Hi folks,

Sorry to be a bit late at party, but when i saw that @Jim still didn't have close this contest i decide to give a chance to the model i began but was tooooo lazy to finish.

Here it is:

This is a simple excavator, i think that if it was a lego set on shelf, it would probably cost 39.99€.

All functions are manual, and there is

- 4 wheels steering via HOG,

-1 wheel drive

- Fake 2 cylindres in line mounted on the upperstructure,

- Front blade up/down/lock

- Crane rotation via hog on the roof of the cab,

- Arm movement via two knobs and mini linear actuators,

- openable lateral and upper maintenance panel

 

So, this model is designed to highlight a particular function. This function is a functionnal fake engine on the upper superstructure connected to a single wheel hidden at the center of the chassis. So the model can have a 4 wheel steering system AND the fake engine. 

Begining at this 5th wheel, there is a first 20T/12T connection followed by a 16T/16T, 90°12T/20T then again 90°20T/12T andfinaly 20T/12T on the axle who is connected to the engine.

Global dimension of the model: 13stud wide, 35 stud long when arm folded down and 21 stud high. So 9555 cubic studs.

Pictures:

Here is the mechanism of the transmission to the fake engine. The centered position of the 5th wheel allow free running and turning of the model.

Direction is commanded by a hog directly at the back of the model, attached to the lower chassis.

The light on the cabin's roof is for the turret rotation.

The arm is easy to manoever and is commanded by tho hogs, lateraly located. Left one is for second arm articulation, right one for main lifting

Second and bucket articulation are linked together, but on a small set has this one it is not really a problem, it add even more playability to the model.

Here under: maximum arm range

I hope you will enjoy it.

Steph

 

Edited December 23, 20222 yr by steph77
Re-writing post

23 minutes ago, steph77 said:

Now i hurry to post in the entry topic!

damn, just 5min too late!

Hey Steph,

Nice excavator!

The entry topic was locked on Wednesday at 02:45 PM, and it's been locked since.
Or your post was created before it was locked?

wednesday?

Ok, no, my post has just been created now, so i am clearly out for this one.

To much work  on professional side...

I think i've been confusing due to the fact that i was looking for the voting topic to be online as the time out limit...

S.

On 6/5/2022 at 5:14 PM, steph77 said:

wednesday?

Yep, I've just checked the history log on the entry topic just to make sure. I know I locked it sometime during the middle of the past week.

What a nice excavator! The idea with the fifth wheel would never have crossed my mind :D

Sorry I was a little bit too late :-/

Wow  extraordinary beautiful small excavator

Well done, thanks for sharing! Didn't notice the fifth wheel at first sight, does it have enough traction? Did you need to do anything special to align it with de small tractor wheels?

21 minutes ago, GerritvdG said:

Well done, thanks for sharing! Didn't notice the fifth wheel at first sight, does it have enough traction? Did you need to do anything special to align it with de small tractor wheels?

it match perfectly well, no need of nothing, it works flawlessly.

Looks like a fun model, and looks like it has quite a few functions in a small space. Love the idea with the hidden wheel, even if it's a bit unsighty when looked at from the side. But it emphasizes what Technic is about for me: cool functions. Also if I understand it correctly, it means that 2 functions need to go through the turntable. Are you using the 8258 solution with the idle gears? Probably, as I don't know any other solution.

Always great to see another build from you @steph77. This one is great, and I love the addition of the engine from the fifth wheel. The size is perfect, and the functions are simple enough.

Well done, and I'm sorry it wasn't done in time for the contest. 

Hi all. Thanks for comments and kind words.

It seems that @Thirdwigg will reveal soon  a very cooool model... no teasing here but i saw it already and i approve it at 100%.

@Thirdwigg asked me the autorisation  to publish it, and for sure he got it.

S.

Alright, during TC22, @steph77 made this cute little excavator that was submitted too late to enter into the contest. But I loved it. Small, simple, good looking, and with the fun drive feature. I wanted to create my own. As I started building, I decided to make some changes, and before I knew it I had created a new MOC.

After talking with @steph77, he let me share it with you, and create instructions that are freely available. You may find them at Rebrickable. 

I copied the arm directly, so it has the same movement and range. The up/down control is manual on the left of the superstructure. The reach in/out manual control is the air intake knob on the back of the superstructure.

Four wheel steering is controlled by a HOG in the center of the superstructure, and slewing in controlled by the light on the top of the cab. The plow is controlled by a knob at the back of the chassis.

Just like the original, a small fake engine is in the superstructure. The original had a 2 cylinder connected to the wheels, and this one has a three cylinder connected to the in/out movement of the boom.

Digging reach is enough to look for buried treasure. A little video.

Again, I'm grateful to @steph77 for letting me copy and share so much of his MOC. As an act of gratitude, the instructions are freely shared, so we hope you are able to enjoy this little tractor too.

Edited December 23, 20222 yr by Thirdwigg

Looks great! 

Cute! To my eyes the arm looks a little small / thin compared to the body, but anyway a very nice model.

Still looks great.

2 hours ago, Mikdun said:

Still looks great.

Thanks a lot!

On 12/24/2022 at 8:25 AM, mpj said:

Cute! To my eyes the arm looks a little small / thin compared to the body, but anyway a very nice model.

Yeah, the boom could be bigger as it's a little wobbly, but the simple design was attractive to me.

On 12/23/2022 at 3:33 PM, Good old Lego builder said:

Looks great! 

Thanks!

So I was starting to take the wheeled excavator apart, and I thought "I wonder what this build would look like with tracks?" I spent a little time working it out, and added some tracks to this superstructure.

Now I have a Tracked Excavator. Just like the Wheeled Excavator, you may find free instructions for the Tracked Excavator at Rebrickable.com. 

It uses the same superstructure from the Wheeled Excavator, but if you remove 4 pins, you can make the change. Since everything from the top up is the same (except a different bucket), it still has the following manual features:

• Slewing with HOG
• Front plow
• Bucket lift
• Bucket extension
• Engine connected to bucket extension
• Opening door and hood

And a little video....

 

I hope you enjoy, and thanks again to @steph77 for the inspiration.

Everything looks better with tracks  .

4 hours ago, jorgeopesi said:

Everything looks better with tracks  .

Certainly for tractors. But I draw the line with cars and trucks. They're better with wheels.