Ride-On Excavator

I was so excited to get this truck for my 27 month old son. He loves construction trucks and to dig-so it doesn't get any better than this truck, right?!Well first we had to wait a week and a half to get it. I do have to say that everytime I called amazon customer service they were very polite. The guy on the live chat signed out on me, even though I wasn't done with my conversation, apparently he was.So now we have the toy, but it has a locking mechanism to lock the scoop in the up position. You have to twist the handle to unlock it and drop the scoop. Its difficult to do and my little guy gets very frustrated with it. Its kind of an unnecessary feature. Otherwise its cute and seems durable.All in all the whole transaction was a little disappointing.

The Excavator is a decent size. It fits my 3 yr old perfectly and my five yr old can sit on it comfortably as well. It does help with coordination since you have to rotate the handle on the arm to get it to lower and then use the lever to extend the bucket. The body rotates about 20 degrees which isn't much and the rubber rolls over the bottom which is realistic to the real machinery but I don't know how well it will work once it's filled with sand or dirt. I've only had mine in the house so far and my little ones drag it as opposed to riding on it. I'm not displeased but I don't know if I'd buy it again or try a different one if I had the option.

Tried and True. One of the best toys ever for a young boy. My own kids used theirs for years. (Not kidding, probably 8 years) All my friends asked to "hand-down" this toy. I never could bc kids loved it so much. I have purchased many of these to appease all the young ladies and gentlemen in my community. Great price for a toy that lasts for years.

Total waste of money and complete garbage. Broke after one week. Sand got in the gears and it never moved properly again. Plus, the motion was always a little too complex for my 3 year old - he could never get it to release the way it is meant to and therefore never actually dig with it! I would certainly not recommend this toy. In fact, I will warn people about it.

This toy is well used in loose dirt and gravel. It is over 2 years old and still a favorite. Amazing that plastic is still in one piece!

My boys have really enjoyed playing with this toy, however in order to lower the bucket it requires a lot of wrist strength and most of 2-4 year olds that have tried to play with it are not able to make it function on their own. It's even a little difficult for me to get it to lower. The only other comment I would add regarding this excavator is that if the children are not able to operate the arm that makes the bucket lower they tend to lean forward on the toy, causing the toy to tip and occassionally the child will fall face forward into the arm of the excavator. This toy requires a lot of parental supervision.

Just a response to the review noting the wrist strength needed to release arm on excavator. My 23 month old received this for Christmas and I must admit it took us at least 5-10 preplexed minutes to figure out the twisting motion for release. My 23 month old learned it within the day and has no trouble at all since. Great toy! and a reasonable price for the enjoyment.

The handle does not turn, very frustrating to a 2 year old! Could have been built much better so the handle would be easier to turn!