Haya chieftain with elmod in the back garden!

[Mr Tank A Lot]

Hi all, thanks for letting me join!, here’s a silly little vid of my chieftain 🙂

https://youtube.com/watch?v=GDrjPa_302k&feature=share

have a great weekend!

[Mr Tank A Lot]

[Mr Tank A Lot]

I do love the haya chieftain, got me back into the hobby

[Rubicon99]

The Haya Chieftain is basically all HL running gear and electronics. The stock control system is a 6.1S with a Haya label on it and the gearboxes are straight of the HL parts shelf. Heck the all plastic version even uses HL M41 track.

That’s not a bad thing. But for the price being substantially higher vs HL tanks, Haya left a fatal flaw in the tank that HL has removed in their branded tanks.

The fatal flaw is the plastic suspension arms riding on plastic wheels. HL used to do this but stopped a few years ago because the of the rapid wear between the plastic wheels and plastic suspension axle arms. This wear would eat through the suspension arms in short order and even more rapidly if the tanks were driven in dirt or sandy soils. Haya was aware of this but chose not to use metal arms or at least include bushing/bearing in their Chieftains wheels. The bushings/bearings would have eliminated the wear issues. Something they have been heavily criticized for given their asking price for the Chieftain which is substantial more then a HL tank with all metal suspension arms and bearings in wheels.

Personal I really like the Chieftain but with no option for metal suspension arms or road wheels with bearings its a non starter for me as I like to drive my tanks hard in the dirt. The arms wouldn’t last but a few weeks based on my experience with the old HL tanks that used plastic suspension arms.

I saw from your post on RCU that you also have a Challenger 2. I wonder if the road wheels from the Challenger 2 fit the suspension arms of the Chieftain. I ask because HL makes metal bearing wheels for the Challenger and being able to use them on the Chieftain would be a game changer for many of us that want a Chieftain but will not touch it without the ability to have bearing equipped wheels.

[761st]

Super cool tank and video! The time of day was the perfect touch! Well done sir! How do you like the elmod?

[Mr Tank A Lot]

Hi!
to be honest I’ve never had a problem with the running gear, and I know haya could have done it in metal, but there only a little British company in Cardiff, competing with state subsidy Chinese company’s.
the chieftain might have heng long electrics, but that’s because heng long outsources the boards to another company, it’s the same one haya used, and most of us change the boards anyway.
And yes they are more expensive than heng long, but volume dictates cost, massive chain lots of sales cost is cheaper, small company with a niche tank it will be more expensive, I think it costs £140000 in tooling per tank.

the chally wheels are indigenous to the challenger 1 and 2, when the cent comes out that as far as I know will have metal hortsmann suspension and bearing wheels, which should be compatible with the chieftain (in real life they stuck the cent wheels on the chieftain to raise the ground clearance)
my chally2 took a lot of work to make it more scale,(and there are still problems) at least with the chieftain the base tank is pretty accurate dimensionally

and I wish someone would release a chally 1 I love that tank!

[Mr Tank A Lot]

761st thanks! The elmod does bring it up life, 😁

[RichJohnson]

Hi!
to be honest I’ve never had a problem with the running gear, and I know haya could have done it in metal, but there only a little British company in Cardiff, competing with state subsidy Chinese company’s.
the chieftain might have heng long electrics, but that’s because heng long outsources the boards to another company, it’s the same one haya used, and most of us change the boards anyway.
And yes they are more expensive than heng long, but volume dictates cost, massive chain lots of sales cost is cheaper, small company with a niche tank it will be more expensive, I think it costs £140000 in tooling per tank.

the chally wheels are indigenous to the challenger 1 and 2, when the cent comes out that as far as I know will have metal hortsmann suspension and bearing wheels, which should be compatible with the chieftain (in real life they stuck the cent wheels on the chieftain to raise the ground clearance)
my chally2 took a lot of work to make it more scale,(and there are still problems) at least with the chieftain the base tank is pretty accurate dimensionally

and I wish someone would release a chally 1 I love that tank!

The point is the suspension and running gear are susceptible to inevitable heavy wear and self destruction.
without knowing if we can improve the parts, that is way too much money to spend on a tank that self destructs it’s wheels and axles.

I went through this with hooben and their Merkava, which I took a gamble and preordered for 350. It has not worked out all that well to put it nicely.
All your excuses for this issue and that issue on the Haya tank are useless when it comes to how long it will operate before it falls apart, and Haya has not been any help at all when people have inquired direct to him. His price is too high for what he is offering considering he cut the corner on the most imporant parts for a long term operating rc model. But I’m sure he doesn’t expect people other than a few of us hardcore tank builders to know this stuff.

[RichJohnson]

Look Idont want to come off as a asshole to you. I’m not taking this out on you. You did a wonderful detailing out job on it.
I’m sick of people praising Haya for a Britt tank they all wanted when he put out a sub standard rc model for twice the price of better built models.
I know more than I can state and I feel Haya has taken advantage of our hobby intentionally.

[Mr Tank A Lot]

Well don’t buy it, I’ve bought it and not had a problem with it, I don’t feel cheated, or robbed. I’ve had hours of entertainment and it’s been way more reliable than my taigen tiger, constantly broken chinesium torsion bar holders, metal idlers not taking the weight and jumping tracks, a turret that still fricking the wrong shape after 15?? Years. the kv has the same problem with weak chinesium castings. The taigen panthers turret is also too big, it covers the hatches, that also has a gearbox that’s too low in the hull for the correct height of the sprocket, and the torsion bar holders are again crappy chinesium.
as a consumer your right is not to buy it, if you think it’s tat then that’s fine.
welcome to hobbysquawk.

[SoCalBobS]

My motto is "money is just fun you haven't had yet". Especially in hobbies, if you want it, then the price is right. This is the first video where I've heard the Elmod board. Outstanding.

[Sureshot]

Nice tank and video Mr Tank A Lot and welcome to the forum!
Don't let the haters get you down.

Steve.

[Rubicon99]

Well don’t buy it, I’ve bought it and not had a problem with it, I don’t feel cheated, or robbed. I’ve had hours of entertainment and it’s been way more reliable than my taigen tiger, constantly broken chinesium torsion bar holders, metal idlers not taking the weight and jumping tracks, a turret that still fricking the wrong shape after 15?? Years. the kv has the same problem with weak chinesium castings. The taigen panthers turret is also too big, it covers the hatches, that also has a gearbox that’s too low in the hull for the correct height of the sprocket, and the torsion bar holders are again crappy chinesium.
as a consumer your right is not to buy it, if you think it’s tat then that’s fine.
welcome to hobbysquawk.

Taigen are overpriced and well known for having many issues. Comparing them to your Haya is not a good comparison because Haya tanks are not made by Taigen. Hayas are produced at the same plant that makes HL tanks, though Haya loves to deny that. So comparing them to HL is more applicable dollar for dollar in value and quality.

Sure the Chieftain is a cool tank, I don’t think anyone is saying different, but because it is produced by HL for Haya using so many HL parts that it should not be as expensive as it is even given the limited production run. Using HL parts is not a bad thing, I actually think this is a plus in most respects.

If Haya had equipped the Chieftain with at least wheel bearings and kept the price where it is, they would have sold many more tank. Those of us that have been in this hobby for a very long time know the problem plastic on plastic main running components will have. Couple that with NO SPARE suspension parts being available via Hayas online store and it equals a pass on buying the tank.

[761st]

I think the tanks I have are great. My son and I enjoy playing with them, We own HL Tiger 1 and Sherman 105. Along with a Taigen KT and Sherman 76W. Pound for pound the HL is more fun than t Taigen. They all have issues. The Tiger throws a track, the 76 has stretched track, the KT barrel flops around, the 105 just keeps on ticking. Seems it's the best runner of them all.

End of day, for us it's playing with toys. Something that my son will remember when he is "too old" to play with toys. Oh yes, we picked up a new gunner yesterday. Stripes indicate he is a Sgt.

[Evan D]

Mr Tank A Lot, welcome to the forum. Very nicely done on the video and your tank looks and sounds great. I'll repeat don't let the haters (I really dislike anyone using that term though) get you down. There are a couple here that really put me off calling mine toys compared to their hobby grade tanks. As Bob says it's our money and we can spend it how we want.

[Mr Tank A Lot]

Spot on, there adult toys if you know what I mean!
And I don’t think it’s made by heng long, for one massive reason.
they don’t give a poop about copyright, if they had the tooling they would change it a bit and release there own, and haya could do bugger all about it, there’s no Copy’s by taigen or strange sub brands in wooden boxes.
The only place you can get one is Haya in wales.
If it was built at a heng long there would be spares awash as it’s a massive concern on AliExpress, nothing for haya.
if you guys want to see what I’ve been up to it’s on my YouTube channel, I did it because other tankers kept asking me to build tanks on commission, but I don’t want to do I thought if I try to make it easy to follow instructional vid people could do it hit themselves which is the fun bit!

im slightly worried if I put anything else on here I’ll get an in-depth insight into industrial espionage!

https://youtube.com/channel/UCs_hzgZPUqsJeeCR0AiXkzw

if it helps anyone out that will make me very happy!

have a great weekend everyone.

[tank_me]

I have a Haya Chieftain also. Was it expensive...yup. Does mine throw tracks...yup. Do I still love it...yup. All the different models have issues no matter who makes them. How are those Sheridan tracks doing? What about the Cent tracks? Found any spare Cent tracks for that Tamiya to replace the broken ones? How about all those Tamiya spares that have disappeared from the market? Bearings can be added to just about any wheel. Metal tubing can reinforce plastic holes and help them last longer.

I own Heng Longs, Tamiya, Haya, Taigen, Mato, Trumpeter, 3D printed, and even...Hooben. There isn't one of them that doesn't have flaws. Some can be fixed...some cannot reasonably be fixed. Despite that I will run them till they break...then fix...and repeat. When something does break, I try to make it better so it won't break again. With 20 tanks and half of them battle ready I don't have a lack of diversity or spares when one of them breaks. We all have different wants and needs.

[RichJohnson]

Tamiya sherman and Henglong sherman (with metal bogies) have no flaws or issues at all if left stock.

[Rubicon99]

I have a Haya Chieftain also. Was it expensive...yup. Does mine throw tracks...yup. Do I still love it...yup. All the different models have issues no matter who makes them. How are those Sheridan tracks doing? What about the Cent tracks? Found any spare Cent tracks for that Tamiya to replace the broken ones? How about all those Tamiya spares that have disappeared from the market? Bearings can be added to just about any wheel. Metal tubing can reinforce plastic holes and help them last longer.

I own Heng Longs, Tamiya, Haya, Taigen, Mato, Trumpeter, 3D printed, and even...Hooben. There isn't one of them that doesn't have flaws. Some can be fixed...some cannot reasonably be fixed. Despite that I will run them till they break...then fix...and repeat. When something does break, I try to make it better so it won't break again. With 20 tanks and half of them battle ready I don't have a lack of diversity or spares when one of them breaks. We all have different wants and needs.

The Sheridan tracks are actually doing pretty good these days, thanks for asking. Knowing how hard to push the tank is the key with them. Centurion tracks are also doing surprisingly well given how hard I drive that tank. My holding back with both tanks is the majority of peoples “you are crazy” to drive like that. I have plenty of spare links for the Sheridan and a full set of Centurion tracks and links on the way from Japan. I am a big believer in “on hand” spare parts especially tracks and I have ample spare tacks for all my tanks and the various aftermarket tracks I also run on them. If I ever decide to make the cost (time/money) investment into a Chieftain I will have spare tracks for it as well. Spare tracks/links are an added expensive every tank will have.

Yes Tamiya has discontinued a number of tanks and their associated tracks. If the owners of these tanks did not stock up on spares like they should have, they may or may not be out of luck finding alternative replacements tracks. The Tamiya tanks that are gone had long runs and it is not reasonable to think they would keep every tank in production forever.

[Zippersnapper]

Spot on, there adult toys if you know what I mean!
And I don’t think it’s made by heng long, for one massive reason.
they don’t give a poop about copyright, if they had the tooling they would change it a bit and release there own, and haya could do bugger all about it, there’s no Copy’s by taigen or strange sub brands in wooden boxes.
The only place you can get one is Haya in wales.
If it was built at a heng long there would be spares awash as it’s a massive concern on AliExpress, nothing for haya.
if you guys want to see what I’ve been up to it’s on my YouTube channel, I did it because other tankers kept asking me to build tanks on commission, but I don’t want to do I thought if I try to make it easy to follow instructional vid people could do it hit themselves which is the fun bit!

im slightly worried if I put anything else on here I’ll get an in-depth insight into industrial espionage!

https://youtube.com/channel/UCs_hzgZPUqsJeeCR0AiXkzw

if it helps anyone out that will make me very happy!

have a great weekend everyone.

No worries.....Your work on the Abram's is awesome, and you know I'm following that...There is no "perfect" RC tank ...some require more money to fix then others, some cant be fixed....it would seem Hooben & Haya choose to run plastic and have no idea the money that could be made by at least offering upgraded parts. I've been burned, and with it came wisdom. Rule #1-Read who got burned 1st, then dont repeat. A rule which I ignored.