They open into the X fine but I often get skipping gears at a certain point while retracting.  I thought I had a clever solution using the third 12T bevel gear to take power off center to the back of the carrier although I knew it wasn't going to be strong.  I underestimated how much force was needed though.  Easy enough to make something more robust, my previous iteration was actually better but I don't feel like doing the necessary surgery on the carrier to fix it now.  If I get around to completing my LDCad file I'll put the other solution in.

The second function that's a bit disappointing is the boom extension mechanism.  I based it on the GMK6400 boom mechanism but doubled up the worm and 8T gears.  Actually it works perfectly fine for extending and retracting the boom itself or even with a decent sized fixed jib.  However, it's pretty much useless with the luffing jib attached.  The moment being applied to the end of the boom results in the 8T gears slipping on the 2nd section gear rack.  You can work around it if you put the jib near vertical to reduce the moment but this creates a big risk of flipping the jib backwards and collapsing the boom.  My next mobile crane will need a better solution.

 

More photos available at my Bricksafe page if anyone is interested.

https://bricksafe.com/pages/mdemerchant/ltm11200_new

 

Hope you enjoy.

Edited January 10 by mdemerchant
added link to instructions

[whitepen]

Cool crane! Nice colors by the way!

[JohnF]

Love it!  Great work!!  I'm with you on using what you have available.  Thanks for the detailed description.

[Stuartn]

That is an incredible build, the functionality and sheer proportions are exceptional, great work

[Aleh]

Looks complex and finished! It's cool you were able to store all functions and motors in this small scale!

[Andman]

Thanks for sharing and the detailed description! no need to apologize for the background or the photo quality.

[nerdsforprez]

I think this is actually fairly remarkable.  Having just completed the Grove 6400, a 6 axle crane at this scale (49.5mm tire) I can attest how difficult it is to fit in all these functions.  

And... you made it motorized with many more functions!  Great job.  I was concerned, even in a six axle crane, that the tires would not fit to scale but it looks great!  Which turn table did you use?  Banana gears?  

I don't suppose instructions will be made?  I would gladly take apart my Grove to make this beauty, even if it meant spending some $$ for the rare part I may not have.  

I will also say that although this crane has been done many times in many different ways and configurations, I think cranes done to 49.5 tire scale are rare.  Certainly more work and attempts at this scale can be done.  I am not sure we have seen a 11200 done with this tire before.  Nice project selection. 

Edited May 25, 2021 by nerdsforprez

[mdemerchant]

Thanks for all the kind feedback from everyone.  Much appreciated.

 

21 hours ago, nerdsforprez said:

I think this is actually fairly remarkable.  Having just completed the Grove 6400, a 6 axle crane at this scale (49.5mm tire) I can attest how difficult it is to fit in all these functions.  

And... you made it motorized with many more functions!  Great job.  I was concerned, even in a six axle crane, that the tires would not fit to scale but it looks great!  Which turn table did you use?  Banana gears?  

I don't suppose instructions will be made?  I would gladly take apart my Grove to make this beauty, even if it meant spending some $$ for the rare part I may not have.  

I will also say that although this crane has been done many times in many different ways and configurations, I think cranes done to 49.5 tire scale are rare.  Certainly more work and attempts at this scale can be done.  I am not sure we have seen a 11200 done with this tire before.  Nice project selection. 

@nerdsforprez Your Groove is a really nice model.  Not sure I would take it apart to build this but I'll take that as a huge compliment.  I think fitting the functions and motors here is easier actually than in your crane because of the difference in crane designs.  You've got to fit outriggers that practically cut the carrier in half where the X style ones sit entirely on the outer edges of the carrier, leaving a clear central portion to place motors and run drive lines.  Also the GMK6400 carrier deck surface is low, I have more height to work with.  The superstructure is more dense but really placing the giant C+ hubs was the only real problem here.

To your questions:  I used the regular large 60 tooth turntable but I placed it 2L below the surface of the carrier.  The superstructure has four wheels in the bottom made of pairs of 4185 wedge belt wheels to make the bearing that just runs on top of the carrier structure built up around the turntable.  Same idea as the Liebherr shovel 42100.

I haven't tried making instructions before and I imagine a build of this size is probably not the best to attempt to teach myself so I doubt I will ever make any.  But I do have a CAD model which is probably 75% accurate at the moment and I plan on fixing it up once I take it apart just in case I ever have the urge to rebuild it myself.  I'll be happy to share that once it's done if anyone is interested.

 

[Jeroen Ottens]

Wow,that is an impressive crane! I too can attest that fitting that many functions inside at this scale is very challenging and if someone would have said it can be done with 49.5 wheels and Control+ I would not have believed him. The width may be not to scale, but if you hadn't mentioned it I wouldn't have noticed, so I guess that is a good compromise you made. Driving these X-outriggers is surprisingly difficult. It is also one of the (many) functions in my crane that struggle.

Keep up the good work

Edited May 26, 2021 by Jeroen Ottens

[mitx2529]

you built a LTM11200 with 49.5 tires!

I guess it was with 62.4 tires at the beginning

looks like a beast! big and awesome 

I wish your kids have fun with it and play in caution 

Edited August 31, 2021 by mitx2529

[nerdsforprez]

On 5/26/2021 at 10:45 AM, mdemerchant said:

Thanks for all the kind feedback from everyone.  Much appreciated.

 

@nerdsforprez Your Groove is a really nice model.  Not sure I would take it apart to build this but I'll take that as a huge compliment.  I think fitting the functions and motors here is easier actually than in your crane because of the difference in crane designs.  You've got to fit outriggers that practically cut the carrier in half where the X style ones sit entirely on the outer edges of the carrier, leaving a clear central portion to place motors and run drive lines.  Also the GMK6400 carrier deck surface is low, I have more height to work with.  The superstructure is more dense but really placing the giant C+ hubs was the only real problem here.

To your questions:  I used the regular large 60 tooth turntable but I placed it 2L below the surface of the carrier.  The superstructure has four wheels in the bottom made of pairs of 4185 wedge belt wheels to make the bearing that just runs on top of the carrier structure built up around the turntable.  Same idea as the Liebherr shovel 42100.

I haven't tried making instructions before and I imagine a build of this size is probably not the best to attempt to teach myself so I doubt I will ever make any.  But I do have a CAD model which is probably 75% accurate at the moment and I plan on fixing it up once I take it apart just in case I ever have the urge to rebuild it myself.  I'll be happy to share that once it's done if anyone is interested.

 

Looked at your crane again and realize I never responded.  YES!  If you have the CAD file, even if it is only 75% finished I would be interested in seeing it.  I would like to see if I can fill in the rest and build this (little) beast.

I have build the Grove with the 62 mm tire, my own version with the 49 mm tire, a seven-axle 42009 (back in the day) and a multitude of other Lego cranes.   I even have the die cast model of the LTM 11200 so building this would be interesting to see the different techniques, etc.  I actually will keep my GMK6400 and it would be cool to take pics, etc. comparing both at this scale.  Lemme know if you still have it and can share.  Again, great model!

 

  

[mdemerchant]

On 8/30/2021 at 8:29 AM, nerdsforprez said:

Looked at your crane again and realize I never responded.  YES!  If you have the CAD file, even if it is only 75% finished I would be interested in seeing it.  I would like to see if I can fill in the rest and build this (little) beast.

I have build the Grove with the 62 mm tire, my own version with the 49 mm tire, a seven-axle 42009 (back in the day) and a multitude of other Lego cranes.   I even have the die cast model of the LTM 11200 so building this would be interesting to see the different techniques, etc.  I actually will keep my GMK6400 and it would be cool to take pics, etc. comparing both at this scale.  Lemme know if you still have it and can share.  Again, great model!

 

  

@nerdsforprez or anyone else that's interested, I've uploaded the LDR file to my bricksafe page, link in the first post.  It still needs more work but the only thing not complete at this point is the carrier.  The front is all done up to the first two axles but the rest of it is roughed in.  But it has all the mechanical bits in it and in the right places, the structural details just need to be finished/cleaned up and it needs to be recolored.  Superstructure, boom, outriggers and all boom attachments are complete.  I've colored in Mammoet colors but I haven't checked if I have any parts with colors that don't exist.  Might be a few.  Also, you will note a few pins and connectors in lime green in the boom sections.  These indicate the attachment points for the extension and retraction strings for the 3rd section. 

I'll try to finish the file updates for the carrier and will post an update when it's done.  I suppose I can even manage a render at the same time so people can see how it would look if built with proper colors.

[Hrafn]

Very impressive!  I am even more impressed that you managed to build this beast while also managing small kids (and not having them destroy it.). 

[nerdsforprez]

1 hour ago, mdemerchant said:

@nerdsforprez or anyone else that's interested, I've uploaded the LDR file to my bricksafe page, link in the first post.  It still needs more work but the only thing not complete at this point is the carrier.  The front is all done up to the first two axles but the rest of it is roughed in.  But it has all the mechanical bits in it and in the right places, the structural details just need to be finished/cleaned up and it needs to be recolored.  Superstructure, boom, outriggers and all boom attachments are complete.  I've colored in Mammoet colors but I haven't checked if I have any parts with colors that don't exist.  Might be a few.  Also, you will note a few pins and connectors in lime green in the boom sections.  These indicate the attachment points for the extension and retraction strings for the 3rd section. 

I'll try to finish the file updates for the carrier and will post an update when it's done.  I suppose I can even manage a render at the same time so people can see how it would look if built with proper colors.

Perfect.  I will get to it.  This is one I see myself really doing in the future, and as can be seen in my latest thread, I eventually get around to all my commitments, even if it's years later....

[suffocation]

That's an amazing piece of engineering you've crafted. And thanks for sharing the ldr!

[mdemerchant]

Apologies for bumping the topic, but I've finished cleaning up the LDraw model and posted the final one to the BrickSafe page today.  Actually the carrier needed considerably more than just cleaning up in the end so anyone who downloaded the first ldr should definitely grab the new version.  Note that I still haven't validated I don't have part colors that don't exist in the model.

Now I can show a render of what it might look like if I actually ordered some parts to build in a consistent color scheme.

 

[nigel1975]

Great achievement building the LTM11200 at this scale. I'm really interested to try and build it and I appreciate that you have shared the LDR file. I have opened the LDR in a couple of different programs and can drill down to the sub-models. What I'm wondering is best way to generate parts list as I'm getting different total counts depending how I open the file, export and then upload to Rebrickable to check what I'm missing. Which CAD software was the original model built in (MLCad, LeoCad, LDCad?) and what is expected part count? If I can understand that I might be able to figure out correct part mappings.

I actually found that Studio does a reasonable job importing and creating an initial instruction.

All the best.

[mdemerchant]

I used LDCad to build it.  It tells me there are 6329 parts in the model.  That includes 4 strings which LDCad seems to count as one part each but likely import into other programs as a big list of parts for all the little sections.  I tried importing the LDR directly into Rebrickable and I ended up with 6281 parts and a fairly short list of parts it couldn't match, less than 10 part/color combinations I'd say.  One was 100x 4-4CYLI in black which are all the string bits, some looked like internal pieces of linear actuators which got exploded when I was adjusting their length.  So I think you will get a decent parts list with only a few items to resolve.  You can PM me and I'll try to help you figure out what the other missing ones are.

The big thing is that the file contains sub-models for all the various boom attachments you might want but the main model only shows one configuration.  So you're only going to get the parts for that one configuration.  You'll miss the 3rd winch and the luffing jib and you'll only get one truss section.  I'd suggest inserting copies of the winch3 and jib assembly plus however many copies of truss section you want into the main model and then doing the parts list.  The only thing that would be missing after that is either some long beams or 16L links for the rigging for the luffing jib and the number you need really depends on how big you build the jib.

[2GodBDGlory]

That's a very cool crane! It's amazing how it can be so big while using such small tires.

[nerdsforprez]

Oh this indeed is great.  I will have to look further into this.  I would be very interested in building.  Doing other projects right now, but sometime in the future I hope to get to it.  

I would probably go with a different color scheme.  The black wheel arches blend with the tires and for some reason it doesn't look very authentic.  But I know in the original it looks just fine.  Distinguishing the arch from the tire is important, which I found from my own building. 

Look forward to more.  Thanks for putting this together!

 

 

[nigel1975]

1 hour ago, mdemerchant said:

I used LDCad to build it.  It tells me there are 6329 parts in the model.  That includes 4 strings which LDCad seems to count as one part each but likely import into other programs as a big list of parts for all the little sections.  I tried importing the LDR directly into Rebrickable and I ended up with 6281 parts and a fairly short list of parts it couldn't match, less than 10 part/color combinations I'd say.  One was 100x 4-4CYLI in black which are all the string bits, some looked like internal pieces of linear actuators which got exploded when I was adjusting their length.  So I think you will get a decent parts list with only a few items to resolve.  You can PM me and I'll try to help you figure out what the other missing ones are.

The big thing is that the file contains sub-models for all the various boom attachments you might want but the main model only shows one configuration.  So you're only going to get the parts for that one configuration.  You'll miss the 3rd winch and the luffing jib and you'll only get one truss section.  I'd suggest inserting copies of the winch3 and jib assembly plus however many copies of truss section you want into the main model and then doing the parts list.  The only thing that would be missing after that is either some long beams or 16L links for the rigging for the luffing jib and the number you need really depends on how big you build the jib.

Thanks for that information, really helpful. I also got 6281 parts importing the LDR, 6289 when I converted to Studio first. I'm working my way through the color changes and looking forward to trying the build. Main parts I'm missing are for the ballasts.

[bonox]

very impressive. The scale is certainly slightly intimidating, but it's really nice to see people tackling the stuff that most people don't with the big cranes - the extended jibs and the Y guy arrrangements.

 

Bravo Sir.

[mitx2529]

WOW!

it looks really big  even in the 49.5 tires

I will build this beast in the future.

thanks for sharing the huge crane

[mdemerchant]

On 9/19/2021 at 4:07 PM, nerdsforprez said:

I would probably go with a different color scheme.  The black wheel arches blend with the tires and for some reason it doesn't look very authentic.  But I know in the original it looks just fine.  Distinguishing the arch from the tire is important, which I found from my own building. 

Yes, after I finished updating the LDR I thought a different color scheme might look good as well.  Mediaco yellow, white and black might be pretty nice.

 

On 9/19/2021 at 5:53 PM, nigel1975 said:

Thanks for that information, really helpful. I also got 6281 parts importing the LDR, 6289 when I converted to Studio first. I'm working my way through the color changes and looking forward to trying the build. Main parts I'm missing are for the ballasts.

Those also happen to be the only parts I bought for my build.  The only reason I did was because they are pretty cheap and I thought they had excellent reuse potential as mountain pieces for my kids.  Your version of Jeroen's 11200 was great and I actually looked at your photos quite a bit while building this.  It would be great to see what you can improve on this one.

 

On 9/19/2021 at 10:23 PM, bonox said:

very impressive. The scale is certainly slightly intimidating, but it's really nice to see people tackling the stuff that most people don't with the big cranes - the extended jibs and the Y guy arrrangements.

Those extras definitely make it much more interesting to me.  A crane with a luffing jib is just much more fun to play with that one without and the y guys work amazingly well at strengthening the boom, even in Lego.

 

On 9/19/2021 at 4:06 PM, 2GodBDGlory said:

That's a very cool crane! It's amazing how it can be so big while using such small tires.

 

2 hours ago, mitx2529 said:

it looks really big  even in the 49.5 tires

Size is all relative but I guess it qualifies as big.  Big is easy though, just keep adding more parts    Anyway I had no choice with the tires, I don't own any of the large truck tires and I wasn't going to drop $200+ to get 18 of them plus hubs.  Plus at that larger scale I would have run out of panels and beams.  My technic collection is not actually very big.  I only own a few sets, although mostly large sets.

Thanks for all the great comments.

 

[Aleh]

On 9/19/2021 at 5:38 AM, mdemerchant said:

Apologies for bumping the topic, but I've finished cleaning up the LDraw model and posted the final one to the BrickSafe page today.  Actually the carrier needed considerably more than just cleaning up in the end so anyone who downloaded the first ldr should definitely grab the new version.  Note that I still haven't validated I don't have part colors that don't exist in the model.

Now I can show a render of what it might look like if I actually ordered some parts to build in a consistent color scheme.

 

 

Wow, looks super cool and realistic!

Edited September 29, 2021 by Aleh