Thanks for the Kind words. I actually just bought an all metal Huina electric excavator last week and although it is slightly smaller than the bruder at almost 20 lbs it far exceeds anything that I could have ever accomplished with the plastic Bruder. Sadly this will likely never get revisited or completed, it may be time to consider selling it as it sets minus the hydraulics and let someone else see it thru to completion. Thanks again for the kind comments. It was a lot of fun to model and make the parts from scratch.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/nTvYCRHoUkPXjKgM7