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What do you make of this one? As far as I can see it has all the characteristics of the hard-to-find all yellow model, except for one obvious difference! It’s had a hard life (both back hubs are broken) but hasn’t been apart.

Hi Glenn,
Great model I would have to say a trial or maybe a prepro, I have a all yellow one for sale on my website that you can have if you need one to compare.
J

Nice find Glenn.

Dave has shown one with a white lower section here.

I can not see a plastic hook on yours, is it an early one that is a cast in towing bar.

There are a few changes over the life of model in the area circled in my pic attached as well.

It is/was a model with some good casting detail and plenty of play value as this one of yours shows.

Bert

Looking at it logically it,s either a "pre pro trial" or a repaint.To be a repaint someone would have had to take it apart carefully ,spray it white,rebuild carefully then play with it to death ,which i think makes no sense
So i would put money on it being a colour trial,not for the colour but how the casting looked after a modification,perhaps white shows up flaws better or it could have been the colour being used at the time,either way a great find and maybe unique piece of lesney history (theres at least 2 of my traxcavators, practically a variation lol )
dave r

White was also used on the later K42 Traxcavator as well. J

Thanks, everyone - I think you’ve solved it! First, here’s the back and hook, which is not like the prepro version that Dave and Jason have, but shows that it’s the first production casting.
As Bert points out, the white arm is not the version fitted to the early all-yellow model but is a slightly later casting with extra reinforcement. That supports Dave’s view that it’s either a trial of the new arm design (painted white to reveal flaws) or a colour trial. As the change is so small and the triangular panel that supports the bucket is also white I think I’m more inclined towards colour trial, but we’ll never know.

By increasing the lengths of the pins and turning them into rivets certainly would have improved efficiency of painting and assembly of this arm and hydro-sleeve housing. Painting of three parts and then trying to assemble would have been a messy process. Also makes for better stock storage.
Nice to see another interim step with these and to see them all together is a bonus.

I would be interested to know how many moulds there might have been in use with the fixed hydraulic arms from Dave, Jason and Glenn. On the sides they have K8 as well as a number cast. Mine have 5 and 6. It is very small, so this is your monthly eye test.

Bert

yellowfoden wrote:By increasing the lengths of the pins and turning them into rivets certainly would have improved efficiency of painting and assembly of this arm and hydro-sleeve housing. Painting of three parts and then trying to assemble would have been a messy process. Also makes for better stock storage.

Briiliant - I hadn’t thought of that. On mine all three parts were painted separately, but it must have been much easier to assemble the shovel this way. This one has arms 1 and 3.

Heres the results of my eye test,3 and 4 ,and a shot of the back end
dave

That prepro is fabulous. I think there must have been an even earlier version with the hydrosleeve rivet hole in the lower cast ring with its neat bolt heads.