Digger project

[pennymachines]

The kids have been playing it non stop.

The ultimate accolade! Nice work.

[yaksplat]

The ultimate accolade! Nice work.

Thanks!

[treefrog]

That is one great project we have been watching, started almost 5 years ago and fantastic outcome, well done

[yaksplat]

That is one great project we have been watching, started almost 5 years ago and fantastic outcome, well done

I had to do some digging to see when I actually bought the crane as eBay no longer keeps records before 2017. Turns out that I bought the digger in February 2014. So this does mark almost exactly 5 years.

Total Cost: $706

• Mechanism: $459
• Chain: $22
• Glass: $67
• Wood: $65
• Paint: $5
• Hinge: $5
• New Gears: $50
• New Handle: $14
• New clutch bearing: $19

Elbow grease and time in the workshop are free, but now i can see when these go for $1300+. There will be more projects to come. I think a coin pusher would be a fun and easy machine to jump on.

Now that I've done this, if anyone needs to fix a crane like this, I know the mechanism inside and out and will surely be able to help you out. I still have to finalize my cabinet plans, but I'll make those available as well. Thanks to those of you that have provided information, pictures and other help along the way.

[ddstoys]

Great work looks unreal. How did you overcome the coin mech set up?

[yaksplat]

It was quite simple actually. I just used a chain...

[yaksplat]

While I'm uploading videos, here's one of the reversing gears. The nice, brand new old stock gears, adjusted as perfectly as they could be with shim washers due to the bent cage that they're in. The middle gear has a new one way needle bearing pressed into it. The old one was slipping quite a bit and it would spin 1/4 to a full turn before the clutch dug in. You'll notice the dog on the gear keeping the assembly from turning counter-clockwise. The old one was shot, barely attached and was prone to missing the teeth. I cut a new one out of some of the steel from the new bracket that it's mounted to. The main shaft is 1/4" steel and is spinning inside the first quarter inch of the 5/16" shaft that goes through the rest of the assembly. This too needed to be replaced as the old one had suffered from too many slipped set screws grinding the metal away combined with heavy usage.



If anyone wants a video of something else on the machine, let me know and I'll make it.

[bryans fan]

I think you should be extremely proud of what you have achieved, and only five years! I have some machines that I have been thinking about what to do for that long.
WELL DONE!

[yaksplat]

Thanks!... I just got a notification that my Win A Crunch was just delivered, so that should be the next thread up later.

[ddstoys]

Well I finally had a crack at one of my cabinets. Still needs more love but with my timber skills I’m pretty happy with it. lol

[yaksplat]

That looks great!

The toughest part for me was getting the tray all set to slide into the cabinet. There are notches on each of the four corners to slide the tray in. Once the front corners engage the tray, it's held up and solid. My prize ramp was installed after the tray and just has screws holding everything together so it comes apart easily.

[ddstoys]

Here’s the almost finished product. I had to use my older mech as the Tonka one sits lower than the plans where designed for

[ddstoys]

And then there were two.

[yaksplat]

Just like magic?

[ddstoys]

Yep, and all thanks to you - without your posts I probably wouldn’t have touched these.

I’m just about to send you something for your

[rhinomods]

Fantastic Job! I am glad to see the progress!! I had been lurking at topic on the forum for a couple years, and finally made an account!

[hemiroid]

Great Job!
I'm a late arriver but enjoyed reading on your progress...
Did I miss it or did you post the plans somewhere for the cabinet you built?
Thank you...

[rob1986]

I have a couple of these mechs I can probably help you out.

Hi. Do you still have any of the old ‘Digger’ mechs. If so, are any of them for sale? Many thanks, Rob.

[ddstoys]

Nah mate, built cabinets for both of them.