Tag Archives: bin lorry

Pure Garbage

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…is something the content of this website is routinely called in the comments. Which is mostly correct of course. Today’s creation can handle it though, being this brilliant Technic garbage truck (or ‘bin lorry’ where this writer is from).

Constructed by previous bloggee Thirdwigg (aka Wigboldy), the model is absolutely packed with working functions, the first of which has nothing to do with its garbage processing ability at all.

Thirdwigg has created a ‘Hybrid’ drivetrain for the truck, with the wheels turning either a traditional piston engine under the tilting cab, a brick-built ‘electric’ motor, or a combination of both, with a switchable differential doing the job of the power-control-unit that features on real-world Hybrid powertrains.

It’s a superb replication of the system used by many new vehicles, heavy trucks and buses included, and one we think could appear in all sorts of Technic models going forward, particularly as Thirdwigg has made building instructions for his design available.

Away from the trick powertrain and a wealth of Technic functionality continues, with four-wheel steering, a working bin lifting mechanism, a two stage cycle for garbage extraction, a linear actuator driven extractor plate, and an opening rear hopper, all of which are controlled via hand-powered mechanisms thanks to conveniently placed knob-gears though-out the model.

Over a dozen top quality images are available to view at Thirdwigg’s ‘Hybrid Garbage Truck’ album on Flickr, where a link to the aforementioned building instructions can also be found, plus you can watch all of the model’s working features in action via an excellent YouTube video.

Click the links above to take out the garbage, whilst we get back to writing it.

The Garbage Man Can!

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Is this post mostly an excuse to link to one of The Simpsons’ greatest ever songs? Yes. Yes it is.

But the model’s good too.

Eurobricks mihao has created this superbly engineered remote control garbage truck (or ‘bin lorry’ to us here at TLCB), complete with motorised drive and steering, a tilting cab, suspension, piston engine, tipping garbage compactor, and – most ingeniously – a side-mounted garbage can (‘wheelie bin’) arm that grabs, raises and tips said receptacle automatically.

Have we been using this to grab TLCB Elves and tip them upside-down for fun? Yes. Yes we have. Because the garbage man can! See more at Eurobricks via the link.

From Land to Landfill

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The Earth is undergoing a considerable change. Of course it has always changed, thanks to a variable climate and the evolution borne from it, however until recently it’s been in a period of beautiful stability that lasted tens of thousands of years. And then mankind started chopping everything down, digging everything up, and burning it…

The result is a climate changing at a rate that is way beyond the pace that life can adapt to survive, and once the permafrost melts and releases the methane trapped within it, we’re on a one-way train to doomsville.

It’s not too late though, as nature has a remarkable ability to heal itself if given the chance. One way we can limit the damage is to consume less, whether that’s energy, material things, or food. Food production, particularly meat, is the single largest contributor to the destruction of our wilderness. Buying local, and not eating the meat from intensively-farmed, chemical-filled, miserable animals, is both better for us and the planet upon which we live.

Cue Chris Elliott‘s Japanese mobile greengrocer, bringing locally grown produce to your door in a converted minibus. Chris’s beautifully detailed creation includes a range of brick-built veg, breads and pastries, a burst of pink flowers down the side, and even LED lighting. Plus there’s not a battery-farmed chicken in sight.

Reducing consumption doesn’t necessarily mean buying less, as at present an average of 219lbs of food is wasted annually by every American, equating to over a third of all U.S. food production.

Throwing less away, and recycling it when we do (even food), means less chopping down, less digging up, and less burning. Cue Jonathan Elliott‘s excellent Dennis Eagle garbage truck/bin lorry, which is where what we discard usually ends up. Jonathan’s bin lorry captures the real thing superbly, and there’s even a working lift mechanism at the back.

Sadly it only has black and grey bins, but change them for green and blue (or whatever the recycling colours are where you live), and we might just avert the looming catastrophe yet. Click the links above to follow the food from land to landfill, and ask yourself if there’s a better way…

Gears and Garbage

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Lego Town Garbage Truck

This neat garbage truck (or ‘bin lorry’ where we’re from) proves that you don’t need zillions of bricks to appear here at The Lego Car Blog. It’s got more squeezed inside it than you might think too (insert your own ‘Your Mom’ joke), as builder Scott Hasse has designed ingenious hand-operated bin lift, compactor, and dumping mechanisms, each of which works beautifully! There’s lots more to see of Scott’s mini-figure garbage truck at his photostream by clicking here, where you can also find a link to the design on the LEGO Ideas platform from which you can vote for it to become an official LEGO set.

Lego Town Garbage Truck

Free Plowing*

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Lego Mack TerraPro DSNY

New York is a city where summers are hot and winters are freezing. This means a variety of civil service vehicles need to be deployed to cope with the swing in the weather; bins need emptying a lot in the heat and roads need clearing of snow in the cold.

New York’s Sanitation Department seems cleverer than most though, as someone there had the genius idea of fitting their refuse collection trucks with a snowplow. The trucks need to navigate the streets to collect refuse anyway, so why not have them clear the snow at the same time?

This brilliant Town-style replica of a snowplow-equipped Mack TerraPro refuse truck used by the New York Department of Sanitation comes from Flickr’s sponki25 and it not only looks the part but it’s packed with neat features too. There’s more to see at sponki’s photostream – click the link above to check it out.

Lego Mack TerraPro DSNY

*Insert appropriate ‘Your Mom’ joke.

 

Another One Bites the Dust (Cart)

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Lego Post-Apoc Garbage Truck

When the Zombie Apocalypse arrives which – according to that guy stashing canned food in his shed – it will, you’re gonna want a vehicle like this. With a roof-mounted machine gun, a spiky bumper, and – of course – a garbage compacter to dispose of those annoying zombie corpses, this fortified garbage truck by Flickr’s Guy Smiley looks just the ticket for post-apoc survival. Take out the trash via the link above.

Eurotrash

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Lego Technic Volvo FE Refuse Truck

This is not one of the more sexy vehicles to appear here at The Lego Car Blog. It is, as any European reader will know, a humble Volvo refuse truck. But it one of the most well thought-out Technic creations to appear here in a very long time.

There are no remote control components, no motors, and no pneumatics, but this model has mechanical functionality by the wheelie bin load. Built by previous bloggee Thirdwigg the little Volvo features a mechanical bin lift, compacter, extraction plate, hopper, piston engine, steering, tilting cab and opening hopper. It’s just the sort of model that we wish LEGO would add to the Technic range themselves, and there’s lots more to see on Flickr and Eurobricks at the links.

Lego Technic Volvo Garbage Truck

Bin Lorry

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Lego Bin Lorry

LEGO would probably call this a Refuse Collection Truck or something, but round our way these are bin lorries and that’s what this shall henceforth be called! Anyway, it might just be a bin lorry, but what a magnificent one it is. Zbiczasty has recreated the Volvo FM cab and Anaconda compactor so brilliantly we had to click on the thumbnail image of the real truck in his recently modified Brickshelf gallery to check it wasn’t Lego too. See what we mean by clicking the link above.

P.S. Recycle!

Lego Refuse Truck