Have You Ever Seen A Backhoe At A Heavy Equipment Road-eo?

They call them boys and their toys and when it comes to heavy equipment, they don’t get much bigger – mind you, there are plenty of girls enjoying the thrills of the sport as well. Around the country and throughout Canada there are various events that challenge heavy equipment operators at what they do best. Often held as part of county or state fairs, these contests are a lot of fun to watch. They are even more fun to participate in.

One of the best contests to watch (and one of the funniest) is the backhoe egg race – yes, egg race. Backhoe operators need to move an egg from on top of a pile of dirt and place it into a nest made from an old tire and some straw – without breaking the egg. By the way, they don’t use their hands, they have to use the backhoe bucket to do the whole task.

Backhoes are not the most graceful of tools, yet you would be surprised at how many eggs make it unscathed. How about a game of backhoe basketball. Here the operator has to lift a ball from the top of a cone and place it into a basket.

If you really want to have fun, keep your eyes open for, wait for it, synchronized dancing. I have only ever seen this twice – once using backhoes and the second time using skid steer loaders. It is fun to watch but more than that, you have to marvel at the control these operators have over their equipment.

This of course is the aim of these contests. How well can these operators master their machines? It all starts way back at the beginning when they first received their heavy equipment training. They have obviously had the kind of training that has made them feel extremely comfortable with their machines – the kind of training that has lead to them being experts in the field of heavy equipment operations. If you ever get the opportunity to visit one of these contests, do it. You will be thrilled at the action and amazed at their skills.