42157 - Skidder John Deere 948L-II

[Danil]

unfortunately, the time of the power puller is over. tires are really amazing, but the proportions are unrealistic. Miraculously, two weeks ago I managed to purchase two sets of 8457 in perfect condition, with opened boxes.

[Cumulonimbus]

10 hours ago, Polarlicht said:

Don't get why TLG still has no generic forest/construction/whatever machine rims to fit existing tires! I can't see those sporty six spoke JDM race wheels anymore!!

I Agree. It wouldn't be so bad if TLG would make wheel covers for these rims to hide those spokes. It should be possible, since they make all kinds of covers for the Speed Champions product range. @efferman designed some a while ago for the 8110 and 42030, you can read more in this topic. I bought, painted and installed a set of both and I find that they transform the looks of those sets. These are some images I made back then of the 8118:

[allanp]

If they would go through the trouble if making a wheel cover they might as well just make a new wheel, complete with a much deeper (more positive) off-set.

I watched Austrian brick fans speed build on youtube and while he was putting the hoses on the valves, I noticed that he only placed them on the ports part way down, the hoses were only just on the thicker part of the port, instead of seating them fully all the way down to the valve body. It was so loose that when he placed the axle that bends the hoses over, at least two of the black hoses came off at the exact same place it happened to @kbalage . Maybe there needs to be a notice in the instructions to fully seat the hoses all the way down to the valve body?

[Bartybum]

7 hours ago, Cumulonimbus said:

I Agree. It wouldn't be so bad if TLG would make wheel covers for these rims to hide those spokes. It should be possible, since they make all kinds of covers for the Speed Champions product range. @efferman designed some a while ago for the 8110 and 42030, you can read more in this topic. I bought, painted and installed a set of both and I find that they transform the looks of those sets. These are some images I made back then of the 8118:

*snip*

Oh I reeeaaally don't like that as a solution for an official set. I'd much prefer they brick-build wheel covers

[AVCampos]

They did that with 42082, and people complained that it was a lazy way to bump up the part count.

[Erik Leppen]

2 hours ago, AVCampos said:

They did that with 42082, and people complained that it was a lazy way to bump up the part count.

This was (mostly) because 42082 did actually (just) beat the previous part-count record, set by 42055 which felt more deserving of that record.

Also, the way I remembered it, it wasn't just the wheel covers where 42082 was overly generous with parts. The whole design felt over-engineered.

[zoo]

19 minutes ago, Erik Leppen said:

This was (mostly) because 42082 did actually (just) beat the previous part-count record, set by 42055 which felt more deserving of that record.

Sounds a bit strange concidering the 42055 had over 100 parts included just for cargo/load.

[Maaboo the Witch]

26 minutes ago, zoo said:

Sounds a bit strange concidering the 42055 had over 100 parts included just for cargo/load.

Well, at least it has a load, unlike this set.

[Jockos]

5 minutes ago, Maaboo35 said:

Well, at least it has a load, unlike this set.

It's a double-edged blade. If it had logs, then some would complain about of the price being pumped up more for it. As it doesn't have any, it lacks the demonstration function. I don't mind not having anything to pick up, because there are plenty of other pieces in my collection from which I can create some logs.

[Maaboo the Witch]

2 minutes ago, Jockos said:

As it doesn't have any, it lacks the demonstration function.

That is a major strike against this set for me. It would have been great to see this 🐕 doing what it's designed to do.

[Jockos]

11 minutes ago, Maaboo35 said:

That is a major strike against this set for me. It would have been great to see this 🐕 doing what it's designed to do.

I agree. Speaking of it, I'm curious if the rumoured 500 g lifting capacity of the Liebherr crane will be somehow realised in the form of some built structure like in 42082.

[zoo]

43 minutes ago, Maaboo35 said:

Well, at least it has a load, unlike this set.

Hehe and just like that, we are on topic again. Well played. :)

[howitzer]

I feel a bit conflicted about these load-additions to sets. With 42055 there were far too little of those load-parts to make it work properly, it would need at least 10 times more to see the full effect. With 42082 the wall-element-things added a great playability thing, along with the tools and stuff that was included with it. 42139 ATV also had logs, and it felt a nice addition along with the chainsaw even if those are much less playable. As for the John Deere, I don't think a couple of simulated logs would've added much to the set, one could easily gather a handful of twigs outside for playing with it.

I liked the wheel covers of 42082 and I'd love to see those used more in heavy machinery sets. I get that TLG don't want to design new hubs, but having wheel covers would add variety and realism with existing parts.

[allanp]

I don't mind not having a load included as there are plenty of things around the house to wrap it's claw around. Here kitty kitty!!! Besides, this thing will lift a good heavy weight. Including a big and heavy enough load to demonstrate it's lifting power would be very expensive. And nothing Lego could include would be as authentic as a good sized stick from the garden!

[N-4K0]

The only options I can see for tree trunks fitting the size of this set would be

- 98585 https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=98585#T=S&O={"iconly":0}
- 6222 https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=6222#T=S&O={"iconly":0}

The brick exists in brown, the connector only in dark orange as the closest.

I checked with some of the 4x4 brick that I have and 4 bricks together are 5L long. Possible logs in adequate lengths made out of these would probably require a 16L axle with 16 connectors or 12-13 bricks, meaning 13-14 or 17 additional parts per log.

[Jundis]

7 hours ago, N-4K0 said:

I checked with some of the 4x4 brick that I have and 4 bricks together are 5L long. Possible logs in adequate lengths made out of these would probably require a 16L axle with 16 connectors or 12-13 bricks, meaning 13-14 or 17 additional parts per log.

Page 2, Post 3 :-P

[Erik Leppen]

Older sets never had these additional stuffs, and I can't remember ever hearing anywhere that anyone missed them. I'm really happy that 42157 is just the vehicle. All those additions feel to me like unnecessary parts waste: I buy Technic for the techniques. For play sets, there is almost all the rest of TLC's offerings. If I buy a City crane, yes, a set of walls to play with is a great addition. If I buy a Technic crane, I want a Technic crane, not a Technic crane plus all kinds of additional stuff that adds no functionality to the actual crane but that I still have to pay for.

Yes, I know they are children-oriented sets. But children are creative. They will find things around them to haul around, lift, grab, etc.

Edited May 29, 2023 by Erik Leppen

[Maaboo the Witch]

On 5/29/2023 at 8:09 AM, Erik Leppen said:

Older sets never had these additional stuffs, and I can't remember ever hearing anywhere that anyone missed them. I'm really happy that 42157 is just the vehicle. All those additions feel to me like unnecessary parts waste: I buy Technic for the techniques. For play sets, there is almost all the rest of TLC's offerings. If I buy a City crane, yes, a set of walls to play with is a great addition. If I buy a Technic crane, I want a Technic crane, not a Technic crane plus all kinds of additional stuff that adds no functionality to the actual crane but that I still have to pay for.

I wouldn't think that the log included with 42054 actually added much to the price. Since a lot of such accessories generally don't consist of that many parts, I doubt that any of them have a large effect on set costs.

[allanp]

Well, I have just finished building this beast and I love it! it is very powerful, definitely the best grabber type thing ever done in a Technic set and the whole thing is just very strong, playable and capable. I made sure to fully seat all the hoses onto the valves and had no issues. Space was a bit tight in that area but after washing my hands it was fairly easy to grip the hoses and T-pieces and seat all the hoses properly. The 30-40 black wedge pieces on the rear used to make the grill were also easier to align than I thought they would be, you just have to press a beam firmly in between them, and press the wedges against the beam to help you line them up straight.

The only actually difficult parts to assemble was these things:  Is it just me that finds these pieces awkward? I had more trouble with these pieces than I did with any other parts.

I am also still not a fan of the upside down camshaft style engine, and not sure it was entirely necessary in what is a fairly large set. But overall it is a fantastic set and the hours spent building it was fun (apart from when assembling those parts pictured above) and went by incredibly quickly.

Edited June 1, 2023 by allanp

[Ngoc Nguyen]

I'm almost finished with my alternate model. I'd love to publish it ASAP because I think you guys would love it, but I'm not getting my paws on it until the middle or even the end of the month. :(

[Davidz90]

54 minutes ago, allanp said:

Is it just me that finds these pieces awkward?

Absolutely, for some reason these pieces are a nightmare to attach. Not sure if it was always like this, or only recent ~2 years.

[SNIPE]

57 minutes ago, allanp said:

The only actually difficult parts to assemble was these things:  Is it just me that finds these pieces awkward? I had more trouble with these pieces than I did with any other parts.

The old mould of them was very hard to insert, but at least it was hard for the two parts so accidentally separate

The newer mould of the same part is a little easier to insert.

I usually put a axle through the pinhole in order to use it as a handle to pull this part out 

Edited June 1, 2023 by SNIPE

[kbalage]

4 hours ago, SNIPE said:

The old mould of them was very hard to insert, but at least it was hard for the two parts so accidentally separate

The newer mould of the same part is a little easier to insert.

I didn't really find much difference, this part was always notoriously difficult to insert and it still is. Especially in sets like the Mars rover where you have a 3L pin with two of these on it and you need to be able to push both in a beam...

[M_longer]

Alternate model incoming ;)

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs8q4E1oYPD/ 

[Maaboo the Witch]

Ooh, nice!