Thirdwigg

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.

Yeah, I appreciate your help. I have literally never seen an U300/400/500 in real life. I saw an old 406 in my city once, and a 437 in Grenoble once. So I need to rely on the expertise of others.

Yeah, I try to tell anyone who will listen that I got that idea from you. It works so well in so many situations. It won't be the last time I do it. Thanks again.

Thanks again, and thanks for your feedback through the build process. That's my favorite version too. That's the one currently displayed in my office. Thanks for the kind words. Wow, my best Unimog. I'm glad you like it, and yeah I agree, they don't need to be any bigger. In fact most Technic MOC don't need to be very big. Yeah, I try to keep the instructions readable, but sometimes the functions are tricky to translate to a easy to follow manual. Thanks again. Sometimes I'm not fully clear how far my Instagram reach extends. Glad you saw it. Thanks! I'm glad to share instructions, so I hope you are able to give it a build. Yep, the configurations are simple to remove. For the front, just put two 5L axles with stops, and for the beds, just pull for 3L axles with stops at each corner, and slide the bed off. Thanks again, and I'm happy with the colors too. Orange and Blue work perfectly together. I still feel like the snowplow could be better, so I'm happy many of you like it the way it is.

It's done! My 100th MOC on Rebrickable. To celebrate the truck, snow plow, gritter, and crane are all available free! First, thanks to all here on this thread for the feedback, and for all of you on Eurobricks for all the support over the years. This group has been a great place to refine my ability, and encourage me to be better with my builds. To so many of you I am particularly grateful. I'm pleased with my palmarès even if they don't result in followers on Youtube/Rebrickable/Instagram. I'm in a place where I have found the types of MOCs I like to build, and I'm having so much fun building these last two years. OK, on to the truck. The truck features: Steering with HOG RWD with portal axle I2 fake engine Rear pendular suspension Tilting cab Three way tipping bed with left side radiator HOG Opening doors Front PTO with On/Off Rear and Center PTO Front, Rear, and Bed attachment Points Like a dummy, I didn't straighten the Mercedes star.....Ugh The rear bed is easily removeable.... Then the fun begins. I cheated a little and used the crane from the Off Road Truck and made a little flatbed for the crane. A little front winch is available as well. Finally, the snow package! The front plow features: Lift Tilt Caster wheels Two axle simple front attachment The gritter features: Internal auger Rear spreader Opening hopper Four axle simple attachment The gritter internal auger connects to the center PTO, and the rear spreader connects to the rear PTO. The on/off switch allows to turn the gritter on and off. Simply slide the gritter on, fix the four corner axles, and you are ready to go. The gritter is designed to work with 1x1 round plates, and it works....kindof. But I think it looks great! That blue! I'm less enamored with the plow, as the gaps are a little large for my liking, but it fits. And here it is with the Off Road Knuckleboom truck. Finally, a little video to show you how bad the gritter works. I'm not sure I'm done with this as I would like to build a front sweeper, and and a front roadside mower, but we'll see if and when those happen. I'll post more updates here. Again, thanks for all the support, and here's to the next 100!

Very cool little MOC. I love the tall look of the buggy, and the black and white looks great. Great to see another MOC from you.

Well done to everyone! This was hard contest, and you should each be proud of your designs. Congratulations to @Berthil @Akassinand @Philtech on your placings!

It's a little hard to see, but are the headrests any better @gyenesvi? I can do the 1x2 think liftarms too.

Don't beat yourself up too much about this. There is no doubt my priorities are too tilted towards LEGO sometimes, so don't use me as your role model. Either way, yeah for the 100th, it had to be a 'Mog. I had my kids break one too many of my MOCs that I started to prioritize sturdiness. I try to get as many functions in, and make it looks as best as I can, but if it falls apart, no go. Functions are no exception. If they can work over and over; redesign. I'm glad that even though some of the functions are out, you still like it. If it makes you feel any better, I do really like your 406, and used it as inspiration for a couple of the parts of this build. I hope to see more like it. Should be ready soon. The 36 gear on the side is the HOG for the bed lift. I'm trying to reduce the number of 12 tooth gears I use to move functions, and rather hide the levers/knobs into parts of the bodywork. This 36 gear is supposed to look like the radiator.

Let me try an another option. I'll still have a backward protruding mount because I hate when those seat panels can move, but maybe I can hide it a little through some color changes. Thanks!

OK, I'm back. I finalized the built, so I was able to finish the Studio file. Everything works well in the real build, now I just need all the parts in the right colors. The steps are all set in the file as well, so instructions should move pretty quickly. The mirrors are not perfect, but they'll work. I decided on the panel rather than brick build doors, and I'm still not sold on the rear bed arch. Also, I think I may change the bed corners from DBG to Black. The Snow Package is done now too, but I'll need a couple more parts for this as well. Finally, the little crane will need a little more work. I'm not sure I'll be able to get to it this weekend, but we'll see. I also have in my mind a little roadside mower as well, but maybe I'm trying to do too much. I'll be done soon....

I love when a design goes so far above and beyond what is needed. I definitely want to see all four wheels spinning out when it's built.

3: 10 1: 6 2: 4 6: 3 5: 2 4: 1 Great job contestants, this was a hard competition.

Maybe just a 4L with stop in black?

Fascinating drive train, and congratulations on finally getting it to work. Also your timing is impeccable considering all the Tesla Truck internet traffic today.

You are not alone here. TLG actually seems to put the correct number of functions in these sets. This one is great!

I would love this! Yeah, I am interested to see a little info about this part. Can an axle go all the way through? How many threads are on it (1, 2?). Either way, I want all of the ones LEGO is going to produce this year.

Very cute, and I love the lifting mechanism. Very creative.

I'm not sure how that worm would work with current gears, but it does look great for augers. The Thirdwigg Farm could use a gazillion of those.

If you include Blacktron/MTron/Space Police the options expand a lot, and It's still classic in my mind. Also, isn't Blacktron the greatest thing ever? Seeing ideas in Technic would blow my mind.

Another great helicopter @steph77! I like the integration of the Electric and Manual functions, and I love the little solution you came up with for the rear rotor collective. Simple and effective. The body work looks spot on, and I love the simple solution to use part 57585 to make the tailplane end plates. Great job again!

Lots of great trucks and machines here. It would be an interesting event to someday go visit. Thanks for showing all these machines working well.

I love any series build, so if this is the first of many, I'm excited to see what is next. I like the features you have built for this tractor like the PTO and front and rear attachment points. Are you going to add any attachments/trailer for this series, or are you going to do more tractors next?

I agree. I have a couple more edits that I need to make for those, and then they’ll be done too. Thanks, I never feel like the bull bars on my MOGs are any good. Axles always seem too big, and bars always look a little clunky. Flex tubes would be fine, but they are hard to get and replicate for other builders. Maybe someday better options will be available.

OK, I spent some time away from the chassis for a couple of days, and I'm glad I did. I built a front which, a rear bed, draft 1 of the the knucklebone crane, and draft 2 of both the plow and the gritter. The project is progressing nicely. Today, I was ready to get back into the chassis, so I first continued the work in Studio. This helped, as I could play with some big parts and move all the major structural parts around the mechanical parts until I could get something to work with. I now have two upper and lower frame rails that connect to the front mount, and two side to side braces that are locked. I then went back to the parts, built it thinking of instruction sequencing, and added all the mechanicals in. I'll need to next rebuild it in Studio, placing steps as I go. I kept the 2 cylinder engine, which seems a little puny, but I still like these better. It's busy here, but everything is in and braced well. The frame is not perfectly stiff, but it's about 90% of what I expect. Also, now the front mount is ridged and strong, and there is no bowing in the frame. I did a couple of drafts for the hood, and like this one the best (which is almost the same as the larger 430). Also, I can't believe after all these orange builds, I need more parts, but here we are .... I'll do an order in the coming weeks, when the rest of the accessories are complete, and I know if other parts are needed. OK, American Thanksgiving is tomorrow, so I'll set this aside for a couple of days, and I'll get back to it soon enough.