Bruder Cat Excavator Conversion

[rockNmayhem]

Well there have been several people that have been hounding me to show the start of my build so I decided to take a few photo's of my progress so far today and let you all see where I'm coming from. I don't have any before photo's but of course we all have seen a stock Bruder by now. Anyways I'll let a few of the pics do the talking.

The start of the drive tracks.



New drive hubs that will be capped off with the center acting as a wheel nut.



Back of the drive hubs.



Now we all know what the back of the excavator looks like right?



But once it's filled with lead it becomes a great counter weight for the boom.



Did anyone say they needed to dig at night? If so I should be able to help lol.



Now the start of my new rams on the arm.



And a quick video of the first testing.



Thanks for looking and hope to be able to make some progress on it this week and possibly get it rolling.

[RCTech9]

Awesome start!!! Looks like a very clean build.

[firefighter-1177]

Awsome start! Can't wait to see more.

[mazdaparts]

That looks like a great start. Can't wait to see more.

[rockNmayhem]

Well just thought I'd post a quick update of my progress this evening. Got the second bucket ram mocked up and functioning. I still have to find the best pivot point but it is getting closer. Next project to tackle with be the main boom drives to support this whole contraption. Here are the pics to show you my recent progress, hope you enjoy.









Thanks for lookin.

[pumptech]

Very cool ,looking good

[SmallHaul]

Nice and clean looking. It will be cool to see it dig.

[Brel]

nice work on the excavator

[hash]

nice work ....

[firefighter-1177]

Great looking build! Can't wait to see more.

[rockNmayhem]

Thanks guys. I hope to have some more progress done this evening and get atleast one boom cylinder done so I can have the whole thing working. I'm waiting on some parts for the rest of it but I should be able to finish up the drive wheels also.

[rockNmayhem]

Well just to post an update. I've found out that he drives that I'm using are just too much force for the plastic boom and arm so out went the idea of staying cheap and stock and in with the new over built project. I decided to put an order in for some brass from McMaster and build my own boom that will hold up to the abuse these drives are throwing at it. I was wanting to stay cheap on this but as everything else that didn't last long. I hope to get the brass here in the next few days and get it all layed out and brazed up. The stock boom weighs less than a pound and I have a feel the new one will be atleast a minimum of 2lbs to begin with and only go up from there. I should be getting my new radio for it today so I will try and post a vid up later of the rams in action.

[rockNmayhem]

Well it's been several weeks since I updated this thread so I thought I'd show a little bit of my progress as of recent. I have been waiting for some parts to come in and working on the new boom design and decided I had enough to start today. Here are some pics of the new drive style hubs and the start to the boom. I hope to start brazing it up tomorrow and have the arm started this week sometime.

Here is the inner part of my drive hub I've started. I have to get a new tap tommorow from work as I broke mine today in one of the holes but it shouldn't take long on the other hub.



Here is the stock arm next to one of the sides of my new arm of brass.



Here is the arm starting to go together with bracing and hollow rods for the pivots and screws.







Thanks for looking and hope you all enjoy. I really hope this boom will hold up to these rams this time without breaking on the third load pull.

[TheMachinist]

Looking good!
The brass boom is going to be a really nice addition to the model. I don't think there will be any problem with it breaking.
Are you going to use servos for the track drives?

[Car5858]

I was wondering how you were going to build the boom. These pics answered my question. Thanks for the tips.

Nice work so far

[rockNmayhem]

Thanks to both of you and to answer your questions, yes I am going to be using hi-torque servo's for the drive wheels. They will be housed in a custom brass housing and be completely protected from the elements.

[rockNmayhem]

Well the boom was going to be soldered up today but I've decided that I want some more bracing and am going to be running some parallel bars through it that I'll drill the sides for so it can all be soldered solid. I'm looking at making this boom operatable so if I want in the future I can run full hydraulics if I want. Time for another order from mcm.

[loie1044]

looking good

[steamer]

Tyler. Don't know if you thought about this, but you might try to fill the Bruder boom with expandable foam. Make sure you leave relief holes or it may overfill it. That stuff when it dries is fairly rigid and might do the trick. RC Logger built his boom from blue foam and laminated aluminum side plates and it's incredibly strong.
Rob

[Tamiya Cowboy]

Tyler

very impressive work.. you are making me think ill be able to build mine..