PECO Yard Crane LK-735

Reviewed by John Hutnick

This is a model of a general purpose 2-ton yard crane. This kit is provided as grey flat plastic sprues, with some fine straight wire and white thread. There is a one page assembly diagram with notes, but no step-by-step instructions. All of the parts fit together well, with clean up needed only where the parts are separated from the sprue.

The kit can be built so that the mechanism actually works. There are three moving parts in the crane body; the shaft with the geared hand crank handle, a shaft with a large reduction gear, and the geared spool for the cable. For strength in operation, I made two new cross shafts from 2mm nickel silver rod. You could also use heavy brass wire or steel rod. I managed to drill the crank and the large gear for a light press fit, with no adhesive required, as shown in the left side detail photo. I made retaining collars for the right side shaft ends as can be seen in the second close-up photo.

I used thin thrust washers, coated with graphite, under each gear and shaft end for smooth operation. The collars, and the cable spool gear and wheel, are all fastened with 5-minute epoxy.

The boom pivots up and down to a final fixed position held up by two truss rods attached to a pivoting bracket at the top of the frame. I assume the intent is that the angle is determined by the 2 lengths of wire provided. For strength, I made these up with 0.025in phosphor bronze wire, curled into end loops to engage the boom. I drilled all the way through the top bracket for these truss rods and epoxied them in. It was difficult for me to get both sides the same in tension, so I cut the wires and soldered each side together with a section of fine brass tube as an adjustable joint.

The top boom pulley tended to come loose, so I cut a short section of sprue material and glued it crosswise between the boom ends to squeeze the pulley. The pulley is glued together in two halves, so make sure to smooth the pulley groove with a fine round file before final assembly. I used black button cord for the cable. I formed up a new cable hook from 0.040in wire, and added a small lead fishing split shot for weight to hold the cable taut. So I can now hook a load to the crane and happily crank it up and down. I will probably paint this in a basic flat dark grey with a concrete base and brick colour trim.

A small crane like this has a variety of uses and adds interest to a scene. I highly recommend this kit. My only mistake was that I managed to get ‘SWL 2 ton’ at the boom joint upside down!