[HELP] Lego Crane Hook Questions

[Saberwing40k]

Looking at several real world cranes, I have noticed that virtually all of them have hooks that can rotate independently of the pulleys, as in the pulley piece that is connected to the lifting cable stays in place, while the hook that the load is attached to can rotate. I'm thinking that a possible reason for this is to allow the road to be rotated while it is suspended from the crane, or possibly to prevent the hoist line from twisting if the load catches the wind. Now, do you guys think that this feature is needed for Lego cranes, or is it just a a cool add on for the model? I have made a model with a hook that rotates, and it is not very helpful, as the hoist lines twist long before the hook moves. In addition, my rotating hook uses a small turntable in order to do that, which has the potential to come apart if the load were large enough. The only other way that I can think of to make a hook rotate is with some threaded axles, but those could break under load. So, what do you guys think? Required feature, or nice add on?

[bonox]

depends on whether you're aiming for top shelf realism or something playable.

[deraven]

I also think it depends on what scale you're building in and what kind of load you're hoisting. The good ol' Tower Crane (7905) has a freely rotating hook that is done very nicely, but it sounds like you're talking much bigger scale and bigger loads than something like that would bear.

[Captainowie]

Like everything else, it's a trade-off between realism and practicality. If you're going for something particularly realistic, then sure, stick it in, but if it adversely affects your design goals (e.g. it looks ugly, or affects playability, or whatever) then I don't think anyone is going to blame you if you went for a non-swiveling hook.

Owen.

[Trainmaster247]

all depends on what you are building.

[rollermonkey]

Having actually worked with real life cranes, and loads measured in tons, it's immensely helpful to be able to rotate a load without moving it laterally. In any conceivable LEGO scale crane, rotating a load by rotating the hook / sheave and lifting string should be sufficient.

All cranes have load limits though, so perhaps your crane's load limit is set by the separation force of the turntable. (although I'd suspect that a power functions motor isn't capable of generating that much strain.)

Edited March 18, 2015 by rollermonkey

[bonox]

(although I'd suspect that a power functions motor isn't capable of generating that much strain.)

it's amazing what you can do with a bit of gearing, even in plastic!

[cheeze]

I cheated on my crawler crane by using a small nut and bolt setup between two 2x1 blocks and was able to hold 6kg just being held by plates