• September 28, 2011

    Fernando: Unimog Implements

    As Markus already explained, the Unimog is a versatile platform characterized by the huge diversity of implements (or attachments) that are possible to develop, for as many applications as you can imagine for this vehicle.

    You have also seen how to power the implements from the available front and rear PTO and PPTOs, and how the operator controls these from inside the cabin.

    Among the different applications we can find, there are some relatively common but also quite unusual. Let's see a few of these and some LEGO elements you can use to implement them.

    Below, some examples you may try with the LEGO Technic Linear Actuator, or its smaller version released already this year.



    Articulated elements as cargo beds or similar, objects that you need to raise from the ground or the positioning of special tools, as it is the case in the road safety work vehicle below (the latest one). Off course most of these use pneumatic cylinders in their real life versions, but there are situations where you need force, precision or simply it may be more interesting for you to drive the mechanism by some other means.



    The LEGO Technic pneumatic accessories may also become very useful for many other types of implements.



    In some cases the pneumatic cylinders do match closer the real mechanisms or simply it would be much difficult, if not impractical, to route a driving shaft or some other gearing solution to the point where it would be needed to drive a Linear Actuator.



    Other type of implements can be for instance based on more fundamental elements only, to drive their core functionality, like gears or turntables.



    In some cases your model functionality may consist of rotating movements only, where elements just producing linear motion do not fit, or there is no space for them in the building scale chosen and you must figure out some different solutions.



    Some fans have already started to build their own implements and modifications to the LEGO Technic Unimog U400, or even they have developed completely new versions from scratch, as you may have already seen online.
    Hopefully you have also built yours and submitted to the LEGO Technic Challenge contest in September. ;)

    In the early Unimog days there were also already some archaic attachments... as you can see from the antique images below.



    But things have evolved a lot since then and... Do you know that by the occasion of the Unimog 60th anniversary, Mercedes-Benz presented its latest concept proposal for the Unimogs of tomorrow?



    Have you thought about what the future implements may also look like and how they would fit in this?
    Don’t forget to share your vision and show it to the fans community, at the several online forums.

    And do not forget!... The Unimog is not the only LEGO Technic set for which you can build your own attachments.
    For instance, your 8043 Excavator is eagerly waiting for you to build some new electrical or pneumatic hammers, grabbers, or something else you may have in mind. ;)

    Cheers,
    Fernando

  • September 1, 2011

    Unimog Implements

    The Unimog U300/400/500 is also called the universal implement carrier, and universal is the right word, it can be anything from a crane, fire truck to a kind of train. The Unimog has a unique standardized attachment interface in the front and back, with a PTO (Power take off) a splined driveshaft to provide power to an attachment.



    Then there are colored hydraulic connectors to control the attachment from inside the cabin by a joystick.



    In all there are four attachment points in the front, the back on the top and on the side. There are more than 2000 different implements for the Unimog. This makes the Unimog the most versatile working platform, used for jobs you probably will not expect. Just see below:



    One the most common use is municipal work, in summer cutting grass and cleaning signs and removes snow in winter, just by changing to a snow ploughs or snow cutters and a salt dispenser in back. The drum of the snow cutter is driven by the PTO while the lifting and directing is controlled by hydraulic.



    Other municipal jobs include cleaning roads or maintaining electric installations with an aerial lift.



    The Unimog is also used within construction, with large hydraulic cranes with supports and powerful winches. They are used to work in areas where normal trucks are not able to drive anymore.



    Maybe you will not expect a Unimog on rails, but there are attachments with retractable train wheels so that a Unimog can maintain trail road systems or pull wagons.



    The Unimog is also used in agriculture, where quick change attachment like on tractor is mounted to take all Implements used in farming. Here the powerful PTO in the front and back are used to drive the attachments, like the hay turner below.



    In the forest industry the Unimog is used to transport wood, in difficult terrain using it 4 wheel drive. Powerful cranes with claws load the log on large trailers pulled by the Unimog.



    Unimogs are also used in Fire fighting because of its outstanding offroad capabilities it is used in mountainous and wooden areas. Equipped with pumps, winches, and special floor spraying jets for self protection or fighting grass and ground fires.



    And at last, not so many attachments but still some cool Unimog Racing Trucks. The race in long distance rally’s like Lisbon – Dakar, again proofing its roughness in difficult terrain with its permanent 4-wheel drive, portal axels and extreme axle articulation.