Many people have had a fascination with large construction machines in their childhood. If you want to fulfill this dream yourself, you can use an RC excavator or a wheel loader. After giving a general overview of RC construction vehicles in the guide to RC commercial vehicles: remote-controlled excavators, cranes and tractors from 10 euros, we are now turning our attention to excavators that are also suitable for outdoors in the sand pit.
Remote-controlled RTR excavators (“Ready to Run”) from Carrera, S-ID, D-Edition, Mold King, Amevi, Carson or Revell are true to scale and modeled on real construction machines in yellow. Construction vehicles from Caterpillar (CAT), Liebherr and Volvo serve as models. These are characterized by high quality workmanship and waterproof housing. These include excavators, some with metal shovels, as well as real full-metal excavators in the higher price range.
What types of excavators are there on construction sites?
The classic excavator is the crawler excavator. It is a tracked vehicle with a rotating tower and a digging arm with a shovel. Thanks to the drive that you usually find in a bulldozer or tank, these construction machines can handle difficult terrain well. Only slow driving is possible. These variants are also available as wheeled excavators with all-wheel drive instead of a chain drive.
If necessary, construction workers can replace the shovel with other equipment, such as a backhoe or screening bucket as well as timber and sorting grabs. Thanks to the pivoting tower and digging arm, these construction vehicles are suitable for digging and refilling earth pits, i.e. construction pits or shafts. They are also called single-vessel or multi-vessel dredgers. Compact short-tail excavators are also suitable for road work.
In contrast are shallow excavators. These are mainly used for horizontal earthwork such as leveling areas, while single- and multi-vessel excavators are intended for vertical earthwork. Flat excavators include wheel loaders. These are suitable for the transport of goods and horizontal earthmoving work of loose materials such as gravel. Articulated steering is usually used for steering. The frame of the construction vehicle is attached to a joint approximately in the middle. Variants with a caterpillar drive instead of wheels are called chain loaders. A variant of this is the leveling machine, i.e. a bulldozer with a track drive and a leveling blade.
Of course, a dump truck is a must on a construction site. It is an RC truck with a tipping body that can be extended to the rear. It is used to transport heavy materials in earthworks, remove asphalt or loose waste products during road construction. A distinction must be made here between large dump trucks with articulated joints or rigid frames for a quarry or gravel pit and conventional trucks with a tipping body and three or four axles. The version used as a semi-trailer is also called a tipper trailer.
This is what RC construction site vehicles need to accomplish when used outdoors
Remote-controlled vehicles for construction sites are available in all sorts of versions starting from just 10 euros. These range from small excavator toys for your own four walls to scale models for outdoor use. Smaller and cheaper versions made of plastic, on the other hand, are more suitable for indoor use.
If you want to run your mini construction site outside in a sandpit, there are a few things you should consider before buying. The remote-controlled construction vehicle should be protected from at least splashes of water, ideally it is waterproof. Even in dry weather, soil and sand can still be damp. If it rains, the vehicle can usually survive it. For outdoor use, the RC excavator must be robust. The joints and blades should be made of metal. There are even full-metal excavators. These are best suited for outdoor use due to their indestructible housing, but they cost quite a lot.
To ensure that the vehicle does not break down immediately, we recommend an excavator with a sufficiently powerful electric motor and replaceable batteries. The advantage is that you can use replacement batteries if the first one is empty. Batteries in RC construction vehicles last from 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the model. As a remote control, you should use a remote control with 2.4 GHz. It provides sufficient range and is not sensitive to interference when other RC vehicles are nearby. Only a few RC vehicles of this type still use a remote control system with 27 MHz.
RC construction machines with CAT license from Carrera
RC excavators and wheel loaders for outdoor use
RC excavators and wheel loaders for outdoor use
The CAT 336 excavator is a true-to-original replica of a Caterpillar construction machine with track drive. The RC model itself does not have hydraulics, but electric motors. The housing is mainly made of plastic, but is of high quality. The joints are made of metal. The compartments for the electronics and battery are splash-proof. We wouldn’t play with it in heavy rain, but the RC excavator is adequately protected from at least light dripping water or damp ground.
Carrera claims a battery life of around 40 minutes, which we can confirm based on our experience. The battery charges in around 3.5 hours using the USB charging cable. When the battery is full, a green LED lamp lights up. The acoustic background, including diesel sounds, creates the look of a construction site. You can also turn off the noise by pressing a button on the triangular switch on the remote control – which we really appreciate. The LED lighting is also realistic and beautiful to look at. With a scale of 1:24, the crawler excavator measures 49 × 16.5 × 22 centimeters and weighs around 1.5 kilograms. The remote control has a range of around 25 meters.
It is difficult to handle and requires a certain amount of getting used to. Carrera recommends ages 8 and up for CAT licensed RC excavators. To move the excavator, you press the buttons on the front of the controller. The two buttons on the right move the chain forward or backward to the right. The same applies to the two buttons on the left. To drive straight ahead, you have to press both bottom buttons to increase speed. You can go backwards using the two top buttons. To steer, you press the left button to go right, and the right button to go left. It is also possible to move a chain forward and backward at the same time – for example to turn on the spot. The speed is rather leisurely. The excavator can overcome deep sand and all kinds of other obstacles almost without any problems.
Use the left control stick to move the tower on the x-axis. However, 360 degree rotation is not possible. The front joint of the excavator arm is extended via the y-axis of the left lever. The right control stick is used to lift the entire excavator arm via the y-axis and turn the bucket in and out via the x-axis. With a little practice, over time you will be able to use it to dig sand and throw it elsewhere. Even though the dynamics here are of a more casual nature, the remote-controlled excavator is a lot of fun for adults and children. We successfully tested it in a sand pit on a beach volleyball court.
The remote-controlled CAT 950M wheel loader with articulated joint is a little easier to use. The left lever is used to accelerate, the right lever is used to steer. The front left button raises the holder with the shovel, the right button lowers it again. Unfortunately, you cannot change the angle of the shovel. This makes it quite difficult to use it to collect and lift pebbles horizontally.
A lively soundscape is also included. Very cute: When reversing, a warning sound is heard, as you will be familiar with on construction sites. Advanced LED lighting ensures realistic details. However, as a wheeled vehicle, the CAT 950M reaches its limits much faster than the CAT 336 excavator. The wheels spin on fine sand. There is also a risk of getting stuck in tall grass. It is best used on gravel roads, asphalt or even in apartments – there it is much louder than an RC excavator.
rc excavator for outdoors
CAT’s true-to-original and true-to-scale licensed replicas aren’t the only remote-controlled excavators. Jamara offers an RTF replica of Liebherr R936 At a scale of 1:20 for 66 euros. The RC excavator uses a shovel that can be replaced with a shell grab or a demolition hammer.
Ifaso has a license for E568-003 and E561-003 crawler excavators from Volvo. Jamara offers it Volvo EC160E For 65 euros as a replica; similar RC crawler excavators are also available from Carson and Dickie Toys. The scale ranges from 1:12 to 1:27. Full metal tracked excavators are of particularly high quality, but expensive. These can endure a lot, but are quite expensive. This is how it costs Volvo Full Metal Excavator From Amevi About 460 euros. A remote controlled hydraulic excavator is cost-intensive and starts at 1600 Euros.
Remote controlled wheel loaders and bulldozers
You can get these types of vehicles from Jamara, Amevi and Carson for 50 euros. These include, among other things, true-to-original RTR vehicles at a scale of 1:16. Bulldozers and bulldozers are also available from Carson, Amevi and HBS Hubsons. The RC tractor can also be seen as a front loader or bulldozer. A real Hydraulic Wheel Loader However, it is in the four-digit price range.
Mini construction site: dump truck and construction crane
Your own mini construction site is actually complete with just a dump truck from Mercedes-Benz or MAN and a crane. Simple Jamara RC Truck start at 55 euros, high quality Full Metal Dump Truck from Amevi Only less than 240 euros. The replica looks quite high quality Truck Huina from S-Idea For 110 euros. Complete sets consisting of a shovel excavator and a dump truck are also interesting.
conclusion
RC construction machines are especially fun when you can use them on gravel or in a sand pit. So that the fun outdoors doesn’t quickly turn sour, you should look for well-made RTF vehicles that are at least splash-proof and have a partial housing and a shovel made entirely of metal. You can stay safe with a remote-controlled crawler excavator made of solid metal – but these are expensive.
Licensed replicas of Carrera, Jamara, Carsan or Amevi are true to the original. RC construction machines are based on real models in yellow, such as CAT, Liebherr or Volvo. We had the most fun riding on a crawler excavator. But handling it takes practice. A wheel loader is easier and faster to get around, but it quickly reaches its limits in difficult terrain and only offers limited digging opportunities.
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