LilGiantsConstrCo

[Lil Giants]

Decided my final grade for the dirt ramp, string is 14 degrees... some spots another inch or two to take out, right at the bottom 20 inches.









Usually one of the coupler wires breaks when the ripper is on, but this last time was with the bucket, not so critical to fix it right away in dim light... hoping my 30awg silicone wire shows up before the weekend to make a final repair! Got some other replacement parts from Germany last week to tune up the 850's swing drive, getting to be too much free play that is beyond adjustment & a nuisance to operate that way.

[Hofabooz]

Hi joe

Looking good glad the surveyor has finished his work and the digging can continue not withstanding any mechanical issues hope your parts turn up soon

Thanks for posting.

[modelman]

Hey Joe-I would find it very hard to work in those cold conditions but you are getting it done. You have moved an amazing amount of dirt on this project. To me, the picture on post #1460 shows the best view of the scope of this project. Doing this with R/C equipment is simply amazing. Great job!!

[Lil Giants]

"Surveyer", hadn't considered that aspect of it Mark, funny

I figured that too Tom, how tiny the 850 looked in that pic... where the hoe sat in that pic, I need to dig down another foot or so yet so I walk through without ducking... and the weather the last week has been just single digits in the negative, which is notably warmer now in the tunnel too.

Ahhh, it's great to have found a cdn source, RobotShop, for my hobby supplies. Placed an order Thursday night, order arrives to my mailbox inside of a week



October I had tried to tighten up the backlash in the swing, one of the reasons for the slop was these four bolts came loose, but tightening them up again didn't show that much improvement.



Currently, with the stick perpendicular to the boom, side to side free play is about 2 inches at the bucket. A couple yrs ago when I snapped the output shaft, I had another planetary but it was the wrong ratio, so I just swapped out the output shaft. And now there's lots of side play in the output shaft that's contributing to the excessive free play. New motor & planetary.



Also wondered how much the crown gear has worn in 5yrs? Hardly noticeable, but there is a little.





While trying to pry up the crown gear I discovered a bit of freeplay in the round housing's connection to the bridge, the bolts came loose & now the holes oblong a bit... drill & tapped for 4mm thread now.







A handy magnetic light to help with mating the house to the u/c again



Keeping the swing motor pinion tight on the crown while I tighten the 3 bolts on the plate



Done! No more side play



Next is rewire the quick coupler.

[Azonic]

Did exactly the same to my 470 the other day, the output shaft bushing was worn out, replaced the "lid" on the gearbox and its all good now.

[DADSGARAGE]

Always like seeing the progress you are making on the fun/tunnel, I see the JD needed a bit of attention.....with the amount of work you have done with it I'm amazed at how well it is holding together....how many hour do you think it has on it??
KP

[Lil Giants]

Kalle, did you measure how much freeplay you had? ...just curious

KP, u/c & boom is made from 5mm steel, it was built to take a licking! Hours? no clue, I'm certain it's past the 1000. I've worn out a couple a different things: 2 belt drives & 1 brushless motor on the pump, 2 swing drive motors, a 2x12 Sabertooth on the swing, pivot holes in the top of boom getting pounded out... minor stuff.

[Azonic]

I think I had about 2cm play or more at the bucket when swinging it side to side by hand.

[RCLogger]

Hello Joe
How is Mr. Winter treating you, sounds like you had a touch of spring last week. You building / fixing machines or still moving dirt ?

greg

[oldguy70]

Thanks Joe on the charger info looks like what I have to switch to, as my present battery source still coming from a NiCad pile that's depleted. Need to switch to Li-ion, also thanks for the RobotShop lead.

Earl

[Lil Giants]

Winter was quite brutal 1st couple wks of new yr with -30 temps, but the last couple wks have been pretty sweet Greg. It sure does make a huge difference in the tunnel for comfort level.

Cheers Earl, it's a great multi-use charger, I use mine to charge 1 - 4 lipos nearly every day. I've had 3 orders from Robotshop to date, and every order has shown up inside the week, it's a great to have a cdn source for cheap to free shipping & no currency exchange rate added costs to deal with either.

[Lil Giants]

Finished the dirt ramp a few wks ago, this all I have left to dig out for the walkway, 3 x 3 x 2.... less than a cy. Where you see the trench line leaves 24" for the last two stairs that I'll hand dig to the correct dimensions. Then stick my diesel blast heater down there for a week or two to dry out the tunnel walls & stairs cement hard.



These couple pics was last weekend.





And then this morning's 3 lipos worth of rip - dig & pull it back to where the 850 is able to swing 180.











Another 20 trk loads ready to haul out



The last of the tunnel dig will be to cut the hump out of the entry to make it about a 14 degree decent, I'll still have to duck myself to walk through.

[Lil Giants]

Another cold snap this week with temps close to -30 makes the tunnel a deep freeze! Moving operations to ground level where my diesel heater is at



















Another chinook coming in on the wkend, head back to the tunnel dig then.

[Efroeh]

Looks awsome Joe, can't wait for the weather to turn nice here again this cold weather is getting old real fast. Looks like the weekend and maybe a week or two of some nice weather.

[Lil Giants]

Thanx Evan. I do like warmer weather.

[modelman]

Wow Joe- -30, I can't handle +30. I still am amazed every time I see how much dirt you have moved with your models. I like the 4th picture down in your last post. It really shows the amount of work you have done but all the pics are good. Also like the track loader filling the screen. Massive piles of dirt. Great job!!!

[RCLogger]

I sure like the looks of that scale art track loader Joe

Greg

[Lil Giants]

Funny thing is Tom, today's high was +5... what a change in temperature in just a couple days... 14 day forecast is just above or below freezing, my kind of winter. Using the track loader atop the pile was short lived, the dirt is a bit too damp yet plugging up the tracks. Sit & spin with the JD450 loading the screen, then use JD850 to pile more dirt infront of JD450.

Yes Greg, I like it too. Great performer. 1st I've used it in nearly 2yrs.

[Cooper]

Nice set up with the material and screen!! Looks like some good relaxing enjoyment!! Reminds me that I need to find some unfrozen material and deplete a few lipos !!

[RCTech9]

Hi Joe, Im glad to see some of the retired equipment was getting some use. How has your guy's winter been for snowfall? a few bis storms here in Western Nebraska, but i wished for more than that.