Tag Archives: Tracked

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.

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.

Yellow Bull

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We like big yellow bulldozers here at The Lego Car Blog. Because we’re eight. This one is a Komatsu D65EX-18, as built (superbly) by Flickr’s Y Akimeshi in mini-figure scale. Clever techniques and top quality presentation are evident throughout, and there’re more to see via the link above if you’re eight too.

Skid Marks

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Lego Technic RC Skid Steer Loader BuWizz

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.

Lego Technic RC Skid Steer Loader BuWizz

D11T Dozer

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Lego RC Caterpillar D11T Bulldozer

Caterpillar’s D11T bulldozer has appeared here in Lego form numerous times over the years (you can use the search bar at the foot of each page to look up past D11Ts, or anything else that takes your fancy!), and this may well be the best incarnation of the enormous earthmover yet.

Built by previous bloggee Sheo, this 1:24 scale behemoth is a marvel of Lego engineering. Underneath the incredibly realistic exterior is a fully remote controlled drivetrain and blade/ripper, whilst pendular suspension allows the model to drive smoothly over bumps and a cunning planetary subcontractor design enables realistic skid steering. There’s also a motorised access ladder, LED lights and an automatic track tensioning system too.

There’s more to see of Sheo’s incredible Caterpillar D11T at his Flickr photostream, where you can also find a link to watch a video of the model in action. Click the link above to make the jump and take a look.

Elven Eviction

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Lego Caterpillar D11T Bulldozer RC

All was quite in The Lego Car Blog Towers this morning. The Elves were asleep in their cage room and we were quietly watching the Monaco Grand Prix qualifying, er… we mean working studiously in the office.

And then came the sound of several soft thuds, kind of like a series of bean-bags falling off a table, followed by great Elven rage. Sigh.

A wander down to the cage room revealed the cause, where an enterprising Elf had returned early in the morning whilst its colleagues were still asleep, and promptly driven a remote control bulldozer through the Elves’ cages – much to its own amusement – pushing them out and onto the floor below. Cue the Elven rage.

Unable to escape by riding atop the ‘dozer due to its limited speed, the unhappily awoken Elves had caught their attacker and were trying to feed him into the VHS machine. Mr. Airhorn was deployed to restore calm (which definitely awoke any Elves fortunate enough to avoid the original incident) and we’ve now taken control of the offending vehicle.

Lego Caterpillar D11T Bulldozer RC

And what a vehicle! Based on the Caterpillar D11t bulldozer, Piotr K‘s creation is a superb example of how to utilise both Power Functions and pneumatics.

Two Power Functions L Motors drive the tracks, which are suspended by a pendular equaliser bar, whilst three M Motors power the pneumatic systems, with one driving an on-board compressor (with an auto shut-off) and the other two activating the pneumatic valves. This gives Piotr’s model a continual supply of compressed air to power the huge front blade and the rear-mounted ripper which can be operated remotely via LEGO’s IR system.

It’s very neatly engineered set-up and one that works – as the Elves found out – really effectively. You can see more images and read about the build on MOCpages via the link above, plus you watch the model in action via the YouTube video below.

YouTube Video

The Other Challenger

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Lego Challenger MT-865 Tractor

The Dodge Challenger has appeared here numerous times over the years. This isn’t that Challenger. Nope, this one is made by Caterpillar, and it comes from a series of tractors that were the first to be specifically designed to run on tracks.

This brilliant Model Team recreation of the latest Challenger MT865C comes from the appropriately-named Eric Trax, who has done a simply astonishing job replicating the Caterpillar in Lego form. And Eric’s creation is far from a static model…

Lego Challenger MT-865 Tractor

Inside the beautifully constructed exterior are a wealth of electronic and pneumatic components, allowing Eric’s Challenger to drive, skid-steer, and power both an on-board compressor and power-take-off.

Hooked up to the back of the MT865 is a Kinze 1050 grain trailer, complete with its own Medium motor and pneumatics to control the unloading auger.

Lego Challenger MT-865 RC

All of these functions can be controlled remotely via bluetooth, thanks to the third-party SBrick concealed within the build. This enables the models to be controlled by a phone or, as Eric has done, by a Playstation 4 controller!

There’s much more to see of this amazing Caterpillar Challenger MT865C tractor and Kinze 1050 grain trailer at both Brickshelf and the Eurobricks forum – click the link to see all of the images and to read complete build details.

Diggin’ Double

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Lego Technic Remote Control Excavator

LEGO’s excellent Power Functions components have brought a new ease to motorising Technic models. Small, simple to install and reasonably powerful, the wide range of motors, infrared receivers and battery boxes have found their way into countless Lego creations featured here over the years.

It didn’t take long however, for the clever boffins in the Lego Community to think ‘Great… but what if Power Functions was really powerful?…’

The result is the BuWizz brick, an integrated rechargeable battery and bluetooth receiver that delivers up to eight times the power of LEGO’s own Power Functions system. To which Anto of Eurobricks thought ‘Great… but what if I had two…’

This is the fruit of Anto’s endeavour; a neat if unspectacular looking Technic excavator, with two BuWizz third-party bricks. The first controls the independently driven tracks (each powered by a Medium motor), the front-mounted blade (also powered a Medium motor) and the arm-mounted LEDs.

The second BuWizz device controls the superstructure rotation (via a Large motor), the two-stage arm (via an XL motor and Large motor respectively), and finally the bucket (powered by a Medium motor).

That’s a lot of motors and, thanks to those two BuWizz bricks, a lot of power too. So much so that Anto’s Technic excavator really can, well… excavate. Full details can be found at the Eurobricks discussion forum, and you watch Anto’s excavator in action via the video below.

YouTube Video

Dumped!

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Lego Bucyrus RH400 Mining Shovel

It’s Valentines Day here at The Lego Car Blog, and what better way to celebrate it than with a post about an epic dumping! This TLCB writer is totally fine about it though, and he’s not even thinking about you Laura.

Anyway, this is a Bucyrus RH400 mining shovel, one of the largest mining excavators in the world, and it’s capable of dumping 45m³ of rock, up to 75 tons, in a single bucket.

Built by previous bloggee Sheo this 1:48 Model Team recreation of the Bucyrus RH400 is an near perfect miniaturisation of the 900 ton excavator, right down to the way it operates.

LEGO’s Power Functions motors drive everything including the two-stage boom and tipping bucket, the tracked propulsion, superstructure rotation, folding service ladder, rotating cooling fans, and a gearbox to switch between these remotely operated functions.

There’s a whole lot more to see of Sheo’s Bucyrus excavator at Eurobricks and Flickr – click the links and join this writer in completely forgetting about Laura.

Lego Bucyrus RH400 Mining Shovel

Febrovery Silliness

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Lego Febrovery Squirrel NUTS

The annual sci-fi bandwagon that is Febrovery is upon us! Our Elves have found two Febrovery entries to share today, the first of which appears to be staffed by highly intelligent squirrels.

Flickr’s Miro Dudas explains that the Neptunian Utility Transport Services (N.U.T.S.) have got themselves a new crawler to support their appetite for oversized acorns (which grow upon and must be harvested from the Neptunian moon of Triton). A team of four hardworking Squirelites named Sandy, Andy, Mandy and Randy operate the crawler and the supporting harvesting machinery collecting the acorns which are blown far and wide due to the strong Neptunian winds. A risky business, the team of four Squirelites were apparently last seen a year ago… Right, stop that! It’s silly. Now let’s see something decent, and military. 

Andreas Lenander‘s classic space rover may not be military exactly, but it does make fantastic use of LEGO’s otherwise pointless X-Pod piece, and there are no squirrels to be seen anywhere. Unless they’re in that box. A fearless classic spacewomen is ready to load the cargo into the back of the rover which is sure to make it home thanks to those nifty brick-built tracks. See more of the X-Rover and a box that may or may not be filled with four long-dead squirrels at Andreas’ photostream via the link above.

Lego Febrovery Classic Space

Dig Big

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Lego Caterpillar 7495 HF Bucket Excavator

This stupendous vehicle is a Caterpillar 7495 HF electric rope shovel and it can carry 120 tons up to 9m high in its ‘dipper’ (or bucket to you and us). Well this one can’t obviously, as it’s made from Danish plastic, but it’s rather impressive all the same.

Built by previous bloggee Arjan Oude Kotte (aka Konajra) it is – almost unbelievably – mini-figure scale, and features a full array of LED lighting, Power Functions remote control, spectacular detailing, plus of course, a truly enormous shovel.

An evolution of Arjan’s original model that appeared here in 2014 there’s more to see of this brick-built masterpiece at his Caterpillar 7495 HF photo album – click the link above if you’re diggin’ this as much as we are.