Builder Delta

Coming and Going

Although the Europoort Port system (1973) was acclaimed and awarded by peers, it was not a commercial success. Sales fell short of forecasts. Nevertheless, barely a year later, Sliedrecht BV launched a third series of beechwood toys in 1974: Builder Delta.
A series of six mobile beechwood models with a background in civil engineering, road construction, and hydraulic engineering. Approximately 1:35 scale (scale 0), making all models twice the size of the vessels and vehicles of the Europoort Port system. Steeply priced compared to, for example, DINKYtoys.

The hand of in-house designer Jaap de Jong is visible in the design. The pentagonal cabin of each model was adopted from the Europoort Port system and reinforces the Bauhaus feel. Gijsbert Sliedrecht devised the solution for the crane mechanisms.

On every model, metal parts are present with an orange epoxy coating. It turns the whole into a design piece, perhaps too beautiful for the sandbox. Toys for the elite or for the display case? Either way, beautiful!

Too bad and unfortunate, the models were not a sales success. Production was discontinued at the end of 1975. Only the dump truck and the sand hopper were made and sold for a few more years. The name Builder Delta played no role in this.

Basic Model

The basic model consists of a platform with four wooden wheels that rotate freely around a screw. Apparently, every basic model also has caterpillar tracks. However, that is an optical illusion. By adding grooves, the suggestion of caterpillar tracks is created. Cleverly conceived.

Unfortunately, the bulldozer is missing from this series of six models. That may be called strange. The bulldozer derives its power and utility on the construction site precisely from these caterpillar tracks.

Construction crane (tower crane)

The basic model features a rotating platform with a cabin, a vertical mast, and two winches. Below the top of the mast is an orange metal crossbar with a square opening for the long and short booms.

One winch moves the orange trolley in and out (horizontally). To keep the trolley cables under tension, the winch drum has a tangentially placed piece of rubber. The other winch handles the hoisting and lowering of the hoisting hook. This crane movement works well provided some load is attached to the hoisting hook, for example, a container from the Europoort Port System.



artikelnummer:               1102

lange giek:               35,0 cm

korte giek:                  12,2 cm

hoogte mast:           46,9 cm

Grab Crane

The basic model features a rotating platform with a cabin and a boom with two winches. One winch raises and lowers the boom. The other winch has two coupled winch drums. Together, these two drums handle the hoisting and lowering of the grab. An orange lever is mounted on the platform. Moving this lever backward lengthens one hoisting cable, causing the grab to close and move upward. Moving the lever forward shortens the hoisting cable and closes the grab.

A unique solution for this complicated crane movement (which is not permitted in reality).

artikelnummer:               1103

vlucht giek:               38,0 cm

breedte grijper:          6,5 cm

opening grijper:  0 - 88 mm

Loading Shovel

The basic model features a cabin, a slotted boom, and a winch. The boom can be tilted approximately 15 degrees forward and backward. The winch allows the loading shovel to slide up and down. The loading shovel itself is half the size of the grab (see grab crane) and has a lever on one side. With this lever, the loader can make a small scooping motion. See the photo for the different positions of the boom and the loader. It is unclear how this loader can be used for play. The scooping motion can only be made with a nearly vertical wall of sand.

artikelnummer:                               1104

lengte giek:                               32,0 cm

zwenkhoek giek:   15 graden (+ en -)

breedte laadschop:                  6,5 cm

Dump truck

Not a basic model, but a small wooden plank with six wheels screwed onto it.

The cab stands on this platform, where the hinge of the loading bay is located. The loading bay itself is a handy combination of orange epoxy on steel and beech wood. The loading bay extends up to above the cab. This creates a beautiful interplay of lines. There is no tailgate present. An honest and robust model.

artikelnummer:             1105

lengte:                      23,0 cm

breedte:                     11,5 cm

hoogte gesloten:    10,0 cm

hoogte open:           17,9 cm

Sand Hopper

The sand hopper is used in the transport sector to temporarily store sand, gravel, and crushed stone and unload it into a dump truck. To this end, this model features a butterfly valve at the bottom that can be opened and closed with a lever. This works well with dry, granular sand. However, with coarser or sticky sand, both opening and closing can cause problems. It is a fine model for the sandbox.

artikelnummer:             1106

lengte:                      19,2 cm

breedte                     9,2 cm

hoogte:                    20,0 cm 

knowing, searching, and finding

A website is for viewing, browsing, reading, and discovering what is interesting or useful. To that end, this site features five pages, which can be found in the top navigation bar. Below, there are six buttons; a single mouse click downloads a Word file containing further details or specific information. This text was translated from Dutch to English using Google Translate, which may have resulted in errors or awkward phrasing. In total, there are 125 pages of content available for reading and printing. The text and images will be updated as long as the website remains active.