[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] it is more than i expected it is huge!! definitely worth the money!

My 34 yr old son has received either a Duplo or Lego set for Christmas since he was 2 yrs old. It is a tradition. We build it together as our schedules permit in the weeks following Christmas, usually a 2 day marathon build. I was running out of ideas for this years set until I saw the John Deere set that is an interest for both of us. looking forward to the build!!

I'm a forester who works for a timber company so when I saw a lego skidder I had to have it. I haven't thought of or built any legos since I was a kid, so it's been a solid 15-18 years. This was my first build in that long and I had no issues, had to go back a couple times because I wasn't paying enough attention to the detail of the instrcution pics but other than that no issues. Everything works as it should, complaints I've seen about being a difficult build or too messy with the hoses are rubbish because I know these machines and I haven't built any legos in years and I was very impressed and satisfied. Got me hooked on legos again. PLEASE MAKE MORE LOGGING/FORESTRY EQUIPMENT!!

This was a fun build. My favorite aspect actually was getting all the punamatics working. Yes its a mess, but I feel that adds a bit of charm. I had no issue getting the tubing fitted properly. One of my cons however is that I am not a fan of the placement for the controls. Its a bit tight to get back there and manipulate them how I want.

Since their introduction in the early 1980s, the pneumatic sets have always been my favorites, and I always make it a point to buy them whenever they come out. I have really enjoyed the more recent Technic sets that incorporate more scale details, and this skidder brings that to a whole new level. I really appreciate the balance of geared and pneumatic functions. The pneumatics on this model are really strong and act in a realistic manner. My son and I have been loading wooden kitchen implements with this skidder and the 42144 material handler on the kitchen table all afternoon. The build was challenging and fulfilling. The pneumatics are easy to plumb with careful study of the instructions and the benefit of prior experience. It took me about 6 hours with "help" from my toddler to complete the model. The play value is immense, and the model is rugged enough to be handled and operated by my 4 year old. Lego, please keep the pneumatic sets coming! Especially sets like this one and the 42128 Heavy Duty Tow Truck, with a good balance of geared and pneumatic functions, and excellent play value. Thank you!

The build was fun for the most part. I was only missing one piece, but it wasn't critical to keeping the building together. The issue I had was the tubes. It wasn't clear where come of the tubes connected in the 3D schematic. I zoomed and twisted the image around to find figure it out, but it was still difficult. It would have been helpful if the tubes were red, green, yellow. Instead of the standard black and gray. I must have crossed some tubes because the crane doesn't stay in the up position and the claw opens after a few minutes.

The set is great and the overall the build experience is very nice. However, towards the end when you start build the valve block for the pneumatics, it gets extremely frustrating. There is just too much going on and they are wanting you to try and fit too much material in too small of a space. For how good of a company Lego is and how well they make their sets, the pneumatic situation is absolutely abysmal.

As others have said, building this set can be difficult, especially when connecting the pneumatic tubes. This can be difficult for some, but Technic fans who want a challenge are most likely to be pleased. Aside from the complex pneumatics, the build is quite straightforward and I’ve found it to be very enjoyable overall. The finished set has interesting mechanisms, clever details and it looks phenomenal when compared to a real-life John Deere 948L-II, especially considering its scale and the fact that it is a Technic set (i.e. looks are secondary to functionality). I positively recommend it. Thank you LEGO for releasing a set of a machine that most people are arguably unfamiliar with , it gives this set additional educational value.

This was a fun set to build. I enjoy the technic sets, I have many sets. The drivetrain is very realistic. The pneumatic system was a little tricky to put together, but once it was done it worked well. It would have been nice to include some logs to put in the grappler. It would be nice if you could design a logging truck to make it more complete.

This Lego was one of our kid's summer projects. We do not help him build. He's 4 yrs old. He asked me why the section of the tubes was not working. I, my husband, and our sitter (who is very proficient in Legos) examined the problem. I called Lego about how the section wasn't working. The lady was very kind. She told us about the 3D building app--we did not know about this. We pulled up the 3D builder and the directions for the tube section are completely different than the booklet. The system works when using the 3D model. Overall though, I am not a fan of the stability Lego. But, I absolutely love the giant machinery pieces. Our kid likes to play with what he builds. This model is a bit fragile. Often little parts will pop off. One of the tubes came off inside and I had to spend hrs taking pieces off (and trying to memorize where they go back) to reach where it had to be re-attached.