Thirdwigg

Great job @gyenesvi on another great alternative build. It's always interested to see what solutions you are able to come up with using the limited parts available in various sets. I am happy I was able to give you a little inspiration in this build. I hope it worked well for this application. The build turned out great, and all the functions you were able to add is impressive. The stance and proportions look great as well. I like the long hood, and the cabin placement that give a long bed on the rear. Again, great job with this.

This build it looking very clean so far, and I hope it can stay that way with the cab. The white, read and blue looks great. It would be great if you could find a way to remove the rubber bands on the boom.

What a great design! Well done.

Thanks for the update, as this is a fun project. I respect anyone who can build a module in an 4 wide space. And I really love anything with a worm gear mechanism, so that boom is going to great from my perspective. I really like the While, Red, and Dark Azure, so I would keep the Cabin white, and see if you can accent with a little red or DA depending on what you have. Shaping is great. There has to be a better way to do the steering axles though, right? I just can't get past the Golden Ring parts.

My apologies to Team Skid Excavator, but I had 30 minutes of available building time last night, and some clearly defined goals for the loader, so I spent the time rebuilding the whole thing. To use the words of @Seasider, my "gut" was feeling loader yesterday. I now have a bucket tilt linkage that works throughout the whole boom lift range. It is well supported, doesn't bind, and allows for all the needed positions. It will also work well for Forks, which can be interchanged by removing two axles from the side. A HOG knob for the tilt actuator will be placed on the top of the cabin. The chassis is a mess right now, but I tend to do this part last once all the functions are placed where I want them. Steering is placed, though the HOG needs to move backward one stud. A placeholder for the engine is in as well, though I have not decided if it will be longitudinally or transversally mounted. I won't have much building time this weekend, but next week is a little more open. The next step on the Excavator is going to require some focused building time.....

I admire your restraint as we have constant pressure to buy more and more. Keep building... I'll keep going on the Skid Excavator, so I'll post an update soon.

Great job. That boom has a quite a reach. Yeah, keep the linear actuators for the outriggers. They fit perfectly.

Looks Great!

I like all the different iterations. The rear end of the truck looks much more balanced now. And I like the cabin so far.

I often have problems of indecision when building. No, let me reframe that, there are a lot of things I like to build, and it's great I get to try out many of these ideas. As I mentioned above, I also have a draft of a End Loader. And while I think the Skid Excavator is more interesting, my mental space keeps getting filled by the loader. So I thought I would explore this project as well. I'll see where both of these drafts go.... It's a little clunky right now, but the framework and general placement of features is there. The boom lift is perfect, but there are a couple of issues with the bucket tilt mechanism that need to be addressed before I can proceed. I'll add in some steering, and some form of fake engine. This is modeled after a midsize loader (Volvo L50H, Deere 544K) and is about 1:22 scale. Currently the size is 33l x 18h x 15w for 8910 cubic studs. This gives me some room to play with, and will even allow for some interchangeable forks.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I confess, all the comments about the track size was a little unexpected for me. I tried the small tracks, and they looked too tiny. Let me bring them back out, and I'll post a photo with them to see what you all think. I don't have the rubber tracks, so it's gonna be one of these two link options. Thanks, it will be one of the three options for the boom. It's pretty fun how many of my ideas come from other builders. I hope you keep going on the project at some point. Thanks for the kind words. Hopefully I can deliver on this project as well. Scale is about 1:19 (which means, now that I'm looking at it, the cab is about a stud short).

I love the bigger size, and the crane looks much better. Are you able to move the rear axle back at all? That rear overhang is a touch too long. Also, the hood could use a little more refining to my eyes, but the overall improvement is great.

Well done with all the features! There is so much packed into this MOC, which is becoming a bit of a trend with you @2GodBDGlory. The proportions are a little wonky to me, but it must be the price to pay for that huge boom!

Alright, I'm a little late to the game, but I want to play. I confess I am still on the fence about doing a front end loader, so I'll give my draft one more go this weekend, and make a decision about if to move forward with it. But, ever since @Jundis started his Mecalac 12MTX WIP, I, like many of you I'm sure, have been spending a lot of time on the Mecalac website. They have a lot of fun little machines. Each would make a fun little project. For this contest, I wanted to see if I could do a little skid excavator. I finally got a little time to build this week, and here is what I have so far. It's pretty basic (and sorry I burned out my photo lights today), but it is a good start to see what I can fit. The MOC is currently 26 modules long, 20 modules tall, and 17 modules wide which equals 8,840 cubic modules/studs. I planned the project at 29x20x17 (9,860), so I should be fine. I suspect the MOC will get a little longer and taller, so it is good I have a little bit of space to expand if needed. Currently I have the following functions, all of which are manual: Front Plow up and down Slewing from HOG Boom 1 up and down Boom 2 up and down Boom 3 in and out Bucket scoop Interchangeable bucket I have a lot of room in the back, so I hope to do something else with that, and the cabin will have a door or something. Everything right now is a rough placement, but the movement of the boom is acceptable, so the pivot points might be effectively "fixed" at this point. We'll see where this goes....

@Akassin thanks for the photo. You made the right call not to use the yellow rims. Grey better. The design looks good, and isn't worth acquiring all the other colors just to appease me. Good job.

Great job on the finished product. I confess the pneumatic hoses look cleaner than I thought they were going to; it looks tidy. I also like the change you made by adding the linear actuator to the grapping arms. It looks better, and I imagine works better than the first worm gear design. The white and black looks clean, but I do wish for a little more color. Maybe the outside pictures will change my mind. Again, great job. What are the final dimensions?

I agree; the functions are great, and this looks great as well. I look forward to seeing it in real bricks now.

I'm happy I was able to provide a little bit of inspiration. The rear of the tractor has a lot of great features! It's looking good, and looking pretty close to be done. Great job.

I got an idea, and rough draft. I'll try to post something by next weekend. I'm a little stacked at the end of an academic term, but I realize I am running out of time for the contest. I'm glad the file worked well for you. Sorry I didn't have any more to help with. I am also interested to see how that pump will work. It's a clever idea, so hopefully it will function as intended.

Great solution @Seasider. I look forward to more on this project!

Wonderful! Everything looks great! I'll add future projects here too. Woohoo for decluttering the internet!

Thanks for bringing this to us. I am a little ambivalent about the sub forum discussion, but I like the change with more topics on the first page.

It was kindof the impetuous for this project. I guess many of my MOCs stem from disappointment of another design, for better or worse. Thanks again for the kind words. Thanks a lot. Yes, very much so. It's size is close (32x19x18) at 10,944 cubic studs, but some changes could have been made to bring it into compliance. I felt a little funny entering this into the contest as it was done prior to the start of the contest. I guess I didn't release it, so it would have been within the rules, but I have another idea, and time to get it done. I'm glad you like the rear implement mount. It worked well on the Atmos, and will be used on the next tractor as well. It has helped to have an implement standard as well. Yeah, keeping the HOG knobs easily accessible is a leading design principle for me, and the roof is a great way to do that. Glad you like the build. Thanks again. I agree, some form of suspension would be great. Actually, the issue with the pendular suspension is structural. I like to have two planes of chassis frame going from the front to rear axles, and, ideally, have this frame support both the front and rear implement mount. The front implement mount supports, and locks the front axle to the chassis. This means all implement mass and force is transmitted directly to the frame and the front axle. Having a pendular axle would compromise this support. I guess the likelihood of mounting an implement on the front of this tractor is low as the bucket it there most of the time. I guess it would not be hard to try a version with the suspension and no implement mount. Let me see what I can do. I think the bucket can still remain, but I'll remove the front fenders as those would be the part the interferes with the bucket arms. I do have some plans to do a bigger trailer, but it's currently fourth on my (ever changing) list of what to work on next.

Another addition is added to the Thirdwigg Farm with the John Deere Scout Tractor. Built in the same scale as all the other machines, this Tractor has the same attachment points as the Atmos tractor, so all implements are interchangeable. Features: Steering Rear PTO Lifting Bucket Tilting Bucket Removable Bucket Front Implement Mount Rear Implement Mount Free Instructions for the Tractor are at Rebrickable.com. Instructions for a small trailer are also free. Instructions are also available for a front snow plow, and a rear snow blade. Find them at Rebrickable as well. The tractor makes a fun little companion to the Atmos tractor. And a little video of the tractor. Something is not working with my filming, so it's a little below my usual standards. I hope you all enjoy!

Thanks for the link @Jim. Always happy to help with an academic study.