Teacher Geek- Hydraulic Arm

About a year ago I received the Advanced Hydraulic Arm by Teacher Geek to try out and review. We ended up being asked not to post reviews at that time and I've had this sitting in my drafts for all of this time.  I really think some of you may like this so  I wanted to share this.

 I have mentioned in the past that I am not mechanically minded so I don't usually put things together but I decided I was going to give this one a try.  My almost 16 year old, Rachel, and I took on the task.  She is good at puzzles so I thought she'd be the best one to work on this with me.  I have to say it was NOT easy.  It took us 5-6 hours to get it put together.  My husband did end up helping us at the end.  I am not 100% sure I could have done it without his help.

Be sure to keep the packaging.
The password to the online answer key is found on the sticker!

Starting to build the hydraulic arm.

Rachel putting some pieces together.

We made a few mistakes and put pieces on backwards and had to re-do them.  The directions were step-by-step with black and white pictures but I sometimes had trouble figuring out what to do. I found myself wishing the directions were in color.

There are several downloads to go with this including Fluid Power Lab which is an 18 page colorful printable worksheet style pdf file. The answer key is available online using the code printed on the packaging your kit pieces come in so don't throw it out. :)

Fluid Power Lab cover. Note the colored tubing.
You can add food coloring to the different tubes to make it easier to tell which tube is which
but I was afraid of colored water being spilled (with so many little ones here)
so we chose to just use plain water.

Look at everything that is covered inside!

FINALLY finished

It works! Ryan lifts a Duplo block.

Ryan using it to lift a wooden block.
 (I didn't think he'd be able to pick it up , but he did.)

My conclusion is that even though this really took a long time to put together (it might not take others as long as it took us) it was really worth it. There is so much to be learned from putting it together and then using it (along with the Fluid Power Lab). The price is very affordable too!

Note that the hydraulic arm is not a toy and is intended to be constructed and used with adult supervision .

The Advanced Hydraulic Arm is available from Teacher Geek for just $24.39.  (You will also need to purchase a Reamer ($5.95), Easy Cutter ($18.95 or use something similar that you have at home but this tool was GREAT! I recently used this to cut popsicle sticks for a project....it was perfect.), slip joint pliers and a #2 Phillips screwdriver. They also have an optional slider block that makes it easier to insert the dowels (they were really hard to insert).  I think this would have made it a lot easier to put together so you might consider adding that as well.


I received this free in exchange for an honest review.