Review: LEGO Technic 42097 Compact Crawler Crane

Today we are quickly interested in the LEGO Technic set 42097 Compact Crawler Crane (920 pieces - 99.99 €), a box that features a spider crane and that LEGO presents as a product intended for the youngest fans who discover the wonderful world of gears and pine Technic.

And LEGO does well to mention that this set is aimed at a young audience because complex mechanisms should not be expected here. Each available function is independent and allows a single action to be performed. Lovers of functionalities combined via very elaborate sub-assemblies will therefore be left hungry.

I specify it for those who do not really know the LEGO Technic range and who wonder where are the 920 pieces of the set: there are here more than 270 pine of all kinds and the elements used to assemble the two tracks of the machine are delivered in 60 copies.

Assembly is relatively easy with a very explicit instruction booklet which details each of the 274 assembly steps in pine near. We start with the mobile base of the crane with the installation of the various rotating elements that will allow the arm and the four stabilizers to come into action. The crane base cover is fairly basic but this is the price to pay to be able to observe the operation of the various mechanical subassemblies. At this point, you still have the choice between continuing to assemble the set to get a construction machine or let your imagination run wild and turn it into a tank with rotating turret ...

You have to stick a few stickers in the process, and even if some of them are purely decorative, several of these stickers allow you to clearly identify the function accessible via one of the many knobs distributed on the crane frame. Not to mention the lever which allows the base of the arm to be slightly raised to prevent the latter from getting stuck between the two rear stabilizers when the boom is deployed.

The boom is also deployed using a wheel which sets the linear actuator in motion and the crane then reaches about fifty centimeters in height when the extension fitted with a rack is fully extended (via another wheel ). The raised rotating base cannot make a full turn on itself, you have to settle for an angle of 180 °, enough to have a little fun but the angle seems too limited to me to reproduce the possibilities of this type gear in real life.

Just to put the four stabilizers in place, you have to seriously grind. Too bad these elements do not raise the body of the crane, it seems to me that it is however the principle of these compact machines which are useful on sites where the accessibility of lifting equipment is a problem.

Each stabilizer is deployed independently of the other three and it is therefore necessary to repeat the same operation four times via three distinct phases: orient the stabilizer according to the desired angle, tilt it and then mill to make between the support in contact with the ground via a screw endless circulating on a rack. I'm not a specialist in this type of gear, but pairing the stabilizers two by two seemed to me to be a little more interesting.
The stabilizers must be stored in a sequence that allows them to be stored in sets of two on the crane deck.

As if there were not enough wheels in this set, LEGO adds one to deploy the dummy control panel (a sticker) placed under the frame of the machine when it is retracted. It's quite realistic, these Spider cranes not having a cabin for the operator. The statistics will perhaps make smile the purists but one counts besides "only" 53 gears in this box of which 17 are used only of wheels.

Small aside: For those who thought that I was perhaps doing a little too much about the sewing thread that serves as the thread in my review of the set LEGO Ideas 21318 Treehouse, the thicker, stronger cable provided here (P / N 6219044) might well have done the trick.

In short, this set sold for a hundred euros has a real "didactic" side with mechanical sub-assemblies that are easy to assemble and whose correct functioning can be checked along the way so as not to have to disassemble everything in order to to correct any error. Each wheel corresponds to a single feature well identified with the help of the stickers provided and it is an opportunity for those who would like to embark on more complex models to discover the basics of the LEGO Technic system.

However, a crane is still a crane and we will quickly tire of deploying each stabilizer in turn between two trips on the hard plastic tracks. There is arguably more fun and less expensive in the LEGO Technic range unless you are passionate about public works and then you plan to invest in more complex models like for example the motorized crane of the set. 42082 Rough Terrain Crane (2018), the set 42055 Bucket Wheel Excavator (2016) or the enormous 42100 Liebherr R 9800 Excavator (4108 pieces - 449.99 €) expected for the start of the school year.

THE 42097 CRAWLER CRANE COMPACT SET ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

Note: The set shown here, supplied by LEGO, is included as usual. To participate in the draw, all you have to do is post a comment (avoid "I participate, I try, etc ..." be a little more constructive) on this article before the August 5, 2019 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.