tomacwhite

It would be really good to see others peoples models in action, specifically focused on what the gearbox is doing. There is definitely some dragging of gears going on from the motors secondary function (ie the Left track gear is slowly moving when raising the arm etc). Raising the arm is all slow again now but not sure if the alkalines are getting exhausted!

I get exactly the same issue as you. When operating the lift, you can see the drive gears for the track slowly spinning too. Very strange. My main arm raises OK now, but the middle part is slow and sounds like the motor is struggling. However if I disconnect the arm so just the axle is spinning the motor runs perfectly smoothly with no lag.

I have just motorized my 8041 Race Truck. I borrowed some ideas for certain parts off of people which I will credit and talk about later when I do a proper update post. Briefly, I am using two M Motors for power. I tried an XL motor for the wheels as I thought the extra torque might help with the weight of the model, but with the current gearing setup the truck is rather slow. I will ask for some advice on gearing up the motor when I show you how I have mounted it (The V8 Lego engine is still in place). Pictures and update later. :)

What I did to fix mine: - I removed the two Linear Actuators which attach to the arm (at the Arm, not the Excavator end) and then screwed them in all the way equally, then back out all the way equally. This seemed to loosen them up a bit so the action was smoother. I think one of them was maybe sticky or something. - Before I did this they looked equal to me but I don't think they were. - After doing this the main arm raised much more smoothly.

Thank you for an excellent review, I really enjoyed reading and looking at the photos you took. I too am surprised at the level of complexity here; I was turned off a little by its size and lack of engine/diff etc but it looks like its a great model. I will have to get Power Function for it at the same time. Tell me, does the official Power Function instructions give power to raising and zooming the boom AND winch opertation?

Nice write up and photos, its good to see another of the 2010 2H models on the forum. I like this model a lot, but since I have the Cherry Picker which it is kinda similar to in complexity and shape, I am going for the Mobile Crane first (as I have the Excavator and Bike now)

Next to each vote.

Looks like you'll be buying another 8043 to have the alternate model (Tracked Loader) to add to your collection :)

Just built the alternate Excavator model and its just as nice as the Bulldozer, although it uses far less elements (lots a spares!).It looks ace sitting next to 8043, its VERY big brother. I'd quite like a mini Front Loader set now to go along with the brilliant 8265 from last year.

I am guessing the complexity is simple, even more so than the Cherry Picker. Also, the B model is super lame :( I just grabbed the Motorbike, will post up some pictures if there is demand :)

I am currently in the process of adding motorisation to the Race Track 8041 and reading about the XL motor is interesting. I assumed it would be better due to the weight of the Race Truck, so with a bit more torque the motor should be good. But based on what is being said here I am not so sure. I have added the M Motor just to try it out (with a battery, no IR or steering), just to see how fast it goes forward and its quite decent with the M Motor. I am tempted to order an XL Motor off of Lego to see how it compares (I have two in my Bulldozer but don't want to take that apart). So even with the weight of the Race Truck, would you still recommend using the M Motor? I have been using a Double Conical Wheel Z20 1M gear which connects to the Double Conical Wheel Z20 1M gear next to the diff. Doing this allows me to keep the V8 engine intact which is nice.

Same here, I am really surprised one hasn't popped up yet. I have resisted buying one myself so far, but not sure how long that will last!

Jurgen, your red RC car is amazing, I love it! One question though; where do you get those buggy motors from? Are they official Lego parts?

I have no idea why they have two instruction books for the smaller sets, it makes no sense. They try to save the planet by reducing the ink quality in their printing (which results in grey and black looking too similar) but they then print off two manuals when they could compact it into one. Seems like broken logic to me.

I just ordered another one of these to build the alternate model. This one will sit next to the awesome Motorized Excavator 8043 :)

I hope we do get one, its been too long!

White would be awesome. Maybe they could change their construction models to orange too (or lime green like the G1 Transformers "Constructicons")

It's great that more people on here are starting to get the model. I noticed something else with mine yesterday when I was playing with it. The middle structure of the arm (and middle linear actuator) seems to slow down when its reaching the end of its stroke, almost like its harder for the motor to drive the axle. Would this be due to the weight of the arm? If I remove the linear actuator and just spin the axle they work 100% perfectly.

That is crazy, but it kinda makes up for the inflated price we pay for Lego (and everything) in England!

I think the prices are high because up until late last week the UK was only of the only places where you could buy one, so sellers were taking advantage of that.

Look on Legos website, it's £139.99

Brilliant, that's good to know! I also noticed that if you power the tracks different ways and then slew the superstructure (so it stays in it's current position), after a while the structure starts to move around slightly. This might be related to friction on the tracks if they aren't moving efficiently.

I just finished building mine, its a really lovely model. It took a good number of hours to complete and the result is a stunning Technics set. However, I do have a slight problem with mine in that the raising of the arm is very slow and the motor sounds like its struggling to lift it. I am not sure its the motor at fault because driving the left track is no problem at all for it. Does anyone else who has built this model have a problem with the lifting of the main arm? The other two arm functions are perfectly fine, but lifing is slow. Thanks! EDIT. It was a Linear Actuator problem, one of them was slightly further extended than the other. Strangely that caused massive problems throughout the entire stroke of the arm. Sorted now. This really is a superb model, the design is a lovely with the crazy transmission nicely hidden from view with all the smoothing pieces, and the arm looks ace too. The cabin is a little weak in comparison but its still nice. There were a couple of steps in the building phase which I thought could be better, they were really fiddly bits (getting the two grey gears into position at the bottom of the double-actuators on the arm. I think you need children fingers to get the gears into place easily :) This will sit really nicely alongside my 8275 Bulldozer, even though the scales are out slightly between the two models! One thing about it, when you are spinning the superstructure, occasionally one of the track will move slightly, does anyone else get this? It kinda twitches a little bit.I guess this is because two functions are going through the middle superstructure gearing.

Near the end of book 2 on building this model, it's an absolute monster (and a total joy to build). Very slick stuff, the gear system is insane!!

I just looked at the first page of this thread and saw that it was nearly a year ago that we found out about the 1H 2010 models (28th August). I wonder when we will find out about the 1H 2011 models and what could they be?! Would be nice if Lego used pneumatics again (if the Forest Tractor was popular?).