nerdsforprez

This is my concern as well. I think one would be evaluating a demographic rather than actual building ability.....

Oh yea. Not correct. There truly is "American" speak (said in negative undertones)

Fun to participate in the voting. Great submissions. As always, Thxs @Jim and @Milan for hosting.

TY @Toastie and others for the responses. The build is near an outlet, but I will have to do some finagling if I wanted to use it. Which I may. I can also add a new part to the build that would be outside of the rest of the build, to cover up a power bank and also make it easily accessible. I have some options. I was also thinking about something like these little light bricks, or something similar. They are popping up everywhere on Temu and Aliexpress. I guess, after reading, you place an axle inside, twist, and it turns on. Anyone have experience with these? Really, I would only need the lights on for display, and not a lot of light, nor would it have to be focused, so this would be an acceptable option.

Anyone have any good recommendations for light systems for your Legos? I know there are many options to choose from, and yes I have done my homework, but what I am looking for is something with a very long battery life, or something with near-infinite power source. I have a long hx of working with different systems, but the problem is that usually my lights are embedded deep into a build. When the battery source wears out I have to disassemble too much to make it worth my while of exchanging the batteries. Something with an alternative PS, or perhaps even external PS would be great. Or the use of watch batteries or something that doesn't really ever need charging....

I will be posting a whole new post, hopefully it will revitalize this post but also add something to it. I have a similar, but also, different question re: Lego lighting solutions

Great job for anyone. Absolutely superb for your first post. Wow. Thxs for sharing.

Umm.... it literally came with weighted pieces. True, they were all ABS, but the weighted pieces were each around 41 grams. And 24 of them. Thats nearly 1000 grams right there. If by "huge number of large pieces" you mean the truss pieces, you are not correct. If there was any driving up the price because of the weight increase, it was due to the weight blocks. Btw... Even considering the above, I believe it was that expensive. The Daytona set came in at over 6900 grams (and it also was a notoriously bad value) which is less than 1000 grams less than the LR 13000 (6990 vs. 7982 per BL). To put that in perspective that is only the (near exact) difference of the weight pieces only. It is also licensed. I get it has no electronics, but it was a whopping 250$ less than the LR 13000.

Thxs for your feedback, but a few things dont really make much sense to me. First I read this statement as the set was worth it to you to learn about how crane work. Fair enough. But that brought me to my grip with this set all along, which is aside from the electronics (specifically the weight sensor system) what does this crane offer that cannot be build already from existing bricks? Then you mentioned that you don't know much about cranes, so the value in this set came in that it was a set one had to assemble-only, not design, create, etc. Fair enough again, I thought. He wants to learn about these wonderful machines. But then again, I realized, there is a motley of crane plans, instructions, MOCs from others, etc. and even official Lego sets one could buy to teach you the basics of crane building and operation. Heck, I think set 8288 (i get it, its long discontinued, but the instructions are avail., and with them you could build the crane or something at least similar) would tech you the basics of crane building, physics, etc. In the end, you mention that building your own would have been a daunting task. I disagree. With the amount of aides in the community (Lego cranes in the late 2000s, 2011 and 12 ish were all the rage) you easily could have built your own, for much less $$. One can still purchase 42042 relatively inexpensive, and with some blue 15L liftarms even do an extension pack, and build it as large as this set. Sure, you miss the new pieces, but that is my gripe. They are wildly expensive and dont add anything that cannot be built out of pre-existing pieces. But if we follow this logic then nothing is worth discussing, in terms of things being "worth" their money or carrying value. Why don't we throw out the whole concept of "worth?" The reason why? Because the logic above is a little too extreme. There has to be utility in discussing value without it being able to explain all, or fit, all situations. Especially given the wild income inequality in the world. As long as there are annual incomes ranging from $0 a year to billions, no definition of value will ever apply to every situation. That doesn't mean its not a useful concept. I think we call all label this set, as a poor value and investment, overall and objectively (just based solely on how it matches up to other sets) while at the same time accepting there are some who feel they got their money's worth out of the set. Seems like you are the latter, which is fantastic. But, at least IMO, that says nothing in terms of the value of this set (in terms of what it offers, objective numbers compared to other sets, etc.).

I agree. This new method is nice, but if I interpret things correctly one needs to rate all entries, not just the top 6, so things take longer than usual. Also, I noticed with such great entries (all contests, not just this last one) it really can come down to nuances as far as ratings go. We don't want to encourage haphazard rating. My vote is for two weeks as well, not one.

I built this several years ago, and the initial video I posted vanished with my old page. With folk's orreries popping up, thought I would post mine as well. A little jerky in functioning, but really that's not something easily avoided with the limitations of ABS and the weight of some of the extensions of this build. Carries themes of the SW series, a scene from the Battle of Hoth, Boonta Eve Classic, etc. Quite a fun little build.

Ah! I had not seen it. I have been away for some time and did not read all the way back. Thxs for alerting me. @howitzerand @Marno I guess great minds think alike?

Doesn't that make reeving difficult?

I am also interested in the possibility of using the V frame, for either the LR13000 or 11000. Yes, keep us posted of your progress. Still nothing has been presented to me to warrant enough interest to justify the cost of this set. But.... using the V frame system just might....

Surprised this is not getting more attention. I think this is brilliant. TY for the upload. I have been so engaged in building others work for some time I haven't done anything original for a while. That being said, I really would like to add this to my collection.

Just saw your video. I love this entry and the amount of time that went into playing, errr... *cough* *cough* I mean... making the video. Very good entry IMO.

Lol...that's the funny part. I'm not on here much anymore but obviously, even considering that, I DID remember. That's how much you've posted it.

Lol.... I am not sure you have stated this, or some variant, enough. Perhaps you should post this on more of the new space set threads. Seriously though, I think we get it

TY Jerry. And the unit off to the right is BW 1.0 - correct?

Hello Everyone.... quick question... I researched online but was unable to find an answer, and my memory does not serve me well. Can anyone remind me of the distinction between these two BuWizz models?

Not sure it needs its own post, but yes, these counterfeit sets are all over the place. I do not see them in the states, at least in our brick and mortar stores often, but they are all over online.

Ha! Great stuff... how many motors did you use? L, XL? Any possibility of getting some details of the steering, axles, and perhaps the reduction you used to drive/steer this beast?

CADA > Lego. At least for the Technic genre, IMO. I feel almost as if we are witnessing some major changes in the building block toy industry.

Haven't been on this site for a while but glad I stopped by. This is a great build and thats awesome you are offering instructions. These are the Technic builds I like. Nothing overly complicated, but teach basic mechanical and physical lessons that offer tons of playability. Great post (not to mention I think we both have a thing for cranes).

So I finally got around to completing this build and creating a little video. So happy I did. Very awesome build. Here are a few of my observations: - @blaz62 I'm not sure you mentioned in your presentation about the locking diff locking to two rear axles. It is obvious from the drivetrain pic you posted but this is such an awesome function. I demonstrated the utility of this in my video near the end. Driving on rough carpet approaching a rug the vehicle could not overcome the rug driving only the one axle. But switching to all 3 drive axles and it drove up the bump flawlessly. - No joke the torque on this is quite impressive. I used two of the Mouldy King L motors, which are more powerful then Lego L PF motors, and as can be seen in the video, I could climb a 22 degree slope with 1500 grams in the back. Quite impressive indeed given that no real semi would attempt a 22 degree slope hauling a load. Or at least, it is not common to climb that grade here in the US. - The crane is a lot of fun to play with. I spent hours making the video. Usually I am not a fan of filming, but I enjoyed playing with this model enough to make the process enjoyable. Strong crane. I also lifted some relatively heavy things. Had it lifting my Megalodon teeth collection (silly, I know, but diving/excavating for teeth is my other hobby) (pic below) - Also don't think the OP mentioned the working windshield wipers. Again, another plus. Working doors as well. OP already posted the other functions, I thought I would just add these as they are not listed in the initial posting. Wonderful build @blaz62. Highly recommend. Looks impressive among my collection. Sure I will be keeping it around for quite some time.