American 7260 crawler crane

[eef7260]

Hi everybody

My name is Eef i am new here , but maybe some of you already know me.
I made an american 7260 crawler crane in 1:15 scale.
This has been an longterm project and it's still going ( slowly )
I am working on a 1:50 model also of the same crane.
There are some more things i like to add to the crane , so enough to post in the future here.
And i have a lot of other hobbies so sometimes there is lot progression and sometimes i do nothing at all for months on the crane.

Also like to play with computers so i made website about it.
http://homepages.ipact.nl/~eef7260/

So here are some pictures.

Hope you enjoy.

Eef











This is an orange peel grab i am working on at the moment



And the 1:50 carbody i am working on

[9W Monighan]

Ah ha . You finally got clearance to enter. Glad to see your work on this forum!

[SmallHaul]

Wow! Incredible work. Beautiful crane, thanks for posting pics.

Do you have any videos?

[Jared]

I can't help but stop and admire it every time I see it. Beautiful!

[rc_farmer]

That is an amazing piece of work! Gonna keep following this.

[scalecranes]

Wow! This thing is incredible. How did you make the boom?

[kerst]

Nice to see you on this forum, Eef!

Kerst

[RCLogger]

WOW Great build, can you post some photo's of the building process.
Welcome to the site, great to have you.

greg

[9W Monighan]

Originally Posted by RCLogger

WOW Great build, can you post some photo's of the building process.
Welcome to the site, great to have you.

greg

Greg, Check his site out he has some pictures. One shows the jig he used for the boom. I looked it over again yesterday laying in bed sick but I didn't find all the pictures. I think there's more showing build closeups. I hope Eef posts them. I would like to see the other cranes on the table at the model show too. The kid operating his crane looks just like my nephew. But he's never been to Holland.

[eef7260]

Thanks for the warm welcome and nice words.
I will post some more pics in the next few days but unfortunately i do have not much from the building stage but i do my best to find some.
And like Steve i came home today with a flu as well ( is it on the forum ?? ) .
I feel like **** at the moment so it might take a day or 2 before i feel like searching for pics and posting.
The little kid is my nephew and he is real good in operating the crane and he loves it , he going to shows with me most of the time.
The nice thing is that i have time to speak to people while he operates the crane and he is having the day of his life.
Ok the next post is about building the boom with some pics and about the other cranes from the show

Eef

[9W Monighan]

Is that what they mean by a VIRUS on the computer?
My words are exactly about having a partner you can trust with the machine. My son has been with the build since the beginning and he knows what to do and is a really big help while walking. But we're still learning.

[Stuff]

wow thats huge!!!

[tracksntreadslou]

Hello EEf and welcome ...Wow pretty amazing talent and very good attention to detail..
How much will it lift?

[W900snowman]

Hi EEF and welcome, amazing work I can't wait to see more of this one. It looks just as detailed as the 1:50 models I have. Keep up the good work and get well soon. Are the crawler pads steel? I would love to see more on those they look just like the real ones.

[tc1cat]

What a way to make an entrance to the forum!! GREAT looking crane and the 1/50th looks like it could pass for the big one! Can't wait to see it completed also.

Lynn

[D8R]

That´s one fantastic model you have made. Realy liked to see the other pics on your home page. Hard to belive it´s a model! 5 stars!
Dan

[eef7260]

Hello everybody
Thanks again for your reply's and nice comments.

tracksntreadslou asked : How much will it lift?
Well here is the answer.

100 US tons = 90 metric tons = 90000 kg divided by 15 to the third power = 26,5 kg maximum lifting capacity.
With the shortest boom configuration at 83°.
Thats been tested and it passed the maximum load test successfully.

SmallHaul : there are a few small videos on my website.

W900snowman : yes the pads are from steel i will post some about it in one of the next posts.

OK now about the boom.
Boom is made from 6mm steel hydraulic tube and 2.5mm welding steel.
It's cheap and strong , 90% of the connections are done with copper welding.
The rest of the connections are done with silver solder.
Reason for this is that sometimes there are to many connections close to each other.
If you heat up one place the other one is falling apart again.
Silver solder is a bit lower in temperature so i used this on the difficult spots.
Result of this it's extremely strong , but it's not that simple.
It's extremely difficult because of all the tension you will bring in with these temperature.
So be warned it can drive you nuts if you will give it a try.
Afterwards file of the spots with to much solder ( or some rough sandpaper).
And then sand or glass blasting the whole thing and that's it.
The photos will tell the rest of the story.


next post : about the other cranes from the show , and about the tracks.

Eef

[W900snowman]

WOW very nice work. Can I ask why you chose to use steel for the boom instead of brass or ???. Just curious I've been planning on building a manitowoc 4100 in probaly 1:16 and I am always looking for ideas or advice. Again amazing craftsmanship it is top notch.

[mog]

WOW VERY NICE i love you jig for making your boom. i was so pumped when you said that you did a scale max lift. that tell's me that it work's as well as it looks good wich is way hard. i can't get the work you have done.

[lorenzo]

That's just breath taking. Wow! I wish I had just 1/10th of your skills. That would boost the making of my dragline.
I've seen your sockets installed at your clam shell bucket. How did you made the sockets. This parts I could need too .