qwibbled

the elastic band mod really does pretty well fix the slow main arm, everything is the same speed now, just have to get the right rubber band strength. i found the saggy butt fix doesn't do much, the slack on mine is more in the huge swivelling gear that links the body to the tracks.

update: wow what a great lego. you guys were right better off with the 8043, my friend got the 42006 and yeah there's quite a difference in size. i had one issue, the raising and lowering of the main arm was painfully slow, i unhooked the two LA's and noticed they were not quite synced up, i tightened them both up and reconnected them and then no problem. that function could be a little faster as it doesn't match the speed of the middle lever on the arm but oh well no big deal. the huge shovel is weird, it seems more fitting for the B model, i contemplated getting a smaller shovel for it from another set and instead decided to take the grabber from the 42006 and put it on the 8043. works great! and it's a -much- more fun toy now. with the big shovel you couldn't really pick anything up cleanly.. with the claw its great, there's so many things it can pick up, candies, legos, rocks, etc.. i find it a lot more fun with the claw. thanks for the advice!

well, i found a used but complete 8043 for $200 shipped on ebay, should be fun!

thanks my only concern was reading that the 8043 was slow and underpowered, which is why the ultimate 8043 mod seemed appealing though expensive, and the 42006 mod seemed appealing and much cheaper than buying an 8043 and doing the ultimate mod :)

have any of you tried the "ultimate 8043" mod? is it worth it? it seems like it would be very expensive to get all the parts needed http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=45348&st=0 or has anyone switched the shovel on the 8043 for the 42006 claw? i just think the claw would be more fun

hey everyone, i'm new to technic and need a little help. i'd really like to buy an excavator and what drew me to technic was the ability to have power functions and remote control. i know the easiest solution is to buy the 8043.. but i read that some people find it slow and there was some issue of faulty parts back in 2010? it costs about $200 used on ebay. i was also looking at getting the 42006 which goes for about $70 brand new and then buying the parts to make it rc motorized.. i saw this youtube video and it looks pretty cool, i actually prefer the claw of the 42006 to the oversized shovel of the 8043: but reading the description it says i'd need to buy 2 L motors, 4 M, 3 IR receivers and 2 battery boxes plus i'm assuming 1 remote.. which adds up to $125 on lego.com, plus about 130 other little parts (23 types) which would cost about $30 i'm guessing? so i'm looking at around $250, but everything brand new. so what should i buy? :)