Little Pneumatic Wheel Loader

[Appie]

Omg more wheel loaders?! Well, yes, it is the "Year of the Wheel Loader" after all

This idea originally came about after my Mini Wheel Loader from the Mini Contest. I didn't want to leave the smaller scale of building things just yet (and still don't ). This model actually took some time to realize. Which was mostly due to a knee injury that made sitting at my desk and working on this model not as enjoyable. But since my knee has been getting better and I wanted to start working on my C-Model Contest entry, I wanted to finish this model. Building it was a joy, provided plenty of challenges for me to overcome. So here it is:


Considering I went up in scale due to the size of the pumps I also wanted alot more functions than my previous MOC. It has the following functions:

- 4WD (with diffs)
- Pendular rear axle
- Fake L3 engine
- Articulated steering (and moving steering wheel)
- Pneumatic bucket and I wanted the controls in the cabin (though in hindsight there would have been no other place to put them than in the cabin )

Some functions I wanted that I didn't manage:
- Opening doors
- Fully adjustable seat in height and forwards/backwards (had an idea with worm gears and whatnot). This function did make it into the model a little bit, the chair can move up or down manually

Something I am still thinking about:
- Ladders to reach the cabin. I want to built these out of "normal" Lego, but not sure how at the moment. I am open for suggestions

Anyway about the model as it is now. Some more images:






Lego's huge diffs taking centre stage in this bottom shot Not much I can do about that. I was determined to put diffs in the model and obviously I wanted to use real Lego parts and this is the best Lego gives me, so I worked with it.


I kind of wish I could move the arm back one stud to be closer to the wheels, but they end up touching the wheels then.


Since I never designed a wheel loader from scratch I spent quite some time figuring out the liftarm of the bucket to provide enough lift and tilt while still looking good when it actually has to scoop up dirt.




Originally I had planned to use the big Pneumatic hand pump (I even have an image of this further in this post), but I needed more precise control of the pump that tilts the bucket. So I went with the 6L compressor pump instead. Now while this does provide the control I need for the bucket tilt it also means I have to turn the knob for the pump about 11 times to fully lift the arm, but I take comfort in the fact that a mini LA needs about 19 turns to fully erect Also in hindsight I don't think I would have been able to hide the handpump in the model, while the 6L sits nicely besides the driver's seat. While using 3 mini pneumatic cylinders was my original plan at one point I did try to put in a big cylinder for the arm lift, but I simply couldn't make this fit with the diff and the cylinder for the tilting. In the end I am glad it didn't fit because I really like how the cylinders and their hoses came out in the end


I love how this looks (I like seeing the guts of a machine), but I also find it a shame I couldn't cover it up a little, the diff and the hoses prevent me from using that space. Figuring out how to route the hoses so they wouldn't touch the wheels or the diff was quite fun by the way, but they sit there perfectly in between


The cabin houses the 2 switches, 6L compressor pump and steering mechanism. It was fun to built assymetrical, since the pump is on the left of the vehicle I only had room on the right to make a steering mechanism. It turned out to become a simple but effective liftarm steering mechanism on top of the pneumatic switch but below the seat, linked to the steering wheel in the cabin.



The turning radius isn't really awesome, but it will do in my opinion. It is slightly less than the turning angle of the 8459.



Earlier in the built I was afraid the engine would be too long and that I might have to use only 2 cylinders. They might look a little too big obviously for the model's size (much like the diffs), but I like how it turned out. Maybe I make it green when my second copy of the Volvo Loader comes. I think this is also the first time I actually used the big holes on the bent lift arms


The rear diff and the fake L3 engine was fun to combine too, especially with the pendular axle.


As you can see the pendular axle has (almost) half a stud of movement. At first I thought it didn't look as much, but looking at my Volvo Loader, it has half a stud of movement, so I guess it is ok. I had to use Technic half pins in the 5x7 frame, because if I didn't the differential could touch the crankshaft of the fake L3 engine if the pendular axle was at an angle.

I also have some in progress pictures of this built (originally I wanted to make a WIP topic )


This was basically day 1 of the concept, with the big handpump, which I had planned to run from the bottom of the chassis to the top of the rear part of the cabin. Here you can also see I originally had 1 stud less for the cabin part of the model. I added another stud to better fit the scale and the fact I had a whole other stud of extra space didn't hurt either

These 2 pictures are a little dark sorry:

Here's "the heart" of the loader, its pneumatic guts. While the hoses are brand new (from a 42008) I decided to use the old school pneumatic colour scheme


And here's an image of the loader without its "heart". Kept plenty of space so the hoses don't touch the drive shaft and have room to let the air flow freely without being obstructed.

Hope you all enjoy this post and to finish up, here's a picture of my Wheel Loader "family"


(seems I missed some corners in cleaning up the background of my photos )

Edited September 22, 2016 by Appie
fixed images for new forum

[MajklSpajkl]

Hi, nice family you've got there! This mini pneumatic wonder is a pure work of art! I think it shows much more talent than some huge beast with a zillion of PF stuck in there, as much awesome as it may be. In builds like yours each piece must count and that is hard to achieve. Are the pneumatic controls easily accessible, or do you need tiny babies fingers to operate this one?

Best regards

[Appie]

Thank you very much. I won't say the switches are easy to operate (I have pretty big hands), but they aren't that hard either. At one point I had technic pins in the #1 connectors pointed outwards of the model, that made switching a little easier, but I decided to remove them since I didn't find it that hard to handle them without the pins.

[Alasdair Ryan]

Very nice loader,I like how you made it pneumatic too.

[Jeroen Ottens]

Very nice model

Ingenious use of the compressor pump. I never thought of using it in manual mode.

The only part I don't like that much is the rear side. Maybe you can spend a little extra time to clean that area up.

For the ladder you might be able to use this piece:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=6583

[VKTechnic]

I'm stunned at how small you made this. Awesome job!

[Splat]

@Appie - As others have mentioned, it is one thing to make a large model with lots of functions, but it is another thing to make something small and compact. Very nice work.

[Rishab N]

I'm amazed how much you squeezed into this model. Great work

[grum64]

Terrific little build, great to see you using pneumatics.

[Legostone]

@Appie - As others have mentioned, it is one thing to make a large model with lots of functions, but it is another thing to make something small and compact. Very nice work.

And still with lots of functions, this is what impresses me the most about this modell - getting more features than 8459 in a way smaller casing. Btw, is it possible to squeeze a construction worker minifig into the seat? From what I see it might be possible, and the scale could fit.

You already took some comparing pictures with the other Wheel Loaders some perspectives, can you maybe show some others? And, if I didn`t tell it well enough, I have to say it again, great work!

[Balrog]

It's really impressive how you squeezed all this into such a small model. Also I like your collection of wheel loaders. This is very cool.

I have a suggestion for the fake engine though. You could have built something without using the fake cylinders. Like it was done in the 9393 B-model. That would probably fit better to the scale.

[Appie]

Thanks everybody for the compliments!

@Balrog

I did consider building a smaller fake engine, but I wanted to try these first and while they are big, I like how it fits nicely in the bent liftarms so I decided to keep the big cylinders.

Very nice model

Ingenious use of the compressor pump. I never thought of using it in manual mode.

The only part I don't like that much is the rear side. Maybe you can spend a little extra time to clean that area up.

For the ladder you might be able to use this piece:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=6583

I agree on the rear, it isn't the most pretty. I assume you mean the sides mostly. I got an idea for it which should look better, not sure if I can make the angles work though. Or perhaps I will use some rigid hoses (I don't have yellow soft axles. Though I could easily alter the main colour if it would come to that.

That part for the ladder is very nice, but I didn't want to use it since it is on the 8459 too and I want 4-5 stud ladder, but thank you for the suggestion.

And still with lots of functions, this is what impresses me the most about this modell - getting more features than 8459 in a way smaller casing. Btw, is it possible to squeeze a construction worker minifig into the seat? From what I see it might be possible, and the scale could fit.

You already took some comparing pictures with the other Wheel Loaders some perspectives, can you maybe show some others? And, if I didn`t tell it well enough, I have to say it again, great work!

Thanks. A mini fig should fit yes. Though the seat is only one stud wide, it should fit in terms of height. I will try to make a photo of it tomorrow. I have a photo of the loaders from above that I can post later, other perspectives I will have to take new photos. If you tell me which angles you want I can make some photos.

[KirTech LAB]

I can't see the pictures! Somebody have such problem?

[kieran]

Working for me in the UK, looks amazing.

[Rockbrick]

should be an official set its that good/feature full....

[Boulderer]

Fantastic build. As others have said, I too really appreciate small builds where every piece has to count.

[MrTekneex]

Wow! Really impressive and loads of features! Well done!

[arik]

Very, very nice! I'm big fan of pneumatics and really like what you achieved. Looks clean and simple, but obviously wasn't an easy task to get it there! I'm building something out of 42008 pneumatics at the moment, hope I can share it later on. After doing that I must get to building this :-)

[Alasdair Ryan]

I have added your wonderful loader to the HOF,good job.

[ms09]

Hopefully lego would also introduce some mini-luxurious sets like this.

[Jockos]

Congrats! I like it very much! The last photo was a really good measurement. :thumbup:

[Appie]

I have added your wonderful loader to the HOF,good job.

Wow! Thank you very much

And thanks everybody for the very kind words about my model

I can't see the pictures! Somebody have such problem?

The server that hosts them might have been down at that time, they working for you now?

Very, very nice! I'm big fan of pneumatics and really like what you achieved. Looks clean and simple, but obviously wasn't an easy task to get it there! I'm building something out of 42008 pneumatics at the moment, hope I can share it later on. After doing that I must get to building this :-)

Thanks. Yeah, it wasn't easy for me, but that's the fun with Lego: the challenge

Usually when I build a model I have pretty good idea of what to use to fully realize the model. Except for this loader I had nothing , but once I had the front sorted I got in the flow of building this and it went pretty smooth after that.

If you (and others?) want, I could perhaps look into making a parts list and if it is needed perhaps some photos as "building steps"?

[arik]

If you (and others?) want, I could perhaps look into making a parts list and if it is needed perhaps some photos as "building steps"?

That would be much appreciated. One can almost see the entire build from the photos you posted, but a few building step photos would certainly make it easier and more enjoyable for us to build.

[VKTechnic]

I volunteer to make an LDD

[VKTechnic]

Cranked out 85% of the LDD file today.

Appie's Tiny Loader LDD (WIP) by VKTechnic, on Flickr

The only part that I haven't modeled yet is the middle section, it's so compact that the photos don't show much.

@Appie, would you mind posting some photos of the middle section?

Edited November 4, 2014 by Victor Kojenov (TFOL)