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After a year of building several things at once and balancing a new job with an
apartment, I finally got the telehandler completed. It is the creation I am the
most proud of.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=102292
There are maybe 3 other telehandlers on brickshelf, but not many people notice
them and how valuable they are on a construction site. I think the design has
only been around for 10, maybe 15 years in the USA.
One question I have gotten is "Why use the 8880 suspension and put the small
dozer treads on the tires when TLC makes all kinds of suspensions that would
allow for the use of better tires?." Differentials are over 3 studs tall and
require over 3 studs of space radially around them. TLC makes other suspension
systems, but almost all of them have the a-frames spaced 1 stud apart
vertically. Differentials are only big on one end, (which I have directly in
the center of the wheelbase) but the centriod of the differential itself is
off-center. To fit on my flatbed truck the telehandler must be less than 20
studs wide. It is so heavy that the axles need to be a larger diameter than
that of the traditional Lego axles. The only way to meet all 3 of these
constraints is to use the 8880 suspension condensed with the differential
crammed in between them.
The crab steering idea is explained in this folder:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=102719
It is not a perfect design, but it works well.
The new boom tilts to almost 45 degrees (maybe 43 or 44 degrees). Previously it
did not go very high at all.
I told Kjeld Christiansen that maybe Lego should merge with Bimba, but evidently
it would be better if Bimba merged with Lego.
Overall I am very proud of the design and it can lift a lot of weight. I can
make a video of its movement, if anyone wants one. (Sorry to anyone who is tired
of seeing it;-)
The only thing I would add is maybe all-terrain capabilities. That would be
hard seeing as it would need to keep the load level at all times while it is up
in the air.
Nathan Bell
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Hey coolness, you even squeezed a motor block with piston in there. .....and wow
no kidding, you used the 8880 style wheels and suspension.
COMPACTEDEDEDEDED--all tidy and neat.
You made me think of something when I read your post.
I live by the New York City waterfront and there is always some new construction
here or there. I see plenty of these Telehandlers, but I have hardly seem them
modled (and modeled so well).
Thanks for building such a familair piece of machinery.
(super cool pics at Brick Fest btw,....)
e
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In lugnet.technic, Nathan Bell wrote:
> After a year of building several things at once and balancing a new job with an
> apartment, I finally got the telehandler completed. It is the creation I am the
> most proud of.
>
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=102292
Beautiful work Nathan!
> Nathan Bell
Kev
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You mean your earlier photos of the telehandler showed an incomplete vehicle? I
find that hard to believe! LOL!
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In lugnet.technic, Vineet Honkan wrote:
> You mean your earlier photos of the telehandler showed an incomplete vehicle? I
> find that hard to believe! LOL!
Thanks for the kind words Vineet!
What I meant was; before the boom only elevated to about 35 degrees. The real
ones go past 45 degrees. It was a good design that needed improvement. I think
it is lighter now too.
One good tip I got at BrickFest was to use black joints instead of dark gray
joints to connect the rack to the steering arms. The black joints are tighter
and therefore allow for less play. The guy that won the mineshaft robotics
competition (dressed in rainbow Lego apparel) pointed this out.
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