Old-Style vs. RC Construction Vehicles
When I was young we used to have toy dump trucks and bulldozers but they weren't remote controlled. Instead they were made of metal and had big plastic tires. The only way to get a dump truck to dump the dirt was to tilt the dump bed back and then the dirt would fall out. These days young kids have the better -- or at least a more realistic -- end of the deal with remote controlled and radio controlled construction vehicles. These RC toys have buttons and levers to activate the dumping, pushing, lifting, and digging actions that we used to do manually. They still make plenty of the manually-operated kinds of toys, but the remote control toys provide an added dimension of realism to playtime.The most familiar RC construction toys are the yellow Caterpillar or "CAT" licensed vehicles. They usually have a few cool features like working headlights and tail lights, engine sounds and horn sounds which adds to the realism. They are also modeled as close as possible to the full-size thing with realistic moving parts. I would have loved to have these types of remote controlled toys when I was a child.
Other brands may be more colorful and have less realistic, more stylistic bodies. These are usually toys for 2 and 3 year olds with rounded edges, simpler movements, and fewer places where little fingers can get stuck.
Types of RC Construction Equipment
Earth movers can come in different sizes from the bobcat to the very big front-end loaders. There are also bulldozers that don't necessarily load the dump truck but gather the dirt into plies so it can be loaded into the dump truck with a shovel. Excavators and backhoes have big shovels or scoops on the front or back that make digging motions.Forklifts and cranes for lifting boxes (or building blocks or cola cans) can have simple up down movements or more complex up and over type movement. Cement mixers are common construction toys although they are perhaps the less exciting vehicle with just the slow-spinning mixer. All those come in radio control or remote control versions. You can find both wheeled and track vehicles.
I thought it was really neat that some "CAT" brand remote controlled vehicles also came in packages of two. For example you might have a dump truck with removable trailer that has a small earth mover or other construction vehicle on the trailer. The extra vehicle may not be an RC. Instead it has built-in buttons to control movement and sound.
The construction vehicles packages sometime include props such as traffic cones, plastic barriers, construction barrels, and road signs and accessories. Check the size of these extra props (potential choking hazard -- not to mention painful to step on when mom or dad is walking across the room in the dark) when buying for children under three.
Controllers for RC Construction Toys
For children from 3 and up its common to find construction toys that are wired or tethered remote control toys. The really awesome part about the wired toy-grade construction vehicles is that you don't have to worry about what frequency to choose. Assemble a complete construction crew with no worries about radio interference. The sky is the limit as to how many can play together.As mentioned above, the push button variety may not move on their own but have buttons for extra actions and realistic construction sounds. Other construction toys are true radio control so you will have to make sure you get different frequencies if buying more than one.
The big buttons and symbols on the controller are generally very easy for young ones to understand what button or control stick does what. Usually a pair of sticks control movements while the buttons control sounds. Instead of multiple buttons, the controller on some construction toys such as those from Keenway Industries feature a single large easy-to-grasp stick that the child moves up and down.
Buying RC Construction Toys for Children
As with any kind of RC toy, consider the age of the child and available features when evaluating radio control or remote control dump trucks, bulldozers, forklifts, and other construction equipment.The slower-moving wired construction vehicles with their fun sounds and simple movements are great educational RC toys for 1-5 year olds.
When choosing construction RC toys for 6-12 Year olds look at wireless radio control for the kids over 8. This age group wants more realism so those CAT brand toys with lots of dumping, spinning, and scooping action along with construction props are a good choice in remote or radio control versions.
Feature Comparisons for RC Construction Toys
See how the features differ between different versions of the same type of construction toy.| Everything About Radio Controlled (RC) Vehicles | |
| FAQs: | Frequently Asked Questions About RC Vehicles, Answered |
| Basics: | Types, Key Parts, and Operating RC Vehicles |
| Buying an RC: | How to Choose the Right Radio Controlled Vehicle |
| Repairs & Upgrades: | Maintaining, Fixing, and Modifying RC Vehicles |