Tag Archives: Front Loader

Swingin’

Neither boxing, 1940s jazz music, nor keys-in-a-bowl, today’s creation is this excellent – and rather unusual – swingloader.

Constructed by TLCB Master MOCer thirdwigg, this mini front-loader can pivot its bucket arm to allow it to more easily off-load the contents, with its manoeuvrability further aided by all-wheel steering.

The bucket swing, elevation, tilt, and that all-wheel-steering are all mechanically operated, and you can get into the swing of things at thirdwigg’s ‘Swing Loader and Dumper’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to go swingin’.

Ford + Volvo =

Back in the ’00s the answer to that question would probably have been a Jaguar, but Ford’s ‘Premier Automotive Group’ is long since dead, with the brands held within it now mercifully free from its yolk.

So whilst a Ford crossed with a Volvo did often equal a Jaguar, today we have something far more unique.

Constructed from the parts found within both the 42213 Ford Bronco and 42209 Volvo Electric Wheel-Loader sets, this terrific Technic tractor deploys two sets’ worth of pieces to pack in the functionality.

There’s a working engine, functional steering, opening doors and hood, a self-levelling front-loader, a two-speed power-take-off with neutral, and a three-point elevating rear hitch.

It’s all the work of mirrorbricks, who will release building instructions for this B-Model shortly, and there’s more of this excellent alternate to see at the Eurobricks forum in the meantime. Merge your Bronco with a Volvo via the link in the text above.

YouTube Video

Skid Marks

We love B-models here at The Lego Car Blog. Taking a suite of parts designed to create one thing and repurposing them to create another thing entirely is the very essence of LEGO.

Cue previous bloggee (and something of a B-model specialist) Dyens Creations, who has redeployed the pieces from the 42122 Technic Jeep Wrangler Rubicon set to create something very different indeed.

Short of a bouncy castle or an F/A-18 fighter jet, a skid-steer loader as about as far removed from the Wrangler source material as it’s possible to get. Unless you’re a non-Jeep person, in which case an ugly agricultural lump of poor-handling machinery is perhaps not that far removed at all.

Whatever your persuasion, Dyen’s 42122 alternate is an excellent one, with a working loader arm and tilting bucket, an opening engine cover, and even enough pieces left over to add a construction barrier and warning sign.

There’s more of the model to see at Dyen’s ‘LEGO 42122 – SKID STEER LOADER’ album and you can make the jump from the trail to the construction site via the link above.

Extra! Extra!

This is a Dressta 530R Extra wheel loader, and seeing as we know less about wheel loaders than The Brothers Brick do about talking to girls, we have absolutely no idea what the ‘Extra’ bit means. Or the ‘530R’ bit…

Anyway, our incompetence aside, the model is rather good, coming from Bricksley of Flickr, featuring pendular suspension, a posable arm and bucket, and an articulated frame. There’s more to see at Bricksley’s ‘Dressta 530R Extra’ album and you can head there via the link above if you’re wheelie diggin’ it*.

*No we don’t know how to talk to girls either.

4950 Redux

‘Rock Raiders’ was one of LEGO’s weirder themes. Somewhere underground some mini-figures were mining energy-giving crystals (because every LEGO theme at the time had energy-giving crystals), there was a monster trying to stop them, and everything was brown and turquoise. Oh, and the logo looked rude.

It was all over in just two years, but BobDeQuatre is keen not to forget the Rock Raiders theme, reimagining the 4950 Loader-Dozer set to keep the memory alive. A working bucket, an opening cockpit, and a brick-built ‘rock monster’ all feature, and you can hunt for energy crystals underground circa-1999 whilst sniggering at the logo via the link above!

A Lot of Front

This is a New Holland TD90 tractor, and it’s large, slow, and rather front-heavy. Just like your Mom. Unlike your Mom however, it has been recreated superbly in brick form by Flickr’s Damian Z, and comes complete with a range of attachments including a forklift, straw bailer, and the front-loader bucket shown here. A full gallery of excellent imagery is available and you can take a look at all the pictures by clicking these words.

I Don’t Want To Be a Lumberjack Any More

The LEGO Technic 42139 All-Terrain Vehicle revealed here earlier this year looks rather good, with loads of working features and more unusual source material than LEGO’s typical mid-size sets. Plus there’s a chainsaw.

But what if you don’t want to be a lumberjack? Latvian builder TGBDZ may have the answer, having turned their 42139 ATV set into this rather jazzy front loader.

Articulated steering, a pendular rear axle, a working piston engine, and a mechanical boom/bucket all feature, and you can build TGBDZ’s alternate for yourself as instructions are available, with more to see at the Eurobricks forum. Hang up your chainsaw via the link above.

Grab Some Wood

This giant claw with a vehicle attached to it is a Volvo L180HL, a front-loader-based machine designed for moving logs. Lots of them.

This brilliant Technic recreation of the log-grabbing Volvo is the work of Akassin of Eurobricks, who built it for a recent Technic competition in which it took the silver medal.

A wealth of mechanical and pneumatic functions accurately replicate the real machine, with articulated steering, an enormous (and rather clever) two-piece boom powered by compressed air, plus a mechanical claw that’s able to grab bundles of ‘logs’.

It’s a hugely impressive creation with much more to see at the Eurobricks forum, and via the excellent video below. Grab some wood via the links.

YouTube Video

In the End*

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.

Double Dutch

This is a Mercedes-Benz Actros and Nooteboom step-frame trailer, as operated by Dutch heavy haulage Mammoet. This one is hauling a Liebherr wheel loader, with all three models the work of TLCB favourite Ralph Savelsberg, and there’s more to see of the truck, trailer and load on Flickr via the link.

F-Bomb

Flickr’s Damian Z is one of our favourite farm-vehicle creators, thanks to exceptional detailing, ingenious building techniques, and top-notch presentation. His latest creation continues the favouritism, being this fantastic Fendt Favourite 514C with a fitted front loader. That’s a whole lot of F-words, which are common in TLCB Office but are usually of the unprintable sort. Today’s ‘F’s are fine though, and there’s more to see of Damian’s F-bomb on Flickr via the link above.

Front Loaded

It’s an exciting time to be a TLCB Elf today. One of their number found this; a magnificent Volvo-esque 4×4 wheel loader with full remote control. It comes from FT-creations and it’s packed with functions, all of which can be controlled via bluetooth thanks to a pair of third-party SBricks hidden inside.

An XL Motor drives all four wheels, an L Motor controls the pivoted steering, whilst four more power two on-board compressors that, with the help of two Servo Motors, operate the boom and bucket movements.

It’s all exceptionally clever and allows FT’s model to function just like the real thing.  Which is to say rather slowly.

Of course that means there’ll be no Elf squashings taking place today and instead several of them are happily riding around in the bucket. However we think the bucket of FT’s front loader might have enough elevation to reach the toilet, so whilst we try that out on the unsuspecting passengers you can see more of FT’s ace build at both Eurobricks and Rebrickable, where building instructions are also available.

Lego Loader


Fuku Saku’s latest vehicle is massive, ungainly, and able to take a big load, but we’ve already done a ‘Your Mom’ line today. Moving on, this is Fuku Saku’s front loader, and much like today’s other post it is quite brilliantly detailed, despite only being Town scale.

There’s a raising bucket arm, pivoting chassis articulation point, and some rather cunning tyre usage too. A wealth of excellent imagery is available at Fuku Saku’s photostream and you can take a closer look by clicking here.

Big Man

Remote control enormity is the order of the day here at TLCB, as today’s second creation is also packed with Power Functions motors. In fact both are, as this is two amazing models in one, with a BuWizz-controlled MAN F2000 EVO pulling a giant SBrick-controlled Tiefbettauflieger trailer (complete with LEGO’s superb 42030 Technic Volvo L350F set as load). Each is the work of Bricks_n_Trucks of Flickr and each is a stunning showcase for how realistic Lego building can get. Click the link above to make the jump to Bricks_n_Trucks’ photostream for more.

Corridor Battle

There was much commotion in the corridor today. Two Elves had returned to TLCB Towers, each had found a bright yellow remotely controlled Technic loader, and each was using its find to try to obliterate the other. Which – to be fair – is probably what anyone would do.

Both remote control creations come from Flickr’s Thesuperkoala, who has brilliantly engineered each with a host of cleverly concealed motorised functions, including linear actuator driven bucket arm/dump mechanism and powered track drive with skid-steering.

This gives the creations remarkable agility, which unfortunately for our Elven workers was turned upon them after they had gathered in a circle around the mechanised gladiators to watch the ensuing battle. Both Elves at the controls had the same idea at once and turned their attention away from one another and onto the gathered crowd, flattening them where they stood.

It was almost as if they had planned it, but we don’t think TLCB Elves are that clever. Hmm. If they are gaining intelligence we could be in trouble… Whilst we ponder that alarming thought you can check out more of Thesuperkoala’s excellent remote controlled creations via the link in the text above.