What to build with lots of yellow bricks? I had not used this color on any other model yet, so my current supply of yellow bricks was quite numerous.
As mentioned in my LEGO story, part of my "LEGO-philosophy" is to rebuild some of the different models I had built as a child.

During my childhood I had built some construction machinery, including a scraper, a wheel loader and a giant dumpster truck.

So with all those yellow bricks at hand, the one thing that came to my mind was to build some sort of „Caterpillar“ vehicle.

But it was not until Lego released the 8457 „Power Puller“ that the project really started off. Those giant tires were perfect for a big wheel loader.
The only drawback was that I had to buy 2 of this sets, which not only were quite expensive, but I really couldn’t use much of the bricks besides the big tires.

So now I had the four giant wheels.

But I noticed that despite the fact that I had lots of yellow bricks at hand, only a few of them were those special shaped bricks needed to recreate the shape of the original Caterpillar 988B wheel loader I planned to build.

But the only yellow model available in the shops at that time was the 7141 „Star Wars Naboo Fighter“. This set contained some special bricks I could use, so I bought 3 of them. I addition to that I found the 6175 „Crystal Explorer Sub“ at a yard sale (I used only two triangular yellow plates from this set).

Now that I had enough special bricks, the project could finally start. I used a diecast scale model as a reference (the same model I had used as a reference for the wheel loader I had built as a child).

I had to use static pistons instead of those pneumatic pistons to hold the front arm, because the pneumatic pistons couldn’t withstand the weight of the arm and the shovel.
The pistons used to operate the shovel alone would work great though if connected to a compressor.

The finished model has a working steering wheel inside the cabin.

Model dimensions:
length: 68cm
height: 38.5cm
width: 23.5cm

Now that LEGO released the 4x4 Offroader, the giant wheels come in slightly cheaper. Maybe some day when I have acquired enough yellow bricks again, I will build a scraper and a dumpster truck, too.