Tag Archives: excavator

Happy Being Single

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Discovered by one of our Elves on Eurobricks, this is newcomer McMarky’s rather good tracked excavator. Like all good Technic models, McMarky’s creation can operate just like the real deal, being able to drive and steer, rotate the superstructure, and dig – thanks to a three stage boom and excavating bucket – all of which are motorised.

Naturally such functionality necessitates a suite of motors, so how many do you think McMarky’s excavator has packed inside?

Nope. One.

Just a singular Power Functions L motor is able to drive all of the aforementioned functions, and – in many cases – multiple functions simultaneously. Which means not just no additional motors, but also no fancy programmable app-based remote control is required either, with the huge array of working functions instead controlled via a trio of red levers, each linked to the most complicated gearbox that we’ve ever seen.

It’s an outstanding example of mechanical engineering, and demonstrates that even if you don’t have the finances for a suite of motors, a third-party bluetooth battery, or access to a programmable app, immensely realistic motorised Technic creations are still within reach.

There’s more of McMarky’s seriously impressive uni-motor tracked excavator to see on Flickr and at the Eurobricks forum, where further images and a video of all those motorised functions in action can be found. Click the link above to be happy being single.

Get Your Digs for Free

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The internet is full of wonderful Lego models, many of which can be recreated at home thanks to readily available building instructions. For a fee.

Because one of life’s few certainties is that if something can be monitized, it will be.

But not today! Previous bloggee Thirdwigg is the hero we need, having created this excellent Technic tracked excavator, complete with a linear-actuator operated arm and bucket, a working piston engine, and a slewing superstructure, and he’s released building instructions for free.

The Lego Community could do we a few more members like Thirdwigg, and you can see more of his tracked excavator on Flickr. Click here to take a look, and here for a direct link to the free instructions.

Scania & Stepframe

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From a truck-based flight of whimsy to a hauler altogether more real-world. Ralph Savelsberg’s Scania T730 with stepframe trailer is an exact miniaturisation of one of the trucks in use by Hodge’s of Scotland, pictured here with a Volvo excavator in tow. A replica livery adds to the realism and there’s more of the models to see at Ralph’s album by clicking here.

Skid Row

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The Lego Car Blog Elves are having a great time this morning. Too slow to run them over but fast enough for them to ride upon, Bricksley’s four-motor Liebherr LR 636 G8 tracked skid-steer loader is providing much amusement to our little workers.

Those four motors are the LEGO Powered-Up variety (meaning they can be controlled via bluetooth), and they power each track, the arm, and the bucket, with two Powered-Up Hubs delivering the control.

The Liebherr’s exterior realism matches the excellent engineering within it too, with outstanding attention to detail, beautifully accurate decals, and perfect presentation making it a specularly life-like creation. Except in the TLCB Office that is, where half-a-dozen mythical creatures are joyfully riding upon it.

It’s all fun and games until one of them falls under the tracks, but until then we’ll continue to enjoy Bricksley’s brilliant build, and you can check it out too to via Eurobricks, or their ‘Liebherr LR 636 G8′ album on Flickr, where over twenty top quality images are available to view.

Diggidy

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We like giant yellow diggers here at The Lego Car Blog. Because we’re six. Luckily for us one of the Elves found this one, a 20-ton Komatsu PC200, as replicated in brick-form beautifully by previous bloggee Y Akimeshi. With a posable arm and bucket, slewing superstructure, and a mound of brick-built earth to dig, Y’s creation is one of our favourites so far, and there’s more of the model to see at their photostream. Click the link above if you’re diggin’ it too.

Diggie Smalls

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We like humble workhorses here at TLCB, and they don’t come much humbler or more workhorsey than a mini excavator. This one is a Yanmar Vio17, pictured here within the flatbed of an equally workhorsey Isuzu truck. Both are the work of Y Akimeshi of Flickr, who has recreated the real-world construction site staples brilliantly in mini-figure scale, and there’s more of each to see at his photostream. Click the link above to start digging.

Litronic Liebherr

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From one 300-ton machine to another, only this one is real. The Liebherr R 944 B Litronic is the smaller brother of the 800-ton Liebherr R9800 that LEGO used to create the largest Technic set ever released, working to load 100-ton mining trucks in the world’s open-cast mines.

Taking the tracks, sprockets, XL linear actuators and clamshell bucket from the 42100 Technic set, previous bloggee Beat Felber has recreated the smaller R 944 B Litronic, only in a much larger 1:28.5 scale.

Ten motors, two third-party SBricks, three sets of LED lights, and two rechargeable battery boxes bring Beat’s incredible creation to life, with accurate crawler movement, structure slewing, boom, stick, and bucket cylinders, a retractable motorised access ladder and opening service flap.

An extensive gallery of imagery is available to view, and you can take a closer look at this astonishing mining machine at Beat’s ‘Liebherr R 994 B Litronic’ album on Flickr via the link above.

Yule Logs

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We’re back! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are ready for more pointless Lego-vehicular narrative to be projected out into the internet from TLCB Team.

Said staff have returned to TLCB Towers post-Christmas break, with only one drunken family fight and a single potential lawsuit between them, which is a definite Christmas success! After releasing TLCB Elves from the cages in which they had been imprisoned over Christmas, the first job is, well… cleaning those cages.

Fortunately for us a particularly keen/hungry Elf returned to the office almost immediately with this rather neat Technic wheeled-excavator by Flickr’s Thirdwigg. With four-wheel steering, a slewing superstructure, and a mechanical bucket-lift, boom elevation and scoop movement, Thirdwigg’s creation is perfect for removing Elven ‘presents’ from even the hard-to-reach corners.

Whilst we get on with that you can check out the full image album on Flickr via the link above, where – if you have some yule logs of your own to remove from a household cage – a link to building instructions can also be found.

360° Digging

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This marvellous contraption is a Hydrema 614 360° backhoe, as constructed brilliantly for a Eurobricks building competition by MP LEGO Technic Creations.

Pneumatically powered front a rear excavator arms can be pressurised via the exhaust stack, there’s mechanical articulated steering, linear actuator folding support legs, and a recreation of the Hydrema’s party-piece; a 360° rotating cab, allowing the driver an unobstructed view as they smash the backhoe bucket through a water-main.

It’s an expertly engineered creation that could make a superb official LEGO set, and there are more images of MP’s Hydrema 614 360° to see on Flickr via the link above, further build details are available in the build discussion topic at the Eurobricks forum, and you can watch all of the model’s working features in action via the video below.

YouTube Video

What a Knob

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A lot of knobs. No, not TLCB Staff, nor the summation of your Mom’s summer, but this properly mechanical Technic skid-steer excavator by Flickr’s Thirdwigg.

There are knobs for the boom arm, knobs for the bucket, knobs for the blade, knobs for the turntable rotation, and very possibly other knobs we’ve not spotted too.

It’s a wonderful reminder of old-school mechanised Technic, and you can see more of all the knobs in question at Thirdwigg’s ‘Skid Excavator’ album on Flickr. Click the link above for more knobs in one place than your Mom’s beach-house parties.

In the End*

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There’s are many types of loader. The ‘backhoe loader‘, the ‘front loader‘, and what we have here; the ‘end loader’. They largely seem interchangeable to us, but the difference between them appears to be from where they do their, er… stuff; forking, shovelling, drilling and so forth. You don’t get that kind of technical analysis at The Brothers Brick…

This one, built by previous bloggee Wigboldy (aka Thirdwigg) is an ‘end loader’, as it does its stuff from the end of a front-mounted arm, which is mechanically raisable via linear actuators.

The implement mounted on the end is also tiltable via a linear actuator, and can be interchanged between the fork pictured here and a digging bucket, plus there’s articulated steering too.

There’s more of Wigboldy’s excellent creation to see at his ‘End Loader’ album on Flickr, where images of both implements in use can be found – click the link above to get to the end.

*Today’s title song.

Building Big

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Really, really big.

The human in the above picture is Beat Felber, a Lego builder of gigantic proportions. His models we mean.

Surrounding Beat are ten spectacular fully remote controlled pieces of mining equipment, many of which have featured on these pages over the years, including the Komatsu D575A-3 Super Dozer, the Marathon LeTourneau L-1200 loader, the Marion 204-M Superfront cable-operated mining shovel, the Terex 33-19 Titan mining truck, and the astonishing Marion 5760 ‘The Mountaineer’ 2,750-ton mining shovel. 

Beat’s assembly is even larger and more impressive than your Dad’s collection of speciality magazines, and we suspect it makes Beat more than capable of tunnelling underneath his own house should he choose to.

Head to Beat’s photostream via the first link for a closer look at the jaw-dropping image above, and you can check out some of the individual models pictured within it via the links in this post or via the search function on this page.

Heavy Swedish Action

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It’s time for some double Volvo goodness here at TLCB, thanks to the super-talented TLCB regular Damian Z. (aka thietmaier).

Damian’s latest builds are a Volvo FH12 truck, hefty three-axle low-loader trailer, and a wonderfully life-like Volvo EC240 excavator, each of which has been both built and presented beautifully.

All three builds demonstrate stunning attention to detail, with some brilliant building techniques used to achieve it, and there’s more to see of Damian’s Volvo truck, excavator, and the trailer that allows one to transport the other at his album on Flickr. Click the link above to take a closer look.

Rope & Bucket

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Today’s post sounds like an English pub, but it is in fact a fully operational recreation of the Caterpillar 7295 rope excavator, as built by Ivan_M in a spectacular 1:40 scale.

Inside Ivan’s model are six Power Functions motors that drive the tracks, superstructure rotation, and the winches that lift, extend, and open the bucket.

It’s a complicated movement but one that Ivan has managed to replicate beautifully, with his model demonstrating some of the most impressive action on video you’ll see today. Ok, we can’t guarantee that – the internet’s a big place – but it’s nevertheless properly good.

There’s more to see of Ivan’s stunning Caterpillar 7295 rope excavator on Flickr and at the Eurobricks forum, plus you can watch that impressive action in the ace video below!

YouTube Video

Micro Construction

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Tiny, and yet totally identifiable, Flickr’s KosBrick shows that just a few dozen parts can create models with amazing recognition. It’s like looking at large scale Lego models, only from very far away… Head to Kos’s photostream via the link above for more really tiny construction.