[REVIEW] 42030 - Volvo L350F Wheel Loader

[ctx1769]

My wife just got me the 42030 for xmas :sweet: well happy

[andythenorth]

[bump] Finished building the Volvo loader today. I rate it as one of the best flagships in the last 10 years or so, and I've voted it 'outstanding' in the poll.

Pros

• Build is fun, no boring repeating assemblies, no tedious gearboxes, and doesn't take too long.
  
• Only screwed up the build once...my four year old flipped the rear axle when I wasn't looking. I assumed I had the front axle diff in wrong, and disassembled before I thought to check the rear.
  
• Looks great.
  
• Works great.
  
• Got it for £127 from Amazon in an April sale (UK retail is £169.99).
  
• It's big, but not so big it doesn't perform well (no over-stressed parts or poor movement).
  
• Servo steering works much better than I expected from reviews. I find it totally playable.
  
• My four year old loves it and finds it easy to control.
  
• Strong - high boom-lift and bucket curl forces. It can flip the 8110 Unimog over and back again.
  
• Agile - will climb fairly substantial obstacles even without locking diffs.
  

Cons

• Tradeoff for high boom-lift force is that boom-lift is slow. Possibly could be regeared.
  
• Travel speed is a bit slow. Another tradeoff against strength.
  
• Servo sucks power from other motors. The servo motor always does this in my experience, it's not specific to 42030. In a MOC, I'd give the servo a separate battery and PF receiver.
  
• If you want stickers, you have to choose A model, or B model, you can't rebuild between the two. Or you need a bricklink order for more panels. Not a problem for some of us, but eh, Lego could have taken better care of their customer (especially kids) there no?
  
• Expensive at full retail price. Very happy with the price I paid though.
  

Performance probably higher with 1.5v Alkaline batteries, but yair, I'm running 1.2v NiMh rechargeables. Not buying and binning endless batteries.

If you only like Technic sets with realistic / intricate mechanisms, or many many functions, perhaps this isn't the set for you, but for play value, looks, and a fun build it's great. If you want it as a source of parts, it's also great. I'd definitely recommend getting it while it's still available retail, and before the scalpers jack up prices.

Edited March 30, 2016 by andythenorth

[Mestari]

Finally built this :) and my daughter loves it!

I have two questions about the construction.

Does anyone know what the grey connectors on portal hubs are for?

Also I can see some kind of protection of the differentials (those grey liftarms), but never saw that anywhere else. Is it really necessary?

[agrof]

Those connectors prevent the slide of the axles from differential - outwards.

That protection is not necessary, but as soon You drive in a bunch of Legos, and one of them get stuck in the differenial... Yo can imagine.

So it is a very clever, and useful addition. My guess why we haven't seen this solution before: this is the first monster, what is really meant for above mentioned use.

Edited January 5, 2016 by agrof

[Mestari]

Thanks! I didn't notice that.

[SH3V1974]

finished this today

Unfortunately when i switch the battery on, the Volvo immediately turns to the right.

When turning the black wheel for left it only stays centered and when not holding the volvo turns immediately back right.

Any ideas what the problem could be, before i start to take it apart again

[dr_spock]

finished this today

Unfortunately when i switch the battery on, the Volvo immediately turns to the right.

When turning the black wheel for left it only stays centered and when not holding the volvo turns immediately back right.

Any ideas what the problem could be, before i start to take it apart again

I don't think you centered the servo motor before you installed it. I recall there were pictures in the instruction manual on how to do that.

[SH3V1974]

I don't think you centered the servo motor before you installed it. I recall there were pictures in the instruction manual on how to do that.

Think that's going to be it, at least i found this in the manual. But figured that would not be important

Hmmm now the fun begins again, take it apart. No one with a shortcut

Thanks for pointing this out @dr_spock

[Jim]

Think that's going to be it, at least i found this in the manual. But figured that would not be important

RTFM

(actually....you did)

I don't recal the necessaty to do this. Most of the servos are probably properly aligned....except for a few....yours

[SH3V1974]

Remember that before i already switched it on and the whole model went already to the right.

Going to test this before building it up again.

[SH3V1974]

Done and turning left and right now

[Cwetqo]

I installed S-brick and it works really great. Steering is smooth and driving too. You could start softly and put up the speed after its moving. If one set really benefits from S-brick, it's this (and I'm not in way connected with S-brick or promoting it, I was just suprised how well it beneftis this model).

[Riley-NZL]

Got my set on the 30th, took me an evening and half to build. Pretty happy overall with the design and build, I'm using a spare Train RC I had for the steering and and forward, reverse. I find the steering pretty good with it, and think using the servo was the right choice by LEGO, however they should have included one of each remote, the Train one for steering and forward/reverse, and the Technic one for the LA's as they don't really need multiple speeds.

I haven't tried, but I would have thought an LA for steering would be a pain, not being able to easily/quickly centre the steering.

A few questions:

Has anyone had a go at improving the look of the front end and/or the liftarms?

Does everyone else's model have a lot of slop in the bucket tilting, mine can easily move about 40-50 degrees of rotation without the LA moving (The LA's themselves have quite a bit of slop in them).

Is the clicking sound when hitting the LA's bad for the gears, and could clutch gears be added to this somewhere to stop it?

[dognosh]

I got this for £139 , my 2nd one because after pricing the power components(cheapest ones I could find in brick owl and Lego shop) I realised the motors/IR/servo etc. alone came to about £90. So I got the rest of the parts,as spares, for about £50(1625 parts) :)

[eliminator]

Sorry for bringing this topic up from the bottom.

Given this set came out in 2014, looks like this will be the last Christmas for it? Get it now before its discontinued...?

P.S. Thanks to Jim for posting this great review. I was originally going to pass on this set, but after reading the review I'm tempted to purchase it.

 

Edited October 29, 2016 by eliminator

[eliminator]

As of right now, listed as "sold out" at Lego Shop at Home USA and Canada....

[charlesw]

Amazon and many other online resselers still have this set in stock in Europe and according to various local toy shops in my area, this set never has been a big seller because of its price (on the other hand, the Porsche seems to be a hit despite of its price, but that's another story :D)

Furthermore, I have mixed feelings about this set as it relies on motors an almost / straightforward actions for pretty much everything...I think that 8459 / 8439 / 8464 is more complex from a mechanical standpoint than this set (unfortunately my parents sold mine a few years ago for almost nothing with the box, the original sticker sheet, the lot)...but yet, it has plenty of motors, a servo two remotes and two receivers...and if you can have a very (very) good deal (hint I got mine for 127€), it's totally worth it...

[charlesw]

Sorry for the "double post", but after reading all this thread, I couldn't find any mention of this : http://www.technicbricks.com/2016/07/4x4-a25f-articulated-hauler-is-reality.html

The B-Model also exists in real life, which is nice

 

[Gnac]

Finally got one of these this morning and smashed out the build in about 5 hours. The build was never monotonous, but often frustrating because the steering kept getting knocked while building, and I don't like the idea of backdriving such an expensive part as a servo motor.

I actually didn't think my Amazon order (£115!) would ever be fulfilled this late in the game, so I had already bought the parts I missed to reconstitute one. I reckon I'll build another one and hand control of it to my niece for some BEETLE FIGHTS!

[Richard Dower]

Is there any instructions for this B model mod/moc?

 

 

[Kasse]

Hi, newbie here so please don't kill me if I'm doing something wrong. Just wanted to share my take on the A25F. Still a WIP but I guess it always will be that way 

Flickr

(Video in link)

Edited February 25, 2017 by Kasse
Embedded photos

[evortigosa]

Well done @Kasse !

Pretty cool mod :)

[Kasse]

7 hours ago, evortigosa said:

Well done @Kasse !

Pretty cool mod :)

Many thanks 

[Nikso]

Hello there!

I am at the beach at the moment and a local small shop has this set for 270€

My aim is to build a 8043 or an excavator in general and 42030 has a tons of pieces I might need (besides being a great build in itself)

The price I found it for seams a bit much to me but maybe I can get them to lower it. Should I go for it?

[1gor]

53 minutes ago, Nikso said:

Hello there!

I am at the beach at the moment and a local small shop has this set for 270€

My aim is to build a 8043 or an excavator in general and 42030 has a tons of pieces I might need (besides being a great build in itself)

The price I found it for seams a bit much to me but maybe I can get them to lower it. Should I go for it?

It is to high, but it always depend in which country you live...