LilGiantsConstrCo

[Bundy]

Oh Lord the possibilities!! Train layout, shop, crawler course, road course, off road track, construction site......Geez

[Cooper]

That's a dream come true!! In a few years I will be relocating to a house with detached garage, often thought about a tunnel from basement to garge, so me and the animals can come n go as we like. Keep us posted on the progress of the new shop. I always like to see where others do their works.

[Lil Giants]

Strictly constr for me... one money pit is enough... too many hobbies & nothing gets done.

I've been dreaming about it for a long time Cooper, I'm looking forward to having everything toolwise under one roof, instead travelling between farms to use my hot metal tools... and the space so I can build/rebuild more than one at a time, my short attention span as it is.

[Stuff]

looks great Joe!!

[Cooper]

That's cool, after reading some of the things on the net about some crazy Canuck using rc toys to dig out his basement it's only fitting to have a new construction building with something left for the little giants to out source. And to be clear about the crazy Canadian thing,,, I'm jealous , and wish I had found the rc construction hobby earlier in life as it's always been something that my inner child has desired. As I'm building the d11 I'm keeping an eye out for a haul rig, excavator and so on. And it's appreciated that you share your trial and errors. As there isn't really any mainstream of this high end stuff instructions just forums like this. I'm curious to know if you are going to build a TBM? (Tunnel boring machine). Lol!!!! conveyor belts,, ect, lots of possibilities.

[Lil Giants]

Thanx Dean, getting closer all the time...

And thanx again Cooper... I started this community in 2001 on Yahoo Groups forums, then I moved it to Garden Trucking in summer of 2005, then we started again with FreddyGearDrive with this current forum in Fall of 2010... so we've been around for a long time... although it's really just in the last 4 or 5 yrs that the RC heavy commercial hobby has exploded on this continent with organized exhibitions & club get togethers; both private & commercial local manufacturers of parts & kits... and globally too , for that matter with greater ease for the individual to do international commerce to build whatever he/she wants.... what a black hole it was back in 1996 for me with no internet & just a few pics & script I saw in some plastic model truck magazine from NY, USA that did a feature on Wedico rc trk kits.

I don't suppose I'll ever outrun that "Crazy Canuck Basement Digger" namesake... I was a little disappointed with the original story line that started it all in 2012, but at least like-minded ppl such as yourself saw it & found your way here to join us to share & contribute with your own talents of ingenuity & discipline to make the hobby that much greater for everyone as well.

TBM? that's my JD850!!!

[ekim]

Wow, Joe for all these years you have been the mainstay here.... I as well found this by virtue of your basement work!!! Thanks to you I am now addicted! Now I have someone to blame it on!!!!

Michael

[Lil Giants]

You're Welcome or I'm sorry... take your pick Michael.

I got this Fumotec B4206 4x4 kit Feb 2012... it's come in handy to rob parts from it to fix my JD850, as well as upgrade other models too with some beefy parts. But I replaced everything taken from it with the box full of goodies I got from Fumotec earlier this week.

With everything painted and ready to go together, I started assembly last night and not long I was scratching my head thinking WT?, why won't this fit together.





An email to Frank & a few hrs later with him telling me that the red brushless motors have to be milled to fit... so, I masking taped the bell openings & used my dremel with a grinding disc to shave 2mm off each motor.



Being that I got this kit 2yrs ago, Frank (Fumotec) has since upgraded these tiny red out runner brushless motors with special order shorter ones blue colors made specifically for his kits (B4206 tractor, WA 500 loader & B50/45 ADT).



This is the electric steering actuator. The 4206 will still have 3 valve hydraulics for implements, to be shown later.





Cooper, here's the simple clevis I made on my minimill that took me... well nevermind how long ... but it will never break.




Maybe by next wkend I have this together.

[ekim]

lol thanks Joe...... and very nice build by the way.......

michael

[RCTech9]

Glad to see you are making progress on the Bell, Joe!

[modelman]

Nice & big workshop you have joe-so you are building a tunnel. This should be a few years work. By looking at the tunnel size I am assuming that it is 15' from your house and will be 7' tall and 4' wide. Is this correct? Do you have a dig plan that you could share? I didn't think an excavator could dig on a vertical wall. Is there another machine in the plan? Also will you shore up the walls and ceiling with wood, metal, etc.? Will be watching ....

[grumpygrady]

before you start your tunnel have you thought about a concrete slab over it on top of it from garage to the house
to prevent a collapse from weight of snow or animals or atvs etc

I know it some times happens like when I was a kid and dug tunnels in the side of ditches in NMex , a friend parked his bike on top of our fort and the roof came down on the three of us that were inside thank goodness we had room for the dirt and us and everyone got out ok but we never thought about it coming down lol

[Lil Giants]

You see how the west porch is narrower than the main part of the house? ...that's where I intend to pour a 15 x 15 foot slab of concrete, plus the narrow area to the right between the shop & house will be concrete too to carry rainfall away.

The camera is pointing south. The tunnel will be northward of west porch, starting in the middle of porch. Tunnel depth will be 7' under concrete and then elevate at 12 degree incline to ground level.

I intend to drill 6" diameter holes 2' from main house foundation, two rows in parallel, spaced 4' apart north of porch. Then I'll insert 4" x 4" x 10' PWS posts in the holes to help support the cement & give me something to screw PWS sheet to to crib the vertical walls. I'll place 6" square 1/2" plate steel on top of posts, plus lots of rebar in the concrete, plus drill holes into house foundation to insert rebar... that should be one solid mass, with 80% of concrete resting on undisturbed ground.

I think the reach of the JD850 is about 30" vertical, so the tunnel will be that height till I get all the way across. Then cut the floor down another +4'.

Before I pour cement slab, I'll lay three 1" plastic pipe the length of tunnel & drill 1/4" holes every 12" for the length of each pipe, so I can add water here to soften up the ground to dig it out... for every hole I reach while digging inward, just tape it off so I can keep adding water to keep the ground moist for easier digging.

Once the concrete work is completed & cured, then the lean to structure will be put up. Then get the spray insulation guy to do his thing and lastly any electrical necessary... with a little luck, it should all be done before next winter.

Where I'm standing with the camera (north east corner of shop), I intend to put a hot tub in this corner! It'll be out of the way & out of the elements... and I hope it's the cure to my lower back pain that has been getting worse & worse the last 2yrs.

[Snochaser]

I'm excited to see you finally building the 4206. I'd still love to build what we talked about in St. Louis. Hope it goes together well and speedy, I'm anxious to see it operating.

Ben

[Lil Giants]

This something new to me... using these brushless motors, one on each wheel; each motor has to have it's own esc too to power it.

I messed around all day yesterday figuring out the programming sequence & getting perfect neutral so both sides start/stop equally... now to do the other axle & hope I can match it to this one.

Robbe has a esc programmer, though I didn't know of it till I started this part of the build... I'll probably get one b/c I have more of these types of esc's to program in the future.

[Lil Giants]

I don't remember Ben... is it the pan? I intend to use it with this, as well as pull the 10th scale pan & have dirtpusher9's dozer pushing it full.

[Snochaser]

Yeah that's it Joe. A pull pan would be real nice.

[RCTech9]

So how long do you think the tunnel project will take?

[Lil Giants]

2 to 3 winters worth of activities... maybe a bit longer. That JD850 dug that last section of wall in winter of 2011-12, that measured out to approx. 7.2 cu yd.

[Lil Giants]

Getting close to run status... got the 4 esc's to talk equally to each other.



Shortened up the wires & soldered.



Had to a little bit of dremel & hand filing to get the front axle to fit.





The electric steering in place.



Just got to fit the hydraulic system & start tuning the tx.




It was a toasty warm day today here of +9, so I did a little hauling out in the late afternoon... I'm standing in my livingroom to take the pic... I walked up & down the stairs about twenty times in an hour or so... a good bit of excersie.