Initial Crane Designs

These initial crane designs are extremely crude but give food for thought and upon analysis, although some material is immediately discarded, some good core ideas surface.

Design 1


The first design is similar to a JCB digger.

Advantages:

• The use of 4 heavy duty wheels help it to move through rough terrain without being assembled and dissassembled constantly.
• A pivot above the base allows the boom to swivel to discard of picked up material.
• A scoop like connection at the front can move gravel and multiple smaller objects with ease.
• A hydraulic system can be utilised easily at the touch of a button.

Disadvantages:

• Using wheels in this manner may leave the crane unstable and likely to topple upon picking up large weights.
• The scoop would be useless when confronted with a large solid beam.
• Many parts of this design would be extremely heavy when disassembled, making carrying the individual parts impossible.

Design 2

Advantages:

• A strong sturdy base would give a good platform for the crane to operate.
• A hydraulic system could lift the boom up and down quickly.
• The vaccuum operated suction device would be able to attach to most objects.

Disadvantages:

• The crane is completely immobile.
• There is no means to transfer it's load apart from vertically, work would have to be done and then the load would be set back down again.
• If such a vacuum system was available, it would be likely to be very expensive.

Design 3

Advantages:

• 'Spider' legs would provide good support on rough terrain and could easily be attached.
• A strong winch mechanism can be attached easily onto the framework to provide a good lifting force.
• The holding mechanism would be able to grasp objects quickly with strength.

Disadvantages:

• The crane is stationary which is unpractical.
• Upon grasping a load, the 'claw' mechanism would not be very efficient in keeping a grip on it.
• Another system such as a pivot would be useful to move the load out of the way.