After a few delays sourcing various materials and tools, we have finally begun welding the pieces together for the chassis of the excavator. We are starting with some minimal point welds in order to position the pieces in place and will go back for more strength later. It is actually quite small looking at the…

It took a bit longer than I had hoped to order the steel for the DIY excavator project. The shop was a bit slow in getting us the official quotation, so we weren’t able to order until after the Songran festival. But the steel arrived yesterday, mostly cut: So that is what $500 of steel…

After having reviewed excavator options and ordered the plans for the CADDigger 628, I decided that the CADDigger 628 was my best option. There were a few other options in the $3000-$5000 range available, but none of them had any reviews available, and I came to believe they were all junk that will likely break…

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…