The fire truck

This is a fire truck built with Meccano. I used quite some rusty plates to give it an old look, actually, rusty plates are all that I have. The original plan is to build a fire truck that is similar to the vehicle that Marshall drives in the cartoon series Paw Patrol for my daughter, but the plan was diverted and here it is:

I developed two versions, the first version uses a Meccano magic clockwork motor to drive, the second version uses an electric motor to drive. The truck also has a ladder with can be turned manually through a worm gear.

The magic clockwork motor version

I love Meccano clockwork motors, and want to build things like the vehicles in the cartoon series Holly and Ben’s little kindom.

There are several kinds of vintage Meccano clockwork motors from the 1920s to 1950s. You can find them easily in Ebay. I used the magic clockwork motor, because it is small enough to fit under the fire truck.

The problem is that the magic clockwork motor spins fast and gives too little torque to move the truck, so I have to gear down, I used a few pulleys with rubber bands to gear down.

Here is a video showing the gear down effect (if you don’t see the video, link here):

And here is how the truck moves using the magic clockwork motor. I know, it is quite slow due to the gear down(if you don’t see the video, link here):

The electric motor version

In this version, the clockwork motor is replaced by an electric motor. I used a thin motor built in France since it fits the space under the fire truck. The motor generates enough torque so there is no need for gear down and so the transmission is simplified. But of course, you will need a battery to drive the motor. I put the battery inside the truck of the truck.

This video shows how the electric motor turns(if you don’t see the video, link here):

The turn-able ladder

I decided to make a manual turn-able ladder instead of a motor one because it is kind of complicated and I ran out of truck space to mount another motor. Remember, standard Meccano motors are kind of bulky. Also, it is a good practice for small kids to manually turn the ladder with a wheel. I used a worm gear so the ladder can lock its position and won’t move around. And there is a basket on top of the latter.

Here is a video showing how to turn the ladder (if you don’t see the video, link here):

You can also raise the ladder and bend the second half of the ladder because they are connected with lock nut (see the picture below). They can lock position too.

The driving room

I decided to add some details, such as a chair and a steering wheel in the driving room, just for decoration.

That’s it, the fire truck, with either clcokwork or electric motor, and featuring a manually turn-able ladder.