Home >> Toys >> Construction Toys

How to Build a Small LEGO Excavator

The Lego company began in the mid-1930s, focusing on woodworking and wooden toys. The first plastic building sets from Lego came out in 1949, and many town and city themed Lego sets, featuring a variety of vehicles, were designed since then. You can build an excavator from most collections, although the instructions from Legoland series set 1876 include details on constructing a small bulldozer vehicle.

Things You'll Need

3 four-by-two baseplates
Two-by-ten baseplate
3 two-by-one baseplates
One-by-four overhanging ledge
Rim ledge
One-by-two pieces
One-by-one reverse wedges
Four-by-one piece
One-by-one pieces
Two-by-one brick
One-by-one bricks with pegs
6 rounded jeweled pieces
2 one-by-six baseplates
Two-by-four specialty plate with pin holes on both sides
Two-by-two baseplate
Two-by-two axle baseplate
Two-by-one piece
Four-by-one hinge and vent square
Excavator shovel

Instructions

- 1
  Sit two four-by-two baseplates end-to-side in a 'T' shape. Join these together with a two-by-ten baseplate on top. Snap a two-by-one baseplate lengthwise on the back of the top plate.
- 2
  Fit a one-by-four overhanging ledge on the back of the piece, and a rim ledge immediately behind this. Fit one-by-two pieces on top of the left and right sides of the overhanging baseplate.
- 3
  Fit one-by-one reverse wedges in the left and right sides, then snap a clear four-by-one piece in front of these. Sit two rows of rounded one-by-one pieces in front of this.
- 4
  Sit a two-by-one brick in front of the rounded ones, then one-by-one bricks with pegs on the front of these. Put a rounded jeweled piece on each peg to simulate headlights.
- 5
  Place two-by-one and four-by-two baseplates on top of the front of the piece. Place one-by-six baseplates on the left and right edges, then a two-by-one baseplate on the back edge.
- 6
  Flip the piece over, then fit a two-by-four specialty plate with pin holes on both sides into the bottom, directly under the ledge. Stick a two-by-two baseplate in the center of the front baseplate.
- 7
  Snap a two-by-two axle baseplate under the two-by-two baseplate of the previous step. Fit the axle inside the hoop and flip the piece back over.
- 8
  Put a two-by-one piece on the center of the back windshield, then jeweled one-by-one pieces at the corners to simulate tail lights.
- 9
  Place a four-by-one hinge piece on the rear windshield, then attach a vent square. Place jeweled one-by-one pieces on the front corners, and a two-by-one piece in the rear corners.
- 10
  Snap the shovel into the excavator arm, then snap the excavator arm into the front of the car.

Construction Toys