| Caterpillar 14G Motor Grader | |
| Built 1992; Redux 2000 | A pioneering platform for real, and later simulated, hydraulics with Meccano |
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Modern road graders present a special challenge in Meccano. Their many hydraulic actuators (the Caterpillar has ten rams and a rotary drive) have to be reproduced, but unlike bulldozers and diggers which have fewer rams and hollow frames in which pulleys and cables can be concealed, the rams are externally and prominently placed.
Originally, the model had real
hydraulics, using the short-lived Action Engineering system, too
bulky to fit inside the model (the pump and valves were in a separate
module linked by an umbilical cord), and
designed for only 2 bar, they quickly failed in spectacular fashion, coating
the ceiling with hydraulic fluid.
The ten simulated hydraulic circuits are:
l Steering l Front wheel lean l Mouldboard side shiftl Circle centre shift l Circle rotation l Blade angle l Blade lift (right) l Blade lift (left) l Frame articulation (2 rams) l Ripper lift/lower
The circle is rotated by a Minimotor concealed in sleeve piece. All are operated by reversible micro switches and a battery concealed in the engine housing. Wires to the actuators are fed through the original hydraulic tubing. A Minimotor in the steering console is wired into the steering circuit, turning the steering wheel. A larger 12V motor inside the dummy engine block drives the four rear wheels via a locking differential, with 3:1 hub reduction in the tandems.
A lever to the right of the driver's seat sets and releases the differential lock, and another retracts the locking pin of the circle side shift radius arm. |
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Builder's comment: A triumph of persistence? The model appeared as a prop in the 2001 UK television drama "The Russian Bride".
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