[MOC][WIP] Excavator

[gvo25]

Hello All,

Recently I bought the lego 42114 volvo dumptruck and before I would build that I wanted to build an excavator to go with it. While Flybums excavator is a very good one I wanted to try myself to build an excavator. Here are some WIP pictures.

As you can see the top part of the excavator uses the normal power function motors. 1 x L-motor for swinging, 2 x L-motors for the main boom, 1 x L-motor for the stick and one m - motor for the bucket. The main boom houses two motors and is my own design, the stick is an exact copy of flybum's excavator. The motors use use two AA-battery boxes and the AAA battery box is used for ballast, and will later power the lights. The crane uses a normal turntable, as i find the big ring gears too big for this scale of excavator. The top part wobbles a bit while turning but it's definitely within limits. The trackbase uses 2 control+ XL-motors integrated into the tracks with a worm gear and normal gearing. The battery box is situated just below the turntable.

Edited April 27, 2021 by gvo25
insert resized images

[mdemerchant]

Looks like a good effort so far.  Looking forward to see the finished product.  Are you trying to model a particular machine or just a general excavator?

Is the bucket you're using 3D printed?  I don't recall any Lego buckets that big that have the proper shape like that one.  Although I do think it's a bit small compared to the scale of the machine.

 

[Rebel_Lego]

Looks good so far. Nice that you used both PF and PU in one build!

[gvo25]

5 hours ago, mdemerchant said:

Looks like a good effort so far.  Looking forward to see the finished product.  Are you trying to model a particular machine or just a general excavator?

Is the bucket you're using 3D printed?  I don't recall any Lego buckets that big that have the proper shape like that one.  Although I do think it's a bit small compared to the scale of the machine.

 

The bucket was designed by efferman and you can buy it on his page on shapeways. It was the bucket designed to fit better on the lego technic model 8043 and yes the bucket is a tad too smal for this excavator, but I find it looks better than the bucket used in flybum's excavator. maybe @efferman can design a new bucket which is two sizes bigger.

The excavator will be a generic model, with features imported from various makers.

[efferman]

On 4/19/2021 at 11:00 AM, gvo25 said:

can design a new bucket which is two sizes bigger

Big enough?

[gvo25]

1 hour ago, efferman said:

Big enough?

I'm definitely inclined to buy it, but i'm afraid it'll be to big, I do still have to try the assembled one

 

[efferman]

24 minutes ago, gvo25 said:

 

Try this, it has the same size.

https://rebrickable.com/users/efferman/mocs/purchases/download/0/12193/70ad9b6207055275c479dc470abb9dd6a58976f8c6474f6cfe3344188eb3ed1f/?expire=1618836464

[gvo25]

New small update,

I've worked on the body, I don't know if I'll keep this design, it's rather static and bulky, I would like to use some opening doors to add realism. mental note: Now I know why they changed to control+, I had to relocate the pf receivers many times to install this part of the body.
 

 

Hope you like it, comments always welcome

On 4/19/2021 at 1:48 PM, efferman said:

Try this, it has the same size.

https://rebrickable.com/users/efferman/mocs/purchases/download/0/12193/70ad9b6207055275c479dc470abb9dd6a58976f8c6474f6cfe3344188eb3ed1f/?expire=1618836464

Link does not work

Edited April 27, 2021 by gvo25
insert resized images

[howitzer]

Ahh, not too many excavators here lately, and yours looks pretty nice. I really should finish my telescopic boom excavator, which has been on hold since the start of this year, as I haven't had time to work on it.

[gvo25]

Hello all,

Some more pictures, I reworked the body and added the 'hydraulic' hoses. Maybe I alter the stick LA to get a more realistic range of motion. Next week I'll do the cabin, which in my opinion will be the hardest thing to get just right.

 

 

As always comments and questions are always welcome

Edited April 27, 2021 by gvo25
new images

[Jeroen Ottens]

Great to see a WIP excavator. The bodywork is a bit high and squarish I feel. But given the amount of stuff you crammed in it will be challenging to change that.

[jorgeopesi]

Very good excavator, how is the movement?, when I do machinery I always try to use the less pieces I can to have a good playability.

[Milan]

@gvo25
Nice update!

Also, resize your images. No need to upload 4000x3000 images, as per guidelines, max is 1024.

[gvo25]

3 hours ago, jorgeopesi said:

Very good excavator, how is the movement?, when I do machinery I always try to use the less pieces I can to have a good playability.

The only thing what bothers me, and what all lego excavators have, is that the stick doesn't go that far inward, for example to store on a truck. The boom has a great range, from almost 0 degrees to 80 degrees, the excavator could dig very big holes. next week I'll try to do a video

2 hours ago, Milan said:

@gvo25
Nice update!

Also, resize your images. No need to upload 4000x3000 images, as per guidelines, max is 1024.

Ok, I'll think of that next time

[Milan]

2 hours ago, gvo25 said:

Ok, I'll think of that next time

We need to do it before that, since all the pics you have posted in this topic are way to large.
Not everyone has high speed Internet, and we need to think about them, too.
That's why I had asked you to do it.
I have reduced all your pictures to thumbnails, you are free to resize them to max 1024.

[gvo25]

Hello all,

It's finished... I think, here are 2 fotos of the finished excavator with the cabin, internally I reinforced the structure a bit more, and everything is a bit more solid. Video (not my strongest feature is coming soon)

Comments are always welcome

[mpj]

Hello! It looks strong and very well designed, but I don't like the overal proportions. It looks the undercarriage is too big or the arm is too small 

Did you refer to some blueprints of real excavators?

[gvo25]

44 minutes ago, mpj said:

Hello! It looks strong and very well designed, but I don't like the overal proportions. It looks the undercarriage is too big or the arm is too small 

Did you refer to some blueprints of real excavators?

I built, looking from fotos and gut feeling, what I think is right. The main factor for size I guess is the whole arm and the size of the undercarriage was more or less molded by flybums excavator

[mnpumar]

Very nice! Looking forward to the video 

[gvo25]

Hello All,

Here's a flashy video showing all the movements and range of motion of my excavator

https://youtu.be/rxQtmuSO3LA

Hope you like it

Edited May 5, 2021 by gvo25

[gvo25]

Hello All, some ultimate pictures, I'll dissassemble the excavator and rebuild the tracks (little bit shorter and higher, and other drive system). The swinging mechanism will also be modified to have smoother functionality. I will modify the drive of the boom, because the LA's don't run equal, and i'll will change the body into a sleeker design.

This a group foto of all my excavators

Next are pictures together with the volvo dumper