 | | The large Liebherr box. |  |  | | The middle tray contains the crane body, lattice sections and hooks. |  | | The model makes very good transport loads. The body of the crane is fixed with transport adaptors. |  | | The crane offloaded and standing on jacks. |  | | Self assembling the crawler tracks. |  | | The 300t hook fitted. |  | | Tracks are wide. |  | | Tilting cab. |  | | Large main boom and derrick fitted. |  | | Rigged with the suspended ballast tray. |  | | Tonnes of ballast for a big lift. |  | | Wagenborg colour scheme is attractive. |  | | Big model. |
|  Comment on this model.
This is a model of the giant Liebherr 1750 Crawler Crane which has a lifting capacity of 750 tonnes. It has a maximum height of lift of 191m and can be configured in a variety of ways including adding special boom sections for wind turbine work. It is also a sister machine to the Liebherr LG 1750 Truck Mounted Crane as many of the crane components are shared.
The version reviewed here is in the colours of Wagenborg Nedlift, the Netherlands heavy lifting and transport specialist. It is configured with a suspended ballast frame arrangement.
Packaging
The model box is very large and extremely heavy, and care is advised in handling it. It consists of a picture sleeve which wraps the three expanded polystyrene trays which contain the model, complete with a lid for the top tray. There were no defects or missing parts on the review model.
A 26 page manual is included which is printed in black and white, and two additional sheets cover the suspended ballast tray in this version of the model. It has photos of the box trays with parts annotated so they can be identified during the assembly process, although and not every piece is actually identified.
The assembly instructions themselves are a series of staged photographs with the components at each stage identified. Although the pictorial stages are fine, the instructions fall short in the area of reeving the model. There is a lack of a clear description of which winch drums should control which function and where for example the hoist ropes should run through the derrick. There are reeving diagrams for the three sets of luffing gear which are barely clear enough in black and white, but nothing at all for reeving the hooks. It is a little disappointing that the model falls a bit short in this area.
With that said, the assembly of the model is enjoyable because Conrad's model engineering is top notch and the model parts fit together very well indeed. As usual the reeving can try the patience and this model is no exception. Stringing up the hooks can lead to frustration as the string has a tendency to bounce off the pulleys so the best bet is to keep the string under tension at all times.
Full assembly of the complete configuration takes several hours.
Detail
Each track frame is a large single piece consisting of the main structural frame which has some interesting casting detail. The drive sprockets are detailed and bear the Liebherr name finely cast in. The track pads are wide representing the 2m track pad option of the real crane.
The centre section is a heavy piece and has the crane body permanently attached. There are four outriggers with jacks for lifting the crane body off a transport vehicle. The outrigger pads are plastic but they are not visible when the model is fully assembled. Also spanning the track frames is a pair of brackets which fit onto clips which attach onto the frames, and these support three ballast plates each. These are the usual high standard of casting including lifting lugs. On top of the plates, silver textured walkways rest to provide a platform for operator access and this part of the model is completed by a couple of ladders and handrails. A heavy toothed slewing ring sits on top of the undercarriage.
The crane body has a swinging cab which includes a walkway and handrails but does not have some of the smaller details such as wipers and mirrors. Inside, the cab has a representation of controls and screens. The crane body is heavy and has essential detail within the casting representing panels and handles, and there are a couple of ladders. At the front, the three slewing motors look realistic, and they are complete with drive pinions, although there are no hydraulic lines modelled. There is a small auxiliary winch at the front and this looks best when it has some thread wound on.
The Wagenborg livery is very attractive and includes good graphics on the sides of the body including a fleet number.
Moving to the rear, the engine enclosure includes textured surfaces and grilles and a metal exhaust pipe. The grille detail also extends to the underside of the body. Heavy ballast trays hang off each side at the rear. The A-frame includes the hydraulic hook which the crane uses to assemble its own tracks.
The suspended ballast frame pins to the back of the crane and has a textured walking surface and nicely rendered metal handrails. Ladders descend to the support bed, and the support mechanism is detailed within the casting, but the cylinders are non functioning. The ballast plates are very good, with lifting eyes that facilitate lifting with suitable chains to make an interesting pose.
The boom and jib sections are all fine examples of Conrad’s model engineering ability. Geometrically perfect, they fit together extremely well. They are joined together by the usual Conrad plastic pins which work fine. At the crane body, spring loaded back stops prevent the booms from over luffing and these parts are all metal. All of the pulleys are plastic, and are free rolling. The suspension bars are plastic and pin together maintaining a true line when under load so they are much better than those supplied with the early versions of the model.
The luffing bridles are plastic, presumably to keep the weight of these parts down so that the lines do not sag unduly. Another plastic part is the pulley holder on the main boom head and this would certainly have been better in metal like the luffing jib head, which is a heavy piece. Plastic Liebherr signboards are fixed to the boom and jib.
Two hooks are provided and these are impressive. Consisting of the same modular components, they strip down to separate pulley block and hook assemblies with only the pulleys and pins being plastic. The larger hook also has clip on ballast weights to keep the tension in the ropes.
Features
The model features working jacks to lift the crane body off of a transport vehicle. These rotate out from the cross frame and screw down to lift the crane.
The crawler tracks roll nicely and are mounted on a frame which is spring loaded at one end which keeps the tension and also enables removal of the tracks.
The cab is a swinging type which tucks in at the front when in transport mode. It can also be tilted to allow the operator comfort when the crane is lifting at height.
A working hydraulic hook is provided which is connected to the A-frame so that the crane can assemble its own tracks. This has a suitably stiff cylinder so that the hook can be posed at a variety of lengths and hold a load without the ram ‘bleeding’.
All three hoist drums in the crane body are spring loaded and resistant to slipping under load. They are operated using keys which push through holes in the crane body and they have a slotted end so they can be driven using a powered screwdriver. The three hoist drums mounted in the boom and derrick sections are operated similarly so that all the functions of the real crane can be replicated. The boom drums are also pinned in position so are removable.
The suspended ballast frame is attached to the crane with a telescopic mechanism which allows it to be set at three different extension radii depending on the lift to be undertaken.
The large 600t hook is modular and can be broken down to form a separate 300t hook.
A major strength of the model is the ability to build it in a number of configurations. Booms and jibs can be any length desired. A luffing jib can be mounted, or not, and the derrick is also an optional fixture. Similarly a variety of ballast weight configurations is available. The modular construction also allows it to be used to make up a large number of transport loads.
Quality
The quality of manufacture is very good indeed with the metal lattice sections straight and true, and it fits together really well.
The paintwork and graphics are very good and plastic is kept to a minimum.
Price
This is a limited edition and is a significant amount of metal so it is not cheap. It is good value for what is offered.
Overall
Conrad has produced a very large model which fully erected is an imposing 2m high and although the stresses get significant with a model of this size there is never the feeling that it cannot take the loads applied.
The display possibilities are excellent because of the different configurations possible, and it can be broken down into transport size loads.
Although the manual could be a little better there is no doubt that in Wagenborg livery this is an outstanding model.
Footnotes
The model first appeared at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in February 2005 in Liebherr colours. In 2007 the sister crane, the truck mounted LG1750, was announced by Conrad as model 2737. This Wagenborg version appeared in September 2012.
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|  | | The top tray holds the tracks, suspended ballast tray and lattice sections. |  | | The bottom tray has the ballast plates and various sections. |  | | A heavy crawler track on the road. |  | | Crane parts are large. |  | | Large 600t hook is modular. |  | | Rigged with a short main boom only. |  | | The main boom head. The pulley arrangement is pinned and can be left off if the luffing jib is fitted. |  | | Textured engine cover. The winch drums and pulleys are plastic. |  | | Ballast on the undercarriage. Putting some rope on the auxiliary winch looks better. |  | | Heavy crawler track frames. |  | | Big iron. |  | | Luffing jib. |  | | Very realistic appearance. |  | | Lifting a fermentation tank with ease. |  | | Impressive model engineering. |
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