doug72

Video now uploaded OK. had to delete original one and upload a re-named file.

Thanks for your comment, its been a long process slowly improving the original idea. Re YouTube - figured that out but it won't let me change. Clicked "not sutable for kids by error" as i am sure I set it to Unlisted as I usually do. Visors (buckets) seem to be hard to find now I was lucky getting them from Aussie ! Can you see the video using the link ?

The Ultimate Version -Twin Bucket GBC Train Loader Completed. Twin Buckets:- Had problems with some buckets becoming loose or detaching from the wheel if there was a ball jam. The blue pin/axle connectors were the problem, some had a low friction after many uses. Solved by using two 3L axle with stop & stud plus two 4L thin beams with axle hole each end. see image. Complicated gear boxes no longer required, all gears are attached to the main bucket wheel module and arranged to give give two rotations before the train is released with max 32 balls per trip.. Loading inlet hopper made as a separate plug in module for ease of construction & adjustment. New 4 lobe loading rotor required to load one ball into each bucket and prevent any others from entering. Tried without a ball agitator but had ball jams again. A three arm agitator was added driven by an 8T/ worm gears via a long drive shaft from the axle driving the bucket wheel gears. Timing for the ball loading rotor is easy to set by sliding a 24T gear out of engagement - turn rotor to correct position and re-engage the 24T gear again. Various improvements made to the input hopper to prevent ball jamming & to prevent more than 2 balls load at a time. Successfully tested with near 100% of balls transferring into the train hopper. Video showing ball loading can be seen in later post below.

Thats why I never completed my attempted build of a mechanicaly controled Balkirk Wheel. All turntables have to be free running along with connecting gear wheels. Re Posting picture - read the forum guidelines on how to do this. You cannot load pics direct onto the forum. Limit is 100K and mainly for your avatar image.

Extra white visors (buckets) now received from Australia today allowing me to improve the capacity of the bucket wheel to 16 balls per revolution. With train reverser making two bucket wheel revolutions before releasing the train gives 32 balls per trip. Also got as a Xmas present lots of spare parts including eight un-ripe banana gears. and more Z28 gears to replace the Z28 turntables, much neater drive & smoother now. Had to change how the twin buckets are attached to the wheel. As shown in a previous post, the buckets would have fouled the support rollers, so gear rings had to be set further apart at 6L. Wheel structure plus gearing added, and mounted on a 16 x 16 baseplate to check clearances & test rotation before final mounting on a 48 x 49 stud baseplate. Next stage: add train reverser unit and and devise a means off loading the twin buckets - two at a time side by side. PS:- i have decided not to use the buckets to scoop up the balls as buckets can hold 2 balls each but one of them will always fall out before the other and miss the discharge ramp. Twin bucket parts

Suggest you acquire either a Z28 or Z56 or Z60 turntable if you desire a strong rotating crane, that can be easilly incorporated into the supporting structure you are building. WIP Photos are a good way to showing your build so that others can help with any problems encountered.

Only to see if it will work is to try it ,

l

This might meet your requirements with strong connection between rotating parts. You just need to figure out how the top works will connect. The two grey 5L beams fir inside a 7L x 5L frame

LEGO Turntable 2 x 2 with Medium Stone Gray Top (74340)

This is how I used the large Lego chain links and cog gears. Drive was by M motor driving the top cog by 40T & 8T gear for 5:1 reduction. Carriage with groove wheels runs on train track beams and is not directly connected to the chain, instead the Yellow / red / yellow connectors push the carriage up & gravity lowers it back down. I think your way with a fixed connection would work better and will try it later, once I complete a twin bucket wheel train loader, waiting for parts to arrive. Images of how incline ramp with chain constructed.

Nice GBC module. I like the way you disconnect the drive to the 1st stage ball lift. How do you stop the chain sagging ? I also have been working on an inclined GBC ball lift but build is on hold at the moment due to building other GBC Train modules. For the inclined lift I used the old Large Lego Chain links with the old cog gears and has a similar connection to the trolley as yours. To stop the chain sagging and catching on the frames I had to add guide beams.

Using your photos I have built your gearbox which only seems to be for reversing direction of drive. Unable to replicate the slipping of any of the gears So problem must lie somewhere else, check the internal clutch teeth on the blue 20T DBG's and on the grey driving bush. What 3L bush are using with the drive ring ? 3L with ribs or 3L without There are much easier and simpler was of drive using double bevel gears throughout without the need to offset 16T gears to get proper meshing. I would recommend you getting a copy of:- The Unofficial Lego Technic Builders Guide by Sariel. Has lots of solutions for gearing, gearboxes, Technic etc.

Could take photos against a white background, makes it easier tro see the parts. Looks as if the 16T gear teeth are not fully engaged with the blue 20T DBG teeth. Are the gears in your set up at these centres as images below ?

One reason for the change was it was posssible to put the old grey clutch gears in the wrong way round. The New Red double face gears overcome that problem.

It’s hard to determine what you are trying to build without an overall image showing what it is ! Photos say a thousand words.

Agree:- Thanks, it was the only supplier that had the number I needed, had no min. order and low postage. I intend to modify the Mark 1 version to twin buckets and rearange the layout of the ball loading system to load two balls into the twin buckets. Re bucket fixing: it is very rigid and balls roll out OK at the correct point. I may also look at a scoop arrangement as per your GBC MOC which would simplify the ball loading and the timing gearing to rotate the bucket wheel would not be required. Can you post an image of your MOC showing the curved collection section for picking up the balls.

We have all "Hit the wall" when building MOCs & have to re-think & start again. You learn from mistakes. Sometimes it means giving up for a while and then re-look again to find another way of getting what you desire.

Now sourced extra white visors from Austrailia and waiting for them to arrive. Images show how twin buckets look and how they are attached to the quadrant gear beams at the cross axle holes.

Problem with Catch & Spin Module: Recently I demonstrated this to a visitor - it run for a while then all movement stopped with gears grinding Found that the 5L axle with stop had slipped down out of the angle box frame allowing the 20T thin bevel gear to disengage. Solved by replacing the 5L axle with stop by a 8L axle with stop. A bit fiddly getting it into place with any dismantling of other parts but managed it OK. A thin bush also add to prevent the axle from slipping. I may have missed putting the small wheel hub on the axle but module runs OK Without it. See image Instruction - Page 82 step 4

GBC Bucket Wheel Loader Mark 1- Rebuilt and improved. I decided to improve my test rig version, which used the white Visors as buckets. LEGO Visor 2007 (57702) I only had enough for 8 wheel buckets, but buckets could be arranged in pairs to increase number of balls to 16 per wheel rotation. Unfortunately it can be hard to find a supplier that has 8 balls for sale !! I have now found a seller - "Down Under" - who has the number of white visors I need to enable me to build a bucket wheel with 8 twin buckets to transfer 16 balls per wheel rotation. Just have to wait until the post from Australia the other side of the world. Postage was quite resonable. Overhead view Side View As I did not have any more Z80 gears to hand , I used two Z28 Turntables instead to turn the large gear rings. (more Z28 gears arriving via Santa I hope). Drive to ball loading rotor This gives the required 45:1 reduction using two 3:1 stages plus 5:1 So the drives to train reverser and ball the loading rotor have to match this to be in sync and load balls 1 per bucket. But only 8 balls would load into train hopper each trip. Train Reverser To increase ball load, extra 2:1 gearing was added for train reverser to give 90:1 reduction. Bucket wheel rotates two revolutions before train releases to carry 16 balls per trip. If an extra 3:1 reduction ( 135:1) used the train could carry 24 balls per trip when using single buckets. ( 3 x 3 x 3 x 5 = 135:1) = 3 wheel revolutions per trip. Train Reverser gearing Ball loading Rotor: This has 4 lobes and is driven from the axle driving the two Z28 turntables, plus 2:1 step up & 5:1 step down gearing synchronises it with the buckets. I tried a 2 lobe rotor but it had to rotate at a higher speed to syncronise with each bucket but it tended to jam as an incoming ball could jam with the previous ball before it had rolled clear & dropped into a bucket. Ball inlet hopper: Balls would sometimes jam in the throat of the chute to the ball loading rotor, so an agitator was added to stir the balls - after a lot of trial & error settled on a thin 90º plate with curve, which works well allowing one ball at a time to pass through to the loading rotor. Mk 1 ball inlet hopper. Mk 2 inlet ball hopper with agitator. Drive to ball agitator

See this thread.