I’ve done a fair amount of looking around at what is out there for CAD plans for a DIY excavator. I’m quite interested in the CADDiggers from CADPlans. Of course, I started out downloading a set of free CAD plans for a backhoe, just to see what they are like. But the free plans look a bit too minimalist for a first DIY excavator project. So I went ahead and ordered a set of the CADDigger plans, figuring even if I don’t end up making it, it will be interesting for comparison.

Another advantage to go with the CADDigger is that there are a number of them shown in videos on YouTube. For example, this one:

The design looks quite a bit simpler than I imagined. No transmission for driving the wheels, no steering. It looks like they’ve simplified it to the point where it is as simple as possible to build, but is still useful. But based on the testimonials, people seem quite happy with them.