Jurgen Krooshoop

I just rebuilt my red racecar, but chose to make it in a different colour-combination. It may even look more mean in black/yellow.

As you can read here, TLG has started to take back faulty 8043-sets. It makes me feel really sad, cause it's such a nice model, especially the way it is now...

I think that would be possible. The most logical would be 2x XL (for driving L + R, lifting boom + Dipper) and 2 x M (one for gear-swith + bucket). The gearing can propably be changed to accomedate this. The biggest problem though will be fitting the battery-box inside. I don't think they will use the 8878 for this one as I did (way to expensive). The side-effects during slewing will not be solved by this however. This is a mechanical consequence of transferring 2 drivetrains through the turntable. As far as I know the only solutions for this are: more gear-reduction in the chassis or a seperate Battery-box, motors + receiver in the chassis. Although using an XL for lifting the boom is the only real solution I know to the boom-lifting-problem, I have my doubt that TLG will use XL's in the future because of the cost. I hope they will set me wrong in this. By the way the original 8043 is full of price-comprimises: only M-motors, a gearbox instead + 4 motors instead of 6 motors...

So I guess I didn't play long enough with my stock-8043 to experience problems. I'm more of a builder than a player. And it seems that the M-motors used for lifting the boom is the problem. Which makes me one of the few persons with a correctly working 8043, after I did some modifications myself. I´ve played much more with my modified 8043 than the standard one (cause it´s much more fun), And I believe that it´s performance doesn´t degrade over time. So I´m wondering if TLG will update the design with an XL/motor.

I think it looks even more stupid with a bucket which is too big, doesn't rotate in the right place and doesn't move in and out far enough (that's a 3 to 1 for me). I guess it's just a matter of taste what you think looks best. One thing for shure: it digs a lot better with the smaller one. The choice is yours of course. If you want to use the big bucket, but want to improve the rotation-point and working range, you can always use Barman's bucket-mod:

The original bucket is way too big, rotation point is wrong (it should be et the edge of the bucket, not somewhere in the middle), and it doesn't go out far enough and doesn't move in enough. Look at some excavator YT-video's and you'll see what I mean. Ok this bucket is a bit too small, but it works much much better, so I prefer ihis one. Yes, I know what you mean. It took me some time as well to save up enough money for the 8878 (&transformer), but if you really like Lego & power-functions (and you do), I think it definately worth to get it. Did I ? I made this mod & instructions for myself and for the AFOL & TFOL-community.

Yes I agree, this is what the 8043 could have been like, but it would have been much more expensive. And the full independent controll is especially nice when combined with the joystick controller. I can reccomend that one.

It certainly does work better. It took just only about 20 minutes to completly digg the huge box of pins you saw in the video. And if you have a 8043, you can do this mod too.

Hahaha That is really funny !!

This mod was optimized for the size of the 8878. If your battery-box is exactly the same size, then it'll fit. There is practicly no more extra space in the back of the upperstructure. Everything fits in exacly. It's quite difficult already fitting almost 2 metres of PF-wire in there. I'd still prefer the 8878 over alkaline batteries cause Lithium-batteries keep their voltage better than alkalines. Alkalines have the property to give a lower voltage when being used constantly (even e.g. Duracells, I've tried). And they produce more chemical waist. If you as willing to invest in a model like the 8043, then IMO it's definatly worth to get the 8878. I have 2 and I've never regretted a single moment buying them. And the same controlls as my Pneumatic Excavator DEC-24and the JCB JS 130 by five-star-bricks. I will make a comparison between this PF-excavator and my pneumatic excavator soon.

I corrected this. The link was corrected making part 5 avaible as well. No I don't have a parts list. You don't need a lot of extra parts though, the 8878, 1 x XL-motor, 1 x M-motor and 1 x receiver are the most important parts. Although the 8878 is expensive, it is a crucial part of this mod. But in the end it will be cheaper, cause you don't need any more batteries for this battery-eater. And lithium-batteries are better than alkaline batteries for staying at the same voltage. If you have a 8275 Bulldozer, you propably have enough parts.

What do you get if you take the new 8043 Motorized excavator, some extra PF and technic parts and a crazy builder ? The Ultimate 8043 DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS. I modified my 8043 even more than I did the first time. I believe these mods are all "legal" builds. These mods hugely increase the playability of the model. It now includes: * Full independent simultanious controll of all the functions * Joystick-controller that works just like a real excavator. Based on a desigh by Jason Railton * 8878 Rechargeable battery * XL-motor for lifting boom * PF-lights * Improved bucket looks and operation * Improved Dipper range * All the gear-reduction moved to the undercarriage * Cabin roof This time I made full (photo-) instructions so everyone can turn their 8043 into a properly working mean digging machine.

This Ford looks really really good. What (transparent) parts did you use for the headlights ?

This is very nice, I'll be looking foreward to your video. It's always difficult to fit all the technic stuff inside a model and still make it look good. And the smaller the model is, the more difficult it gets. And you did a good job making this look very good.

Is this cool or what ? The fastest tracked vehicule on the planet moddeled in Lego !! Great MOC.

I enjoyed every second of building it twice (building the B-model in between). It's an absolute joy to build. I'm enjoying modifying it even more. I've just removed the gearbox and added 2 motors and a PF receiver to give it complete controll (the boom got an XL-motor). I've transformed the PF-handsets into joysticks using Jason Railton's thumbstick-design. No more switching between driving and digging-functions adding so much to the playability. I hope to publish my mods here soon.

What a nice little tank. Although I would never paint my Lego, it looks quite good on this model.

I really agree with this. It would be a real shame if TLG would stop designing the complex sets. These are indeed a dream com true.

Very nice & organic. You give "Lego Crane" a completely new meaning.

Maybe you'll like my Little RC Devil Sportscar. Complete step-by-step building instructions can be downloaded as PDF-files here. It has Power functions, but if you don´t have it, it can easily be built without it.

I voted more than 5 hours to the question when problems arose during playing, but I haven´t had any real problems. IMO the model performs as expected. I do believe that the M-motors and LA´s are ate the maximum of their performance. I do think the bucket is too big and I've modified it om my model. I suspect most of the problems to be caused by unprecise building, but not by failing to follow the instructions properly. The instructions are correct and clear, but during building the builder has to be absolutely sure that all the drivetrains move smoothly. This picture say exactly what I mean: I did some modifications already to improve looks & performance. If you're interested, you can read all about it here.

You can improve the switching by changing the gears. See the video in post above for the details and read here.

Here are step-by-step photo-instructions for the bucket-MOD. Clicking the image will direct you to the full-size image in my brickshelf-folder. It makes some noise, indicating that it's propably out of its normal working-range, but it still rotates. I usualy try to avoid operating the bucket when the dipper is in this position. That's right, but I would rather have had one which was optimized for the main model. And for those who want to keep using the original bucket, Barman has modified it to improve the rotation point. More images can be found in this brickshelf-folder.

Yours doesn't seem to work as well as mine. And I'm using the 8878 rechargeable battery wchich gives only 7,4 V instead of 9 V.

Good to see a different crane. You certainly succeded in makinga it unique. And the Lego-challenge logo is a nice touch.