Some may consider the Crablogger to be needlessly (or nonsensically) complex, but to me it sounds like exactly the sort of thing hundreds of millions of dollars would be sunk into, before the company responsible goes bust. History is full of needlessly complex systems, products, and machines - perfectly realistic! Great video as always.
It was always great fun to identify where parts of the large machines originated. The Crablogger's pulp production unit appears to be based on two Tiger Joe tank bodies (Topper Toys) which was not a small toy! The same toy was used as the basis of the road laying machine featured in another episode of Thunderbirds and I'm pretty sure the wheels and tracks were used as the chassis of the SHADO mobile. The land train in Terrahawks used the wheels and tyres from the Tamiya RC Wild Willy jeep kit.
The fact that very similar machines that use robotic arms and saw blades to cut trees and process them actually exist now and that this was made in the 60’s is damn impressive
too bad they didn't include the rear half of the CRABLOGGER. It's like the crew just decoupled it and just left it somewhere else in the forest, but the rear half of the Crablogger housed its main fuel tanks, so the forward half of the Crablogger couldn't go far without running out of Superon.
@@nikerailfanningttm9046that's because it's supposed to be the same crablogger, and the abandoned dam the one that was almost blown up by it. The back half was left on the the top of the dam, while the front half plummeted to the place where it would be found in GO
Oh god! The Crab Logger is Peak Anderson! A huge monstrosity that gobbles up whole forests (and all the forest critters living in the branches) and sh*ts barrels out the back like Donkey Kong with Zero F*cks Given about the environment. It is to the Lorax what The Terminator is to Sarah Connor.
Yeah...this is so; however, back in 1965 when I was a kid, you didn't know about 'ecology' and all that stuff - it hadn't become important back then - so this episode, along with all the other episodes of Thunderbirds, was all about amazing machines doing amazing things...and they were nearly always nuclear powered...Wow!! The power source for the future! We knew no better back then, because this was all cutting-edge technology still back then, and the term and ideas of of 'global warming' didn't come about until later in the 1970s..... These programs fuelled the minds of kids back in the 60s.....visions of a new future; we'd be day-tripping on Mars, and so-on.... They had a similar effect as shows like Star Trek did back then; showing us visions of a future that we're still struggling to achieve.... 'Atomic', or nuclear power is something we should be embracing more.... the waste caused by nuclear power stations can be used in a secondary phase also, and also third phase, until all nuclear contaminants are removed - we have that capability, and so this should be looked into more deeply.... Gerry Anderson was a very forward thinking man with his ideas for these TV shows, exploiting the latest in technologies, many of which involved nuclear (or 'atomic') power, and as we move further into the 21st century, we should be developing more along those lines of power usage- along with the already established sustainable power that we now have - wind and solar. If we can use nuclear, and effectively re-use the spent cores again, a couple of times, that will eliminate need for radioactive waste, and eliminate the need for carbon burning fuel.
Nice title drop! But WOW, did the Crablogger have SO many problems. No emergency stop button. No breaks! Control so complex not even BRAINS can understand them. And the fact that despite having a 'programmed' route, it STILL manages to go completely off course!
I love the Tech Talks! However, given there is a not-inconsiderable Gerry Anderson fan base here in the US, I would think you could get a bigger "bang" with your premiere events if you held them at a mutually-convenient UK/US time. Here in New York City, the premiere occurred at 5:30 AM Eastern Time. That means it premiered at 4:30 AM Central Time, 3:30 AM Mountain Time, and 2:30 AM Pacific Time. There is ***a lot*** of effort put into the Tech Talks. and they serve to entertain existing fans and introduce new ones to the "Andersonverse," so please consider a later time as a means of maximizing the viewing opportunities for your premieres. Keep up the fantastic work!
is that at 2:55 a tank hull or atleast the upper side of one on the side of the Crablogger beneath the keep away sign? Man those were times worth watching tv.
@@andrewholdaway813 partly the drive system and internal workings, but just like a car needs petrol and oil for different reasons, the Atomic and Superon systems each do different things :)
Jair Bolsonaro apparently saw this episode and tried to order a fleet of Crabloggers to clear some trees in Brazil. To make room for cattle grazing for the American meat markets and make room for more cocaine growing etc.
I remember music from Stingray the big gun in the episode Path of Destruction where the Crablogger was seen in I know some some the models of that episode such as the superon tankers was seen in Captain Scarlet as one of them was used as the yellow fox and I did saw one of them in Seek and Destroy and in Thunderbird 6, Crablogger base control was revamped as a ambulance where it took Captain Scarlet to hospital at the end of the episode Winged Assassin and Treble Cross again fantastic tech talk video FAB.
The Crablogger only went out of control because of Sancho's special. Jim Lucas wouldn't have even been needed if the drivers hasn't chosen the "special"
just to note that the back half of the crab logger was first red in colour and was Eddie Housemans road laying machine ... given that the toy tanks they used were 2 ft long the crab logger must have been huge
435 tons seems a bit light for such a machine. If compared to say, a big rig truck, I'd expect such a larger scale vehicle to weigh maybe 3000 tons, 4000 tops, especially with a reactor, shielding and processing plant on board.
@@ACtheLegend ehm, it is stupid becuz imperial measurments are made by drunk idiots. the rest of the world uses metric becuz its more accurate and more convienient. am i clear enough now
@@ACtheLegend There is also engine coolant and windshield wiper fluid...but why would the crablogger require 2 power sources? Is it like a hybrid car where you have batteries and also a normal petrol engine because the batteries don't really work as a reliable power source?
@@ACtheLegend That makes sense. If the pulping equipment was already standard technology for the time it would use standard fuel. The nuclear powered cutting unit in front was designed new from the ground up. It wouldn't be worthwhile to convert the entire trailer-mounted pulping plant from superon fuel to use the electric power from the reactor. Thanks...that's been puzzling to me since the first time I saw that episode.
Don't laugh but, in 1968, Parker Pen produced a designed for a "radioactive pen" which was described as using a tiny packet of isotopes to heat the ink. No production models were obviously made, but you can see the pen floating about in "2001: A Space Odyssey".
Obviously, the concept of a "dead man's handle" never occurred to the designers of Crablogger. Health and safety precautions seem to have taken a downturn by the 2060's. Even Otis's "safety" that prevents elevators plummeting if the cable breaks (a 19th century invention) seems to have been forgotten. ;-)
1960s “Bigger is better!” runs into 2020s ecological hindsight. Out of all the vehicles in Thunderbirds, the Crablogger is one of few that have aged the worst in terms of its functions. I love its design visually but a nuclear-powered massive tree-logging vehicle with no regard for habitat destruction? You’d be mad to want that in today’s world.
I had one of the worst Indian meals ever in the New Forest. Therefore I should have put a warning sign outside the restaurant. Attention: The food is not Crablogger crew friendly. Imagine the local council's dismay to find a new road straight through the centre of their beautiful forest
Lol, this whole thing is absolutely insane. Not one part of it makes a lick of sense - from the base vehicle that has a marble floor; to the nuclear-powered autonomous robotic planet-killer that also gets through over 300 gallons of fuel, every hour, and that doesn't have a failsafe. It's the work of complete, tinpot, lunatics - fun must ensue!
Why didn't Scott use Thunderbird 1 to pull the Crablogger away the city? A couple of magnetic grapples and Thunderbird 1's thrust would have easily steered the massive machine away from the city and the dam.
@@GraemeBell9864 - Correct. Due to some beef cooked in a 'very special way' in a restaurant kitchen that resembles a really disgusting toilet.(with real mice/rats scurrying about) The 'meal' when served up, looks like viciously smoking slurry. It's disgusting and hilarious. No wonder those guys were sick.
There's something wrong here. It is stated in the beginning that the Crablogger is nuclear and yet, it requires refueling every three hours to avoid interruption of operations. Also, there's no way in hell that thing can travel at 40 mph while doing logging. I mean c'mon man.
Many things that run on atomic power still need conventional fuel for others aspects of the operation, it doesn't all come from the reactor. It's like saying "Why does a car need oil and water when it runs on diesel?"
The Sidewinder is a weapon with deadly firepower that operates in the desert. The Crablogger is a logging machine that grabs logs with crab claws and eats them.
No mention of the Mexican restaurant 00 the one from a food inspector's nightmares -- that caused the whole mess to begin with? I guess C21 decided a video celebrating a machine devoted to deforestation was politically incorrect enough as it is.
I can't watch this episode without my head racking through all of the absolutely awful design flaws this machine had and, should it have actually existed, how many lawsuits and deaths would have ensued from it. For goodness sake, couldn't they have at least added a "power down" button?
![Zero-X: Century 21 Tech Talk [3.10] | Hosted by Jeff Tracy [Thunderbirds]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3zLDEMMDmE8/mqdefault.jpg)
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Some may consider the Crablogger to be needlessly (or nonsensically) complex, but to me it sounds like exactly the sort of thing hundreds of millions of dollars would be sunk into, before the company responsible goes bust. History is full of needlessly complex systems, products, and machines - perfectly realistic!
Great video as always.
Could never get my toys to slow motion like this. :)
Please don't attend any of my parties.
this is one of my second favorit episode of this series
It was always great fun to identify where parts of the large machines originated. The Crablogger's pulp production unit appears to be based on two Tiger Joe tank bodies (Topper Toys) which was not a small toy! The same toy was used as the basis of the road laying machine featured in another episode of Thunderbirds and I'm pretty sure the wheels and tracks were used as the chassis of the SHADO mobile. The land train in Terrahawks used the wheels and tyres from the Tamiya RC Wild Willy jeep kit.
The fact that very similar machines that use robotic arms and saw blades to cut trees and process them actually exist now and that this was made in the 60’s is damn impressive
Im a Czech-american who grew up with it one of if not the best Anglo-American show
FAB FACT: The front section of the Crablogger also appeared in a 2020 episode of THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!
The episode is called "Firebreak."
too bad they didn't include the rear half of the CRABLOGGER. It's like the crew just decoupled it and just left it somewhere else in the forest, but the rear half of the Crablogger housed its main fuel tanks, so the forward half of the Crablogger couldn't go far without running out of Superon.
@@nikerailfanningttm9046that's because it's supposed to be the same crablogger, and the abandoned dam the one that was almost blown up by it. The back half was left on the the top of the dam, while the front half plummeted to the place where it would be found in GO
This will be cool. Loved the mix of models and large scale effects they used on this.
Forgot to mention that the crew passed out from food poisoning, which they got from the meal they had the previous night.
Sanchos special
I always renember that dirty restaurant where the Crablogger crew ate XD
was one of the bests episodes
Every time you see it you can kinda hear the soundtrack. Tututu tu tu
Oh god! The Crab Logger is Peak Anderson! A huge monstrosity that gobbles up whole forests (and all the forest critters living in the branches) and sh*ts barrels out the back like Donkey Kong with Zero F*cks Given about the environment. It is to the Lorax what The Terminator is to Sarah Connor.
Yeah...this is so; however, back in 1965 when I was a kid, you didn't know about 'ecology' and all that stuff - it hadn't become important back then - so this episode, along with all the other episodes of Thunderbirds, was all about amazing machines doing amazing things...and they were nearly always nuclear powered...Wow!! The power source for the future!
We knew no better back then, because this was all cutting-edge technology still back then, and the term and ideas of of 'global warming' didn't come about until later in the 1970s.....
These programs fuelled the minds of kids back in the 60s.....visions of a new future; we'd be day-tripping on Mars, and so-on....
They had a similar effect as shows like Star Trek did back then; showing us visions of a future that we're still struggling to achieve....
'Atomic', or nuclear power is something we should be embracing more.... the waste caused by nuclear power stations can be used in a secondary phase also, and also third phase, until all nuclear contaminants are removed - we have that capability, and so this should be looked into more deeply....
Gerry Anderson was a very forward thinking man with his ideas for these TV shows, exploiting the latest in technologies, many of which involved nuclear (or 'atomic') power, and as we move further into the 21st century, we should be developing more along those lines of power usage- along with the already established sustainable power that we now have - wind and solar.
If we can use nuclear, and effectively re-use the spent cores again, a couple of times, that will eliminate need for radioactive waste, and eliminate the need for carbon burning fuel.
The Crablogger was also equipped with a special sieve to filter out mushed up wildlife
The later, improved, version emits emit them as pies, which are catapulted to waiting helicopters.
@@stephenspackman5573
What kind of pies?
Nice title drop! But WOW, did the Crablogger have SO many problems. No emergency stop button. No breaks! Control so complex not even BRAINS can understand them. And the fact that despite having a 'programmed' route, it STILL manages to go completely off course!
I always figured the programmed route was like using Sat Nav. You'll get there if you follow the route shown, but the driver is still in control.
(Just can't resist) ...Another reason not to use Windows to run a vehicule?
@@pierrelahaie6359 Ha! I knew someone was going to bring that up.
Imagine a face off between the Sidewinder and the Crablogger.
The Russians probably bought one and modified it.
"I've been waitin' to get my claws into you!"
"Funny, I was thinkin' the same thing..."
*cue epic fight*
I love the Tech Talks! However, given there is a not-inconsiderable Gerry Anderson fan base here in the US, I would think you could get a bigger "bang" with your premiere events if you held them at a mutually-convenient UK/US time. Here in New York City, the premiere occurred at 5:30 AM Eastern Time. That means it premiered at 4:30 AM Central Time, 3:30 AM Mountain Time, and 2:30 AM Pacific Time. There is ***a lot*** of effort put into the Tech Talks. and they serve to entertain existing fans and introduce new ones to the "Andersonverse," so please consider a later time as a means of maximizing the viewing opportunities for your premieres. Keep up the fantastic work!
I'll take that into consideration, thanks! :)
is that at 2:55 a tank hull or atleast the upper side of one on the side of the Crablogger beneath the keep away sign? Man those were times worth watching tv.
the "processing plant" used the base and wheels of 2 tiger joe tanks
Or as I call it, a nuclear powered wood chipper with battleship armour 😁
Like they say: There is no kill better than 'overkill'.
i love that that is good
Even as a kid I thought it was odd that we would need an atomic powered tree chipper
Now as an adult I want to know why an atomic powered vehicle needs constant refuelling with 'superon' fuel.
@@andrewholdaway813 still runs on fuel like any other vehicle :)
@@ACtheLegend
Oh; what are the atomic motors for then?
@@andrewholdaway813 partly the drive system and internal workings, but just like a car needs petrol and oil for different reasons, the Atomic and Superon systems each do different things :)
@@ACtheLegend
At eight gallons a minute that superon must be doing an awful lot.
A Remote Override System does sound quite the safety feature in the later Crabloggers. That certainly saves a repeat of what happened to Crablogger 1.
I Am looking forward to this video.
Not one of the more eco-friendly machines... That's the way we rolled in the 2060's, but look at the consequences for us now in 2121!
Combining nuclear power and deforestation into the one device, very popular!
Jair Bolsonaro apparently saw this episode and tried to order a fleet of Crabloggers to clear some trees in Brazil. To make room for cattle grazing for the American meat markets and make room for more cocaine growing etc.
I remember music from Stingray the big gun in the episode Path of Destruction where the Crablogger was seen in I know some some the models of that episode such as the superon tankers was seen in Captain Scarlet as one of them was used as the yellow fox and I did saw one of them in Seek and Destroy and in Thunderbird 6, Crablogger base control was revamped as a ambulance where it took Captain Scarlet to hospital at the end of the episode Winged Assassin and Treble Cross again fantastic tech talk video FAB.
FANTASTIC
The Crablogger only went out of control because of Sancho's special. Jim Lucas wouldn't have even been needed if the drivers hasn't chosen the "special"
Well they had no menu but they could have had the same as jansen
just to note that the back half of the crab logger was first red in colour and was Eddie Housemans road laying machine ... given that the toy tanks they used were 2 ft long the crab logger must have been huge
Morning all hope you are all well nice to have info on a slightly minor craft
Doesn't this count as a Sidewinder Mark 2
We need to find someone on that Crablogger who _didn't_ have fish for dinner!
That must have been Ferngully, the last rainforest, where the Crablogger went berserk.
Ah, back when deforesting the Amazon was way cool.
I think the size and weight of the Crablogger would cause it to sink into the ground? But brill model making
How silly, love it!
brilliant!
This machine must be the stuff of Greta Thunberg's worst nightmares!
Lol, more like Greta Thunderbird.
Good
It's exactly the kind of thing a Captain Planet villain would be rolling around in
I'm pretty sure it was nightmare fuel for me as a kid too, mainly because I couldn't fathom something that big and destructive lol
Crablogger and Sidewinder, same theme, not played here, pity, brilliant.
Didn't wanna reuse any themes from previous tech talks :)
Yes. I do hope we get a tech talk on the little robotic mouse that the Hood obtained, IIRC that mouse had its own theme
@@heroicvictory and very catchy it was too!
@@heroicvictory The mighty atom episode.
Hi, I don't know if you are the right guys to ask, but I have a big question:
What is Environmentalism?
Dunno, but you can't spell it without 'mental', so...
Crablogger is the a machine vehicle to cut down trees in South American Forest but the two cruise pass out with food poisoning❤
435 tons seems a bit light for such a machine. If compared to say, a big rig truck, I'd expect such a larger scale vehicle to weigh maybe 3000 tons, 4000 tops, especially with a reactor, shielding and processing plant on board.
Obviously these ideas were from a time when deforestation was no real issue
What episode was this?
Path of Destruction
and again why the mix with imperial and metric measurments, please use consistency and go for metric only
Thunderbirds uses Neo Imperial so that's what we use :)
@@ACtheLegend it still is stupid
@@commandbrawler9348 why? It's consistant with in-universe lore, which is the whole point of the video.
@@ACtheLegend ehm, it is stupid becuz imperial measurments are made by drunk idiots. the rest of the world uses metric becuz its more accurate and more convienient. am i clear enough now
@@commandbrawler9348 it's not exactly hard to convert them if it bothers you so much :)
I could never figure out why the crablogger had both a nuclear reactor and liquid fuel.
Same reason as your car has petrol and oil, they serve different purposes, there's a lot going on inside :)
@@ACtheLegend There is also engine coolant and windshield wiper fluid...but why would the crablogger require 2 power sources?
Is it like a hybrid car where you have batteries and also a normal petrol engine because the batteries don't really work as a reliable power source?
@@ghost307 atomic drive system but pulping gear uses fuel-powered equipment ☺
@@ACtheLegend That makes sense. If the pulping equipment was already standard technology for the time it would use standard fuel. The nuclear powered cutting unit in front was designed new from the ground up. It wouldn't be worthwhile to convert the entire trailer-mounted pulping plant from superon fuel to use the electric power from the reactor. Thanks...that's been puzzling to me since the first time I saw that episode.
@@ghost307 no problemo, I should have made that more clear in the video :) I think we can all agree that either way it's one heck of a gas guzzler!
In the future even your lawn mower will be nuclear powered.
Don't laugh but, in 1968, Parker Pen produced a designed for a "radioactive pen" which was described as using a tiny packet of isotopes to heat the ink. No production models were obviously made, but you can see the pen floating about in "2001: A Space Odyssey".
Theme from stingray march of the clams
Or Oysters :)
3:51 I should hope so!
Obviously, the concept of a "dead man's handle" never occurred to the designers of Crablogger. Health and safety precautions seem to have taken a downturn by the 2060's. Even Otis's "safety" that prevents elevators plummeting if the cable breaks (a 19th century invention) seems to have been forgotten. ;-)
1960s “Bigger is better!” runs into 2020s ecological hindsight.
Out of all the vehicles in Thunderbirds, the Crablogger is one of few that have aged the worst in terms of its functions. I love its design visually but a nuclear-powered massive tree-logging vehicle with no regard for habitat destruction? You’d be mad to want that in today’s world.
I had one of the worst Indian meals ever in the New Forest.
Therefore I should have put a warning sign outside the restaurant.
Attention: The food is not Crablogger crew friendly.
Imagine the local council's dismay to find a new road straight through the centre of their beautiful forest
And now we see real Tree Harvesters I often wonder if this was the inspiration
Lol, this whole thing is absolutely insane. Not one part of it makes a lick of sense - from the base vehicle that has a marble floor; to the nuclear-powered autonomous robotic planet-killer that also gets through over 300 gallons of fuel, every hour, and that doesn't have a failsafe.
It's the work of complete, tinpot, lunatics - fun must ensue!
Next thing you know, the Crablogger's been taken over by a pollution spirit voiced by Tim Curry...
Oh wow! Thanks for the nostalgia boost! Loved Ferngully when I was a kid! 😁
Why didn't Scott use Thunderbird 1 to pull the Crablogger away the city?
A couple of magnetic grapples and Thunderbird 1's thrust would have easily steered the massive machine away from the city and the dam.
Because classic Thunderbirds doesn't play it fast and loose with physics the way TAG does 😉
@@ACtheLegend
True, plus it's a LOT more dramatic the way they did it :)
@@MistahBryan haha yes true. I'm always slightly heartbroken when I see that lovely model being trashed though...
Maybe the machine is already built?
The 1st machine So fantastic it could not be shut dow remotely? That would have been the 1st feature and machine should have if it was like that one!
What's the likelihood the second guy to pass out faced disciplinary action for not shutting the vehicle down when he was told?
They passed out due to food poisoning (?????)
@@GraemeBell9864 - Correct. Due to some beef cooked in a 'very special way' in a restaurant kitchen that resembles a really disgusting toilet.(with real mice/rats scurrying about) The 'meal' when served up, looks like viciously smoking slurry. It's disgusting and hilarious. No wonder those guys were sick.
@@brianartillery You have a well developed way with words
@@brianartillery yes very special ill stick with my usual thick and rare and juicy
There's something wrong here. It is stated in the beginning that the Crablogger is nuclear and yet, it requires refueling every three hours to avoid interruption of operations. Also, there's no way in hell that thing can travel at 40 mph while doing logging. I mean c'mon man.
Many things that run on atomic power still need conventional fuel for others aspects of the operation, it doesn't all come from the reactor.
If it was nuclear powered, why did they need to drain fuel from it?
Many things that run on atomic power still need conventional fuel for others aspects of the operation, it doesn't all come from the reactor. It's like saying "Why does a car need oil and water when it runs on diesel?"
I would think that the sidewinders and crabloggers names should have been reversed
The Sidewinder is a weapon with deadly firepower that operates in the desert. The Crablogger is a logging machine that grabs logs with crab claws and eats them.
No mention of the Mexican restaurant 00 the one from a food inspector's nightmares -- that caused the whole mess to begin with? I guess C21 decided a video celebrating a machine devoted to deforestation was politically incorrect enough as it is.
Supperon Fuel got to be better than E10 !!!!!
I can't watch this episode without my head racking through all of the absolutely awful design flaws this machine had and, should it have actually existed, how many lawsuits and deaths would have ensued from it. For goodness sake, couldn't they have at least added a "power down" button?
Closing down mid-21st Century mobile atomic reactor is slightly more involved than flicking a single switch :P
At the end of that episode Lucas claims to have heard a female voice in the middle of the night. (Lady P). His wife is NOT amused.
and this is why the concept of a Dead Man's Switch exists en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_man%27s_switch