This accessory does not have, in the directions or in the Lionel parts photo, a traction tire on any wheel. Mine goes halfway up the track then stops. Other features work fine. The directions do not specify how much voltage should be on the rails that run this accessory. 12, 15, 18? Thanks in advance.
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Reading the manual reveals that this gantry crane is designed to “operate on track voltage”. Being a command control device, that translates to ~18 volts.
Unlike moving a locomotive, to move the crane along the track, the big red knob on your remote needs to be continuously rotated to keep the gantry rolling along. If you stop rotating the knob, the crane stops rolling.
I own this exact crane. Part of the problem is one wheel drive to move the crane down the track. Being 4 wheels and 4 legs it's possible your gantry crane track is not perfectly flat in all planes and thus the drive wheel loses traction. Not to mention, the overhung load of the crane boom can affect how much effective pressure is on the drive wheel to track. I ended up hot gluing a lot of weight (hardware store bulk nuts) into the underside base area to give more stability and weight to the base and thus improve the traction.
Thank you, gents. The track gets 18 volts. I even tried 20 on my faithful PW ZW. The drive wheel does seem like it is spinning and loosing traction. That's why I was looking for a traction tire or reference to same. I have a box of Harbor Freight™ zinc weight in 1/2 oz size. Mr Barry, is there a specific spot on the underside you placed the extra weight? Do you recall how many ounces of extra weight you added?
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