Build an Excavator from Scratch

[pufferfish]

Hi,

actually my Mining Dumper is completed for 98 percent and just waiting for spring to get some small details out of my resin printer.

But playing only with a dumper is quickly boring. So I need a suitable loading vehicle. After some research I decide to build a tracked excavator. From scratch of course.

I don't have any experiences with excavators so the complete project will be a great challenge.

First, i would like to say that it will be a fantasy rig, no original, no liebherr, no cat. Just a little big monster with tracks and a bucket on the other end.

My goals are learning much about excavators and get a feeling for this, for me, new genre.


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All starts with the tracks. Researches show me, that real scale tracks are very expensive. Too expensive for a project whose ending is doubtful.

So I've ordered a standard industrial chain with brackets to hold the crawler plates





The form isn't flat like the real chains so i've to use a simple trick to prevent the running wheels from hopping.

I orderded simple small chain wheels and cut the half of the teeth.


So it will be a smooth rolling with the ability to hop over a little stone.

The holders of the tracks and their wheels follows

10 blocks of aluminium


shaped


drilled and provided with bushings and axles


mounted on a stainless sheet.
(The complete holder will get a optical more suitable hull later.)



shortly before christmas i've made a little cardboard model to get a feeling for sizes. the table has 120cm length