Okay folks its time to post Team USA results for rigging the PTC. Sorry it took Team USA so long to get it done, but hey, that’s life in the USA! Today was the 17th anniversary of my 29th birthday, so I took it off to play with my PTC. So this post will be a little multipart as I am going to post my reeving time, post a few how to’s and a small review of the PTC. A full review of the PTC will be up on my website later this evening, with 82 pictures.

Part one: Reeving time totals: 100 minutes for the main boom and the luffer, and 151 minutes for the main hook and small hook. However I need to give myself a 8 minute deduct for the phone call from mom, and I need to deduct another 6 minutes for the phone call from the boss man. So Team USA time is 237 minutes.

Paul???? Time to post and remember I am a moderator and can edit your post!!! (I would never do that)

Part two: Here are some pictures of my hook reeving that happened today. The main hook that comes with the PTC has keepers on the hook to prevent rigging from coming off. And unfortunately the manufacturer made these permanent not spring clips that work. So in my infinite wisdom I tried to drill out the pin to make it work. This unfortunately lead to my breaking the part off. So a quick dab of epoxy and it went back together in its non-functional state.







And here are a couple of the pictures of my set up. The book shows laying the hook block lose on its side-that is nuts! Holding things tight is a better idea!












Part three:The PTC I am really liking. Yes it was pricey, but a heck of a detailed model. I think having WSI as their masters made TWH do a better job than on some previous offerings.

The disappointments are:

You cannot break down for transport mode-impossible
The pre rigging of the counter weight connections is, ah, difficult to deal with at best-all four block and tackles on a common drum-no possible way to loosen them or tighten without them jumping when undoing the tape. I had to re reeve all four blocks - 3 hours worth
The pre measured pennant lines to the main boom-one tight the other lax and swinging in the breeze. The only way to tension is to lay the boom out at about a 35 degree angle-other than that no means to adjust.
All of the backmast stays did not have the right size hole in them to accept the screw provided and required drilling all 8 out to the right size-not the end of the world, but still….

The good points:

It goes together pretty easily
Everything fits and no defects in the parts other than the back mast stays
It spins on the track super easy
Detailed parts are sensible
The winches have awesome, the brakes work and hold well
All reeving works perfectly-you can easily boom up and down and luff up and down
Instructions are pretty clear and logical
Packaging is superior
Boom tips are black
Details are superior
Braided line-not musky master but close
It has aircraft warning lights on the boom tip
Booms all the way up and down on its own-you could lay it out 2" off the ground and it is rock solid
Overall the big trick is getting the weight of the crane evenly distributed across the counter weight pennants and the back mast pennants

Overall this model is worth every penny!! A few pictures to share, and again 82 in total on the web site


























Again plenty more on my web page! Thanks for looking!

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Bob
Bobs Cranes

Come Over To The Lift Side . . . . . . . We Have Cookies!!!!

Who won?

Paul or Bob?

hmmm I think paul did!!

finished product turned out good sir

Beautiful job Bob!! Want a couple plane tickets to MD for some PTC rigging?, please bring you table saw.

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Mark L.

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts

Nice crane, wish I had the money for one.

Can it lift that Marshall Half Stack?

Andrew

Bob,
Great post! I am glad that you have it all finished and are able to enjoy this fabulous model. I do concur with all the points you bring up, both negative and positive. Fortunately I did not have the trouble with the CW tray and suchlike that you did. But it appeaars you are not the only one and that I got lucky.

Now for the team UK results:

68 minutes for the main boom and luffer. 160 minutes for main hook (lost 10 minutes here because I had to start again!) and small hook which is a total of 228 minutes. Plus I did it all on my own so do I get bonus points

Paul R

Hi !

Very good review , nice pictures , very informative !!!
thank you all for sharing .

The Frenchman

Congratulations to Paul R on the winning time, beating Team USA by 11 minutes!! Hats off to you!!

As for plane tickets, PM me and I will give you the address to send them to!

Christian-yup that is some super glue which has since been touched up. That particular back stay inserted bottom piece fell out and required a touch of the Super glue to hold it back in place. In retrospect I should have used a two part epoxy and still may do so as there is no real weight on the piece in its current position.

And I did find the counter weight trays to be the trickiest part! Many interdependent connections!

I am not sure if it could lift my mini Marshall stack (the noise maker as the wife calls it). But I do want to make a tank vessel like a coker to hang under neath it.

Wit this model up and in house, what else is there to look forward to?.................................

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Bob
Bobs Cranes

Come Over To The Lift Side . . . . . . . We Have Cookies!!!!

I took a good look at the PTC, and extending the boom is simple, even with the angled sections.

The boom 'base' sections at the lower tie, and the top sections, have a stub piece installed on the outer chords. The head section and the lower tie are both notched here to force the stub to be longer, allowing a little more room between the pins. (likely that at the shortest boom length, the offset wouldn't allow the minimum edge distance between the pins without the notches.)

I would guess the extension kit would come with one set of eight new links to replace the current ones, probably sized for the full extension set. If you want to change the configuration to anything else, you wil need to make your own set of properly-sized links. Without trying to do the math, I don't know if the upper and lower links for a given boom length are the same, or if the difference would be of consequence at 1:50.

The mast doesn't have a similar setup, since it only works in one mast configuration. (confirm?)

BobM: To keep busy, I would suggest preparing to paint a Manitowoc 4100 Ringer in Mammoet colors, and building a Portal Gantry to go underneath it. There were good photos in the "Breakwater Solutions" brochure. Though it looks like the Mammoet 4100 Ringers use concrete counterweights, the steel boxes provide a nice large surface for the biggest 'Mammoth' logo you can make.

Where are your priorities? Obviously you need to invest in a larger boat!