Menck M154 dragline

Catalogue

A few years ago I could get a hold on a Kibri catalogue. Although I'm not very into 1:87 scale models (HO) this catalogue could be a nice source of inspiration to a new model. When I leafed through the catalogue I noticed an old Menck M154 dragline. It's a magnificint old machine from the 60s and 70s. I have noticed it's not a hydraulic machine so it would be quite easy to build a LEGO model of it. Moreover it's a challenge to build: a model which can do anything like the real thing. But it took a while before I actually started to build it.

Documentation and photos

The disadvantage is I have never seen such a Menck in real life. I received the book 'Menck Baumaschinen-Prospekte 1960-1990' published by Podszun. There are quite some worthwile photos of the M154 in this book like one of the machine room. Next to this I bought a Kibri model of a MAN with a low loader loaded with the M154 LC.
Further I had to manage with several pictures from the websites I found about Menck. I contacted the administrators. Maybe they could supply me with more information or drawings. From one of them I received some very reasonable pictures of the inside of the machine room. That was just I was looking for.
From a crane model collector I could borrow to brochures with gave me very worthwile information and some drawings with enough measurements so I couldn't see how big the model should be converted into 1:13. I immediately started to build. The Kibri model also helped me a lot. With a ruler next to it I figured out the measurements.

The undercarriage

I immediately had some thoughts about which construction I should build. The M154 was built between 1962 and 1978. During that periode they brought out two models. The first one had an undercarriage with five axles and small tracks. The second model had a heavier undercarriage with outer riggers and small rollers like on today's tracked machines. The second model would be too heavy for the truck I wanted to build, a Scania LS111 with Nooteboom low loader (an old type with swing axles). The old M154 would suit better on my low loader (and it should be less high as well) but I didn't knew which parts I should use for the undercarriage. When I took some large old yellow gears I started to try something with those old chain links. On the chain links I put some plates. I was surprized with the result. Everything was just on scale. And now it was also possible to build an undercarriage which can ride as well. So I was sure I would build the old type because now I was able to build a machine which would be fully operational. On the outside of the gears I put some black webbed radar dishes. The yellow gears actually should be black but it would be a shame to paint them black. Otherwise, it's not very annoying because the machine itself would be yellow as well. These radar disk camouflages the gears somewhat.

I the book about Menck there's a image of the drive of the tracks. I tried to copy it. My aim was to place the motors in the superstructure so it could swing infinite. I've seen this on the JCB excavator of Jennifer Clark and T.J. Avery's Liebherr R996. However, my model would be much bigger. But I was curious how strong it is. I took some geared 9V motors but they seems to create less power. And because I needed to use lots of gears the power was even less. It was a pitty but there was only one way to solve it: the conventional way. Now I built some old 9V motors in the undercarriage (each track one motor). Now I needed less gears to create a strong drive. I started with the real Menck's speed. I calculated the speed of a 1:13 model and it agrees roughly.
In a meanwhile I built the turntable and it's drive. The space was limited but there was some room left for two 9V motors. So the turntable is powered by two motors.
The undercarriage drove smoothly (unloaded). I also made all plates. The plates are 2 x 6 studs so one plate is connected to two chain links.

The turntable

Former I always built heavy duty turntables. I had to because the cranes, excavators etc. where big sized. But this Menck is not so big in comparison to the models of yesteryear. Because the machine is more compact there's no room for heavy duty drives. But it has no sense to put a very strong drive into the Menck's undercarriage. To take care the superstructure would swing smoothly I made a ring of rollers. T.J. Avery visited my place once (he was in the Netherlands for his job) and he brought a LEGO turntable with him. He fitted it in his tower crane. I liked his idea very much so I copied it 1:1. The ring consist off two hoses electric wires. I put some iron wire into the hoses (of the same length). I twined it with a electric drill and a vice. By this the ring is more stiff and you can easily make a circle of it. The rollers are mounted on the hoses. I conscious took some elder, rarely scarced 2 x 2 studs round bricks. I didn't want to damage new ones.
You have to be attentive you don't connect gears to the turntable directly. Or you have to put the turntable deeper into the undercarriage. It wasn't possible in my model in principle so I used two wormscrews which are directly connected to the turntable. And I had to because due to the speed of rotation of the superstructure and its weight several small 8 tooth gears were broken. Most times I use wormscrews.

Superstructure

Before I started with the undercarriage I actually start building the superstructure. This because I didn't knew which type of undercarriage I should build. The superstructure of both types is the same. But soon I put it aside. First I had to finish the undercarriage. Then the superstructure was nothing more than the base.
As I've said first all motors were housing in the superstructure. After some tests this wasn't the best solution. And actually I wasn't quite unsatisfied because the room there was left was pritty less. I also had to put the drumms and its drive in it.
The base wasn't difficult to build but at the front I had to cope some difficulties. Because off the ring I had to make some changes to the base. The rotation point of the boom wasn't strong enough. Due to the boom's weight the frame broke off. I figured out what should be the best solution and with some Technic liftarms I solved it. It's a simple intervention but it took some hours before I came to this. Now the frame can't break anymore in principle.

Drums

The drums are housing in the superstructure. The three functions are:

	luffing the boom
	hoist
	controlling the bucket

Because I have quite some experience in the field of building construction machinery it shouldn't be very difficult to make the Menck fully operational. Because the undercarriage is driven bij 9V motors I decided to let the model completely operate on the 9V system. On the one hand because the controls would be simple (one control panel) and on the other hand because 9V should be sufficient. With that I didn't have to use the more powerfull 12V motors. It didn't took a wrong descision.
Because I already used most of the 9V motors I ordered ten geared 9V motors via Bricklink. My idea was to use these motors for the undercarriage ass well (with the motors placed in the superstructure) but as described above these motors seems far to weak.
But also for luffing the boom two of these motors (connected together) weren't powerfull enough. The boom hardly came off the ground and when you stopped luffing the boom felt down automaticly. I can't understand so many people are wax lyric by these motors. I regret I have bought so many of those. So the geared ones were replaced by old ungeared 9V motors. In the drives I always construct a wormscrew. The big advantage is the drive is very powerfull and the drum doesn't backfire. The ultimate drive luffs a 1.6 metres high boom easily. My tip: only use the geared motors for light purposes.
Both other drums are driven by the geared motors. For the hoist I could use more power but than the speed decreases also. Because there would be a bucket hang up in the hoist I wanted to let the machine operate as quick as the real one by aproach. The same concerns tipping the bucket. For the hoist I used a large 'Samsonite' gear. I saw these gears on someones MOC and I was wondering if those are original LEGO pieces. I understood they were only available in the US and Canada and that he ordered some over there as well.

The main drums I glued together. Because there is a lot of stress on them they could spread out. Therefore the rotation of the drums will be more laborious and then the whole drum would tighten itself. It occured in the past and I have learned of that. To glue something is against my principles but sometimes you have to turn a blind eye to something. I used some old and partly faded pieces. A littlebit of glue is sufficient. The drums consist off 2 x 2 studs round bricks with radar dishes from space sets on the outside. Other people uses 48 tooth gears like Ross Crawford's DEMAG CC2800. Personaly I think the radar dishes are more ellegant. Former I used plastic or wooden shaves but I prefer a LEGO solution.

Pulleys

When I knew how the drives would looks like I could determine how to construct the shaves block which is used for luffing the boom. Above the drum there is a shaves block. It placed above the engine room's roof and is fixed to a triangular beam construction. Two technic bricks are mounted vertically, just behind the drum. Two other technic bricks are leading downwards to the outside. These beams take care off the sturdiness of the shaves block and to keep it on it's place. Plate hinges are used for the triangular shape. It seems not to be sturdy but it really is.
For the pulleys I used plastic discs. Ron Jansen made them for me. The great advantage is the grooves are deaper than in the LEGO pulleys. The ropes won't fall next to it. Moreover the pulleys are turning free on their axle so the drives needs less power. For the sheaves block I used a steel screw axle with bushes instead of a LEGO axle. The LEGO axle isn't strong enough and probably would break. Sometimes you have to use other materials then LEGO.

Design

There is a real working V8 engine in the back. The engine block isn't connectec to one of the drives in the superstructure. I did this to take care the drives would unnecessairy lose power. But to make a well looking copy of the engine I search for some clear pictures of it. There is a clear picture of the inside of the machine in the Menck book (on which the engine is clear to see as well) but that wasn't enough. But someone supplied me with some pictures of an M154 from which the body parts were removed. On these pictures you can see the inside. Thanks to these pictures I was able to build the machine room just like the real machine. In the drives chains are used. For the drives I used the same chain links as the undercarriage.
The are sliding door on both sides of the machine. Behind the doors you can take a look in the machine room. In the back part I made two windows. On the left side you can see the engine.
It's very easy to disassemble the body. When a gear is broken it's not bad. You have to build such a model modular.
Behind the sliding door on the right side I put the connectors to all motors (six connectors in total). By giving each functie a color code it's easy to connect the wires from the control panel. I used the Control Centre from set 8485 to operate the Menck. Because there are six electrical functions in it I needed four polarity switches which I mounted on the control panel. When revoluting the superstructure you have to move with it. But the wires are more than one metre in length so it's not a big problem at all.

The boom

The boom should not be so big and heavy. So it's very easy to build it. Especially when you have build a 4.2 high Liebherr LG1550. I wanted to have the boom completely black. That's why I ordered some black 'connectors' via Bricklink. I was short in those namely. Black Technic bricks are the base for the boom sections. I made traverse beams of Technic axles with those black connectors. On top of each section I put some 2 x 2 tiles to make it much easier to disassemble the boom. By coincident the measurements of the boom sections compare with the real thing. Also the number of traverses is the sames.
The pivot section is partly straight. In the upper part I put two black rims. Indead, rims from a motorcycle. They are not available in black. That's why I ordered some used dark red copies which I painted black with car coat. First I put some white rims in it but that looks hideous. I didn't want to paint the white rims because they're from my own sets. That's why I ordered two single copies via Bricklink.
The head section was the most difficult part to build. Its outcome is sloped and it's also smaller on top. The pivot section has the same width as the other boom sections so it was easy to build. You just need some more time to build the head section. The upper part, in which the sheaves block is put, is as wide though the whole length. I made this part separate and connected it to the head section later. On both sides I made type shields. The logos are made by myself on the PC and I printed them with a laser printer. The pulleys are the same as in the sheaves block on the machine itself.

Because of the boom's weight I had to take care off enough ballast. The back section of the superstructure (the black part) is fully filled with 2 x 6 x 2 train weights. But that wasn't sufficient. The real machine has a sliding doors at the back. Instead off that I put some extra pounds of weights in it.

The bucket

As I've already noticed the Menck M154 has several purposes. At first I made an excavator of it. A bucket is hanging in the boom and it's controled by ropes. First I made a bucket of normal LEGO pieces. I wanted to get the right shape but it should also be strong enough to dig with it. I didn't succeed because the bucket was too weak. A very well alternative are the studless Technic beams but I was quite short in those. During the last few years I didn't buy new LEGO sets so I didn't knew about the latest LEGO pieces. On the Liebherr R996 of T.J. Avery I saw a bucket which was made of those beams. It's more sturdy and probably is better suitable to dig with. With the help of LeoCad I designed a bucket. Then I ordered the pieces necessary. I discovered you can do lots of nice things with those studless beams!
The hoist mechanism is just like on a normal crane. Instead off a hook there's now a bucket hanging in the boom. The bucket is hanging in small chains. By a small pulley you can tip the bucket. I was very surprised when I saw the small chains didn't break off. They are stronger than I thought. The rope of the tipping mechanism goes through the large pulleys (motorcycle rims) in the pivot section. By pulling on this rope the bucket will tip.

Someone else also built a Menck like this. Raphael Oswald also made one but than with shovel equipment. I made the same equipment as well but didn't took pictures with it yet. More to come later.

Sources

Bagger und Bahnen, a website about historical construction equipment

Lkw Stefan, with lots of pictures made on sites

Menck & Hambrock Archives, with information about any type

Baggerfan, on which I found some usefull pictures and also some small LEGO models

Other data

Length:	45 cm
Width:	23 cm
Height:	max. 1.6 metres
Length undercarriage:	34 cm
Construction:	???? many hours
Date:	July 2003 / April 2004

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