Back into civils at last! 1:87 style...

[stretch]

If you do get the 954 with demo boom, where you gonna use it?

The Liebherr has exquisite detail, well, sort of, and it is a real beaut'. It is really cool and works well with my Case dumpers. I know you got some big trucks, but I suggest you know how to move it with that.

How can I build a Lego lowboy like yours that will attach to a diecast truck?

For the 954, I'd try to hook up a hammer for rock work and a bucket for dredging and long-reach work. Otherwise, I'd use the demo boom and shears as-is for demo and related work.

As for the lowboy, I'm not sure. I had a few Hot Wheels (circa 1979) trucks that were originally dump trucks, but the beds got lost or cracked and disposed of. I'm sure that with some glue, you could put a pin on the neck and see if it will slide in and stay in the 5th wheel. I'm not sure how well it would work, since I've never had a licensed 1/87 scale lowboy setup. I'll stick with my outfits since they work well for me, even carrying the huge 773 trucks without touching the ground.

 

[Bellboy]

Ya, as I said, the quarry is now operating, and I'll get some pics of it tomorrow, as well as the first stage of the road project well under way.

 

[Bellboy]

Quarry

Finally got it going after some deliberation and planning.

Here some pics:

 

[stretch]

Seeing quite a bit of new equipment in there...wish I had a new job besides the sand and gravel business right now, but things are just slow...not to mention winter's coming.

And then there's the new 974...:notworthy:drinkup Looks comparable to a Cat 385 with that bucket! Now to decide on the next investment...another scraper to replace the 627 (or to perform crazy experiemnts with), or a 954 w/long reach for those demo jobs or a 974 with massive digging capacity? :beatsme

 

[Bellboy]

I dunno 'bout you, but my pics look real cr**! I think there is a problem with the mystical auto resizer.
Ya, there is a new Volvo A40D, great for the 974, and I might be getting a second one, depending on how things are going.

Built a 35m3 semi detached tipper today, and a 10m3 tipper on a Volvo truck. Pics tomoro.

And, what 30 ton excavator would you recommend, seeing as my Case is busted (thinking of donating it to the local modeling society.)

 

[stretch]

The pics look only as good as mine...I think it's just the size of the machines. :beatsme

Anyway, great choice with the A40D too, I've had one for about 3 years and it's another real workhorse. As for the excavator...I don't know about other 30-ton excavators in our scale, so I'd say try going up to a Liebherr 954 or down to a Volvo EC240 (the 240 actually has a bigger bucket than the Case and you can take it off using an eyeglass screwdriver and modify other attachments for it).

If the problem is only a busted cylinder, try using a paper clip to replace it, that's what I did for mine and it's been back in service for about 3 months now.

 

[Bellboy]

Will definately try the paper clip, only my brother is not keen on the idea. What is the EC240 like?

 

[kostas]

Thats a great fleet. . i like the mixing up the makes.!!!brings you back to the sand box eh?

 

[stretch]

The HO-scale EC240 is definitely the typical Volvo excavator...about great in everything it does. (I'm not biased now, am I?) It will outpeform the 330 in cycle times, lifting capacity is alright. If you can't find one of those, the next model down, the EC210, will do almost as good of a job.

I'll grab a pic of the 330 repair later unless you can find it in one of my posts...it's duties are mostly confined to utility work now thanks to that.

 

[Bellboy]

Pics would be great please, stretch. Are those models from motorart?

Thank you kostas.

 

[stretch]

Yeah, MOTORART...although the EC210 and A40D I picked up a few years back were from Boley.

Here's the repair pics and a comparison. Sorry for the fuzziness, but the clip is inserted into the cylinder and wrapped around where it attaches to the boom.

 

[Bellboy]

mmm, I see. Thanx for sharing your knowledge. My A40D came from Siku, the same people who made the 974 ex, and the Liebherr payloader. It looks like your Volvo has some ballast issues, so you might want to tighten the screw on the swing pivot.

Here are some pics of the two new trucks:
1. The new dump trucks
2. The new dump trucks
3. The new dump trucks
4. A40D and 730/Klein water truck
5. 730

 

[Bellboy]

Here we have some of the days work, ainly road building, but also some extraction etc.

Basically what we did for the day:
Digging, hauling, road building with the M318D (love that machine), and then I brought in the 160H do some grading, as the 12 was a bit sloppy. (Signs of the times, us young guys can't operate anything old!)

 

[Bellboy]

Busted

Finally decided to fix the Case, and it ain't to bad. Took quite a lot of time to get the old cylinder out due to the position of it, but got a paper clip in its place, and it is a bit loose, but it works nice. Now I have an excavator for the road project, and there are a lot of trees there that need extracting, and on extracting...

Last picture: wish I had one of these! Where did you get yours, Stretch?

 

[stretch]

I got mine, a Deere, from Athearn. I believe they also make a Deere dozer, loader, and grader.

And what do you mean us young guys can't run anything old? I just hired someone else to run it! It's a good ol' machine nonetheless.

Glad to help with the Case...no mechanical problems go unsolved without me!

 

[Bellboy]

I see you changed your avatar kostas.

Athearn eh? I will have a look at that.

 

[stretch]

Hey, I've decided to make my next purchase a 974...can you give me some feedback on the 974? Looks like it's worked out well so far.

And man, do I love the M318D too.

 

[Bellboy]

Ok, the 974 got a big bucket. It loads nice and works well with A40D's. My only minor complaint is that the boom tends to want to ease down, i think that it is too heavy for the cylinders. It is however very well balanced. My dipper crowd stick is very stiff though. I like it, and I am getting another A40D this week.

Where can one get a good looking, well functioning log loading machine, like an excavator or swing machine??

 

[stretch]

Thanks again...I'm sure I can work out the kinks myself if I have any.

Log Loaders...log loaders...I know that the Norscot Cat 966 can be ordered with a set and one of the MOTORART Volvo loaders (L180 I think) comes with a high-lift loader set but as for excavators, I'm not sure. Might have better luck modifying an existing machine or simply adding a thumb to one. :beatsme

 

[Bellboy]

What a pity that there aren't any readilly available log loaders out there in our scale...

I'll think about the thumb idea