It has never been easier to build a complete Great Ball Contraption (GBC) loop yourself! This GBC is entirely built using only parts from the LEGO Bucket Wheel Excavator and can be referred to as alternate build of the 42055. When building, this GBC makes sure you master the GBC building techniques and tricks so that you eventually can build your own GBCs.

With a footprint of 89 cm (35 inch) by 48 cm (19 inch) and a height of 43 cm (17 inch), this GBC is quite a build! Using almost all the LEGO parts that come with the original LEGO set, you need to assemble over 3100 parts and go through almost 800 pages of building instructions to great 10 individual GBC modules which all work together in harmony to make a full loop. In this way the ball flow will never end. The whole machine is powered by one LEGO motor which comes with the LEGO 42055 Bucket Wheel Excavator set.

10 in 1 Mining Machinery!
The most complex GBC to date!

The building instructions for the GBC 56 Mine Quarry are already available.
The official product video will follow later. Stay tuned or start building already :)

There is so much going on in the GBC 56 Mine Quarry, from left to right and from top to bottom. This factory will push the GBC Balls to their limit again!

The input bin (10 bricks high) is located on the left side and shared with the Pusher Module. A big arm rotates and moves an even longer arm along. This longer arm pushes the GBC Balls over an edge where they can roll to the Roller Lift Module.
The Roller Lift Module takes 1 GBC Ball at a time and lifts it to a higher level. Notice that while the arm goes up and down, the arm rotates a 180 degree as it is connected to a rack and pinion mechanism.

Next, the GBC Balls roll down to a Conveyor Belt Module which brings them to the 8 Bucket Tilter Module. This module takes 1 GBC Ball at a time. When 8 GBC Balls are in this module you will hear the “Click Clack” sound which it typical for the GBC 56 Mine Quarry. It for sure gets the attention when running this GBC in a layout.
The difficult part on this module was in getting a slight upwards slope. For that we had to come up with a mechanism which could tilt the buckets more than 90 degrees.

The GBC Balls are now high in the air, so why not enjoy the view? The Observation Deck Module will take care of that. The desk slowly rotates the GBC Balls almost an entire revolution around. At the end they are kicked off into the Rubber Wheel Tunnel. Once down, they are queued for the Double Cardan Gear Module. 2 arms are working 100% in sync to hand over the GBC Balls while lifting them at the same time. This is so mesmerizing to watch!

The GBC Balls can split paths here if they like. If there are more than 5 or 6 GBC Balls in the queue for the Double Cardan Gear Module there is a possibility that they will be kicked out earlier and land on the left side of the Long Horizontal Conveyor Belt. But if they continue to go up with the Double Cardan Gear Module, they will go over a longer path which includes the Slow Zig Zag Module. This module has almost no down slope so the GBC Balls can take their time to reach the bottom. Here they will also end up on the Long Horizontal Conveyor Belt but now all the way to the right side.

A big red switch allows the GBC operator (that is you!) to choose if the GBC Balls should go to the left or right. To the left, and the GBC Balls end up in the input bin again. To the right, and the GBC Balls will shortcut to the Conveyor Belt Module. There is also a gate located which allows the GBC Balls to exit the GBC to another GBC Module (10 bricks high). In this way you can also easily connect this GBC to all our other GBCs to make the loop even bigger. You can also use this functionality to empty the complete factory from all GBC Balls.

Optionally you can add our GBC Funnel Gravity Well – Left (optional) to the factory.

Work Together – Enhance building skills

While building the GBC 56 Mine Quarry you will learn basic engineering at its best like gearing, forces, sturdy constructions, automation, cool mechanism like the Double Cardan Gear mechanism and so much more!

The whole GBC is split into different parts/modules which are assembled together during the built. Ideal for working in groups as each builder can work on a module sub assembly and later click everything together. Because of this construction and flexibility it is also always possible to separate the modules again and make your own unique configuration.

It is possible to move the whole structure at once when you hold it right. Footprint of the GBC 56 Mine Quarry: 89 cm (35 inch) by 48 cm (19 inch) .

Fun Fact

This is the 4th GBC made from the beloved LEGO 42055 Bucket Wheel Excavator set and, although we have already created many GBC modules from it, we felt there was still so much potential in the parts of this LEGO set. So we started again. With the experience from the last 8 years we went ahead and came up with many new ideas for the new GBC. We actually created more modules than we could fit into this one, so perhaps in the future we will design a 5th GBC from it as well. Let us know if you would be interested in that!

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