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.
We like a good knob twiddle* here at The Lego Car Blog. Get your minds out of the gutter – we’re talking hand-powered mechanical functions.
This is one such creation imbued with knob twiddling goodness, and it comes from previous bloggee M_Longer, who has repurposed the pieces found within the LEGO Technic 42121 Heavy Duty Excavator set to create it.
Loosely based on a JCB skid-steer loader, M_Longer’s 42121 alternate utilises a pair of knobs to mechanically control the arm and attachment tilt, so you’ll need to play with the knobs a bit before you can get forking. Ask your Mom.
There’s more of M-Longer’s B-Model to see at the Eurobricks discussion forum, where links to both further images and to building instructions can also be found. Twiddle your knob via the link above!
We don’t get bobcats here in TLCB’s home nation. We used to have the eurasian lynx roaming about, which is like a bobcat only three times the size, but we shot all of those. Along with pretty much everything else. Yay humanity.
Thus the only bobcats we’re going to see are the excavatorial types, such as this Bobcat S130. Constructed by Brick_Builder19, this neat Technic recreation of the skid-steer loader includes a working piston engine, a linear actuator operated lift arm, and a mechanical tipping bucket.
Full details of Brick’s Bobcat S130 are available on Eurobricks, where you can also find a link to the model on LEGO Ideas. Grab your gun and click the link above to take a closer look.
That leaves the two entry points to the 2021 Technic range, 42116 Skid Steer Loader and 42117 Race Plane, each consisting of around 150 pieces, aimed at ages 7+, and costing under $10.
Both look pretty reasonable too, each managing to be realistic and functional, with the Loader including two gear-driven functions (arm elevation and bucket tilt), and the Race Plane’s propeller being driven by the landing gear.
No, that’s not much, but at the age and price point they’re worthy additions to the Technic range, effectively teaching gearing and levers to younger builders. Good job LEGO, and there are still two more sets to come later in Q1…
A slightly convoluted title there, but it’s due to the fact that this brilliant looking Bobcat skid-steer loader is a B-Model built entirely from the parts found within the enormous 42100 Technic Liebherr R 9800 Excavator set.
Built by previous bloggee Erik Trax, this remote control loader uses around two thirds of the pieces from the set including four Power Functions motors, which drive the tracks, bucket tilt, and arm lifting.
The arm lift is properly clever too, using a cunning double pivot to ensure the bucket raises through a vertical lift path. The Elf at the controls probably didn’t understand how this works, but nevertheless found it a very useful feature after driving a couple of its unfortunate colleagues towards the manky mop bucket in the corner of the corridor (used regularly in the clean-up of Elven bodily fluids).
With the vertical lift path ensuring none of its Elven cargo toppled out before it was ready, the Elf at the controls tilted the loader’s bucket over the damp receptacle below, whereupon its brethren thudded into it forlornly.
Pleased with its antics, the Elf then abandoned its find before its colleagues could climb out of the manky mop bucket and exact revenge, giving us a chance to explore Erik’s brilliantly engineered loader for ourselves.
Whilst we do that you can see more of Erik’s remote control skid-steer loader at his Flickr photostream and at the Eurobricks discussion forum, where a video of the Bobcat in action can also be found alongside a link to building instructions.
Click the links above to take a look whilst we see how easy it is to drop some Elves in the manky mop bucket…
Sometimes you don’t need a million-horsepower hypercar as inspiration for a brilliant Technic build. This is a humble skid-steer compact tracked loader, and it is one of the most fun-looking Technic models TLCB Elves have discovered in ages.
Built by Nico71 of Brickshelf this tiny Technic toy is packed with working remote control functions, which – thanks to a third-party BuWizz bluetooth battery/controller – are super-powered too.
Two Medium Motors power the tracks, providing both drive and skid-steering, whilst a further pair of motors linked to linear actuators operate the bucket arm and tilt-mechanism.
Thanks to its small size and the extra power from the BuWizz battery Nico’s loader is a riot to chase Elves down the corridor with, er… we mean rigorously test, so whilst we do that you can see more by clicking the link above, and you can read our review of the BuWizz bluetooth battery that powers it by clicking here.
Time for some more Technic, and today we’re getting it by the bucket-load (hah!), with this old-school Skid Steer Loader by Bobofrut. It’s fully remote control, being powered by LEGO’s ubiquitous Power Functions motors, and the bucket both raises/lowers on its arm, and tips. See more on Brickshelf at the link.
