| The Mobile Crane (8854) is well known in the Lego world as one of the coolest Technic sets of the late 1980's. I think the main reason is so well regarded is that it includes so many interesting working features in such a small package. Mine arrived as a gift more that fifteen years ago. I assembled it right away and it sat in my desk for a long while gathering dust. I always thought it would make a good starting point for a drilling rig. I can't remember when but one day many years ago I got bored and decided to give it a try. I built a tower and added a stepping motor from the Mindstorms set to rotate the drill bit. The pneumatic cylinders, valve and pump were re-purposed to control the angle of the tower. I then added a few gears to be able to move the tower for and aft on the chassis. The result is quite a bit smaller than the original crane but it includes all the components to make it work. Check out the videos at the bottom of the post and you will see what I mean. I am sure my friends in the environmental remediation business would agree. It has been catching dust for many years. It was definitively time to bring it out. ;-p |  |
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