[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

I have a confession. I would have loved to have been a crane operator/heavy equipment operator.

One of my neighbors owns a construction company that does a wide range of projects, including rock sea walls.

I hired him to stabilize a portion of my sea wall, add rock to help buttress the pressure treated wood. The rocks are in the 50 to 200 pound range and are stacked against the existing sea wall.

He has a really nice excavator to move the rocks. No grabber. I went out to check on his progress and he gives me the, "you want to give it a try" challenge.

Duh.

He then bets me $20 that I won't be able to pick up the rock with the bucket alone.

Easiest $20 bucks I have ever made. It was great!

What is interesting to me concerning all the videos is that the machines have a death rattle.

In my blue collar past life I used to do property management for a mobile home park, when we had a broken water main we rented an excavator to dig up the line for repair. Clay soil saturated in water and 3-4’ deep isn’t an easy dig by hand. Regardless of conditions it was an absolute highlight for me, as my boss only had one good eye so he let me run the excavator. Fun as hell, all of my Tonka dreams come true.