G’day, Y’all,
This has probably been covered, but I bought a Woodlands Scenics soft metal backhoe kit and wondered if it might be motorized to allow a 90 or so degree turn of the boom. Has anyone done this? And can you tell me how it was done?
Jock Ellis
Cumming, GA US of A
I assume you’re talking about HO scale? If you want to do nothing more than have the backhoe boom swivel from side to side, you might be able to do that with a small, very low speed geared motor under the layout. Coming up with some way to control the motor would be more of a challenge than the mechanical aspect of connecting it to the backhoe.
When I was in the carnival modeling biz, I motorized a few rides using servos. A small program can be written to execute the movements of the boom. The servos range in size from pretty darn small to big. If you’re creative and know a bit about robotics, the project can be done fairly cheap. Steve
The METRO MRR Club in Port Washington WI has a traveling layout with lots of animation. One item is a backhoe with a boom that lifts and drops. Others are a cement truck with rotating bin, outhouse with opening door, etc. They have a website and are great guys. You might consider dropping them a note.