42146 - Liebherr LR13000

[Lego Tom]

OK, semi-related question: This build takes 12 AA batteries. What do you folks prefer for batteries? Alkaline? Lithium? Rechargeable? What about the possibility of using two 6v lantern batteries disguised as the counter balances and wired in series for 12v?

Asking for a friend! (LOL)

 

Also, a few words for those complaining about the height - or lack there of for this crane. I am not a crane expert, however a friend of mine is. He is an operating engineer who assembles/disassembles and operates and maintains the real deal. Crane height, when you are talking about large units is not a one size fits all thing. If a crane is needed to move a 200 ton object 100 meters high, the crane company does not send and build a crane that is capable of lifting the unit 300 meters. You may see the same crane on two different jobs and it may be twice as long on one job than it was on the other. It is also my understanding that the higher/longer a crane is, the less lifting capacity it has as the added weight of the crane's structure must be reduced from it's lift capacity. Last, while a 2.5 or 3 meter boom would be impressive on this build, how many end users have a place to actually display such a unit? One can argue that it would have been great for Lego to include the extra pieces to make this happen and let the end user decide on the finished length, but that would have added even more cost to what many have complained is an overpriced unit. You can't have your cake and eat it too!

Edited August 4, 2023 by Lego Tom

[nerdsforprez]

1 hour ago, Lego Tom said:

You can't have your cake and eat it too!

And neither can TLG.  To continue your example, TLG sent us a crane for the 100 meter high job, but charged us as if they sent the 300 meter crane.  I think everyone would agree that the complaints regarding proportions would not be as severe if the price was not so extreme.  I think most folks understand that really, for these types of cranes (smaller crawler cranes with no option for jib attachments DO have  a fixed arrangement) there is no limit to configurations.  The complaints of configuration (i.e. size) come in the context of THE HIGHEST price for any Technic set, ever, by a mile.  One cannot be separated from the other.   

TLG sending the small version while keeping the price sky-high (pun intended) is the very definition of trying to have their cake and eat it too.  I hope this experiment fails (though it does not appear to be) so TLG's price expectations are lowered a bit.  

Edited August 4, 2023 by nerdsforprez

[Bartybum]

1 hour ago, Lego Tom said:

What do you folks prefer for batteries

Rechargeable all the way, no exceptions. Non-rechargeable batteries should be banned, charging stations are cheap.

1 hour ago, Lego Tom said:

but that would have added even more cost to what many have complained is an overpriced unit. You can't have your cake and eat it too!

The set costs $1050AUD, so I doubt that including one more segment per boom would have bumped up the price noticeably. The set has already been shown to be extremely strong by RacingBrick when the counterweights are properly restrained, so I think they really missed out by not having an extendable counterweight to balance the load. The winches are also extremely fast for the real thing, so they could have geared the motors further down or added more wire rope rigging, allowing for greater torque.

[Laika2001]

11 hours ago, Lego Tom said:

OK, semi-related question: This build takes 12 AA batteries. What do you folks prefer for batteries? Alkaline? Lithium? Rechargeable? What about the possibility of using two 6v lantern batteries disguised as the counter balances and wired in series for 12v?

Asking for a friend! (LOL)

I only use Kratax 1.5V AA and AAA rechargeable lithium ion batteries.  

[Bricktrain]

Having built this set I can see that even with this much boom in this configuration gives you a large minimum radius, the more boom the greater the radius. To pick up the Audi it was tipping forward which increased the radius too much to pick it up. Blocking the toes of the tracks reduced the forward tilt enoght that it would lift it. The amount of boom it has is probably the optimal length for the model.

[Danke]

5 hours ago, Bricktrain said:

Having built this set I can see that even with this much boom in this configuration gives you a large minimum radius, the more boom the greater the radius. To pick up the Audi it was tipping forward which increased the radius too much to pick it up. Blocking the toes of the tracks reduced the forward tilt enoght that it would lift it. The amount of boom it has is probably the optimal length for the model.

How much would extra ballast help in this case? the 1kg seems too little for what this model is capable of.

[Bricktrain]

1 hour ago, Danke said:

How much would extra ballast help in this case? the 1kg seems too little for what this model is capable of.

Yes it would help, I added 22 of the old weight bricks to it and it did add to the capacity but even as standard it is trying to tip backwards when there is no load on the hook, hence the need for the ball roller supports at the back. Unfortunately it is not built as the real crane with machine counterweight and separate ballast tray, that would be a worthwhile mod, but the app doesn't allow for a derrick winch to adjust the derrick angle and ballast radius. That was my biggest disappointment with the set as it makes the app unusable for MOC Cranes. I would like to rebuild it as an LR1400.

[Bartybum]

1 hour ago, Danke said:

How much would extra ballast help in this case? the 1kg seems too little for what this model is capable of.

The overturning moment acting on the superstructure would pretty much just be linearly proportional to the moment arm of the load - if you double the ballast, you can either double the load or double the moment arm (horizontal distance)

Edited August 5, 2023 by Bartybum

[johnnytifosi]

Held der Steine review is up and as expected he bashes the set for 17 minutes straight.

Tl;dw:

-Control+ lack of physical controller

-Ridiculous price, considering also it's direct predecessor, the liebherr excavator and that 1400 of the parts are pins and 2L, 3L axles.

-Useless license that only gets you a liebherr sticker sheet, doesn't look like the real thing (short boom, random red, gray and azure parts, tiny tracks).

-Very low level of mechanisms involved. Each of the six functions is motor to axle to reel. No gears involved except the tracks.

-just buy the mould king equivalent. It's better for one third of the price. Lego Technic is in a bad state right now.

 

Edited August 5, 2023 by johnnytifosi

[Jockos]

Having just built it I assume the motors are attached directly to the reels so as not to have any gear-skipping and to have enough power and precisity. I wouldn't use any gear in the superstructure, either. As for accuracy, it's true they didn't went for longer boom and luffing jib, and they could just leave the licence off of it. Though playing with the set is a joy and the pure massiveness is amazing. I think it's a good compromise between rigidity and playability as a proportionate one would either be even weaker or unreasonably big.

[m2fel]

I like the crane. Its look and functionality. I don't mind that it does not match the lr13000 as I don't know much about those cranes but it very much reminds me on Liebherr cranes I sometimes see on pictures. As I am price sensitive  I most probably will never own this crane but it is up to Lego to decided how to run their business and I really can't be mad about this...

[HectorMB]

I think the set is cool. Is really big and seems fun to play with. The price is also cool... But not for that set. 

 

For me this set is a no-way. That's not the type of Lego set that I want from Lego, therefore, even being insignificant, I won't feed the idea for TLG that I'm ok with the direction that goes with these kind of sets. For me TLG is the heavy tow truck, the Airbus... Just to mention few of the last ones. Those are a demonstration of how fun and cool a Lego set can be! 

[Bartybum]

Has anyone tried it on carpet yet?

[nerdsforprez]

1 hour ago, Bartybum said:

Has anyone tried it on carpet yet?

River bed, yes. Carpet...no. 

[Bricktrain]

8 hours ago, Bartybum said:

Has anyone tried it on carpet yet?

Only when testing at the completion of the tracks. It moved well enough then, possibly a little faster than it should,  I did look at changing the gears but it would have needed other mods to fit a 24t in place of a 20t. I think with the tracks being sloped up at the ends it will still be okay with all the weight on it.

[Pruimke]

I ordered 4 extra Large Angular Motor on bricklink.com for 15€ each and 16 black 3x19 frames on Lego.com in july. Unfortunately, I saw only the 26 yellow 3x19 frames and not the 9 gray ones.
So I build it with my own bricks and without:
 - 9 3x19 frames
 - the new yellow 5x15 and 7x15 frames
 - 7x16 girders
 - 7x11 weight bricks
 - al lot of smaller bricks

Luckily, the good old Power Function AA Battery Box fits in the weight brick holder.

I had problems with the calibration in the Control+ app. The engine pulled until the mast fell over. I had to start over and block the rope by hand before it went wrong, for each calibration .
Control+ app works fine now.

Next step: extend the boom and jib to reach the normal proportions and see if the control+ app still can handle it.

[Bartybum]

2 hours ago, Bricktrain said:

Only when testing at the completion of the tracks. It moved well enough then, possibly a little faster than it should,  I did look at changing the gears but it would have needed other mods to fit a 24t in place of a 20t. I think with the tracks being sloped up at the ends it will still be okay with all the weight on it.

I was more so wondering about the completed build, namely whether the balls under the counterweight work as well on a carpet as they do on a hard surface

[Lego Tom]

Has anyone determined for certain whether the counterweights are solid or hollow? If hollow, I'm thinking about adding lead shot to give them more weight.

[Bartybum]

33 minutes ago, Lego Tom said:

Has anyone determined for certain whether the counterweights are solid or hollow? If hollow, I'm thinking about adding lead shot to give them more weight.

They're solid, so you'll need to get creative

Edited August 6, 2023 by Bartybum

[JaBaCaDaBra]

43 minutes ago, Lego Tom said:

Has anyone determined for certain whether the counterweights are solid or hollow? If hollow, I'm thinking about adding lead shot to give them more weight.

just make make a mold from one,
cast/plaster will do fine
than poor lead in it
 

[Lego Tom]

20 hours ago, JaBaCaDaBra said:

just make make a mold from one,
cast/plaster will do fine
than poor lead in it
 

Hmm, will plaster hold up to the heat of molten lead? 621 degrees F, 327 C.

[Bartybum]

25 minutes ago, Lego Tom said:

Hmm, will plaster hold up to the heat of molten lead? 621 degrees F, 327 C.

Plaster probably not, but buy some white clay and reinforce it with steel mesh, then oven bake it. I dunno the details but I assume it'd work pretty well. Also don't use lead, but pewter. It's a not as dense as lead (~7 vs 11 g/cm3) but the melting point is much lower (~200 vs 327 C) and it's far less toxic and more durable.

Alternatively (and likely cheaper) make a silicone mould and then cast some resin counterweights with a bunch of lead shot, then paint over the finished pieces.

Edited August 7, 2023 by Bartybum

[JaBaCaDaBra]

2 hours ago, Bartybum said:

make a silicone mould and then cast some resin counterweights with a bunch of lead shot, then paint over the finished pieces

Thats probably a real goodway to do.

In the mean time you may paint the result yellow/black with text Liebherr on each weight, looks like Lego has forgotten that.

[howitzer]

5 hours ago, Lego Tom said:

Hmm, will plaster hold up to the heat of molten lead? 621 degrees F, 327 C.

Gypsum-based plaster molds are routinely used in jewelrymaking with many alloys having melting point near or above 1000°C. I don't know though if there might be some sort of chemical reaction which would be problematic, never tried casting lead myself. But lead can be very dangerous as it's toxic heavy metal so I'd advise good research and lots of caution before trying to melt it.

Personally I'd probably rather use tin or bismuth despite their higher cost, or just forget about the looks and make the counterweight from nuts and bolts or whatever is heavy and cheaply available.

[AVCampos]

What about a combination of the methods discussed here: making the silicone mould from the existing part, filling it with thin cement, putting nuts and bolts inside it while it's liquid, then let it dry?

I don't know if it's possible to keep the nuts/bolts hidden inside the cement without sinking or floating while it's liquid, though.