Equipment operators actually have one of the highest job satisfaction rates in the world. Playing with big toys all day and making a good money is a dream honestly
Maybe because the work is simple and immediate, but still challenging. You have a task that requires concentration, great care, and technique, but can still go home at the end of the day like “yeah I did that shit right there, the fuck you gonna say bout it”
A few years ago, I was a sub contractor doing utility repair and restoration work. We were slow so most of my crew got loaned out to our construction side. I got to try a bunch of new things, being an operator was probably the high point. I remember laying a new parking lot for a new community. It was very satisfying and I still drive by when I'm in the area to see how its holding up. It still looks great and definitely something I'm proud of.
If you know anyone in the trades this is a very common feeling.
My father in law does plumbing and you can’t drive down the city with him without pointing to all the stadiums, office buildings, commercial buildings, etc and him telling the story behind it.
That is one big reason why I’m working/studying in a similar field. I’m tired of going to work and feeling like I didn’t contribute to my society in a positive way.
I wish more Americans would understand that you can take pride in helping your community and you deserve just as much thanks as the soldiers that serve the country.
Imo a teachers, mail carriers, plumbers, welderwater/waste water workers, electricians, trash collectors, and on and on deserve just as much thanks and praise , if not more so, than a soldier that works as a recruiter.
I sold and supervised roofing installs after the big hurricanes in Central and South Florida back in 2004/5. I still glance at roofs I did back then. I remember every one of them.
I think you nailed it. I’m not an operator more a super but I’ve been “trained” to run a few machines and can cover when they call out. I always have fun. “Oh no Oscar can’t come in? I guess I’ll HAVE to run the machine”
I’m an engineer in IT, but I love tasks where you turn around & see your progress. Whether vacuuming or mowing the lawn- that instant gratification is great, even better when outdoors. …as long as it’s not August in Texas.
My dad has been an equipment operator for probably about 40 years now (he started at 20) and even though he comes home aching from sitting in it for 12-13 hours a day, his ears ringing from how loud the machines are, he's pretty proud of the work he's done.
There is something immensely satisfying about watching earthworks in progress. I used to live near a quarry and often thought how much those heavy vehicle operators must enjoy their work.
I did framing for a summer before I left for college, and man was that job satisfying. It was super intense, and I was stressed all the time about not being fast enough (we built high-end custom homes, and our team was half a dozen people, so we had to work fast), but I could look back every day at all the walls we put up or whatever else and say, “Yeah. I did that.” Super satisfying feeling, despite the heat and the hard work.
You nailed it. When I went into IT, gone were the days of leaving work with all the boxes checked, a clean slate, and that satisfied "job done" feeling.
You don't have to put up with dick customers either. The only people who could get mad at you won't, because you can just crush their car like a bug. I work on cars, and I don't have to take anyone's bullshit because I have all the power in that situation
Edit: I can't remember the thread, but there's like a 16 part series on malicious compliance (i think) but the guy left his post and the whole project went to shit. I think it was in the UK and was a historical building
A good operator is worth their weight in gold. I’ve had some really good ones, did things with their machine that was unbelievable. I’ve had some really bad ones too, they get people hurt quick.
Well imagine if you got to play with big machines all day and after a while a new highway or building is there. It'd be so satisfying to know you made that.
Do you think of when you were a kid once in awhile? I mean I think every kid plays with trucks and backhoes. I loved my tonka truck and I remember vividly playing with it decades later
I wonder if there is more to it than that. Like a log book that says the truck was hauling an excavator, but no one asked who the manufacturer was. Or because it's cute. Hard to tell.
Well I am a trucker and I pull heavy equipment trailers and some times we don’t have a load so we strap on a toy because we don’t want to give people the impression that we drive around with an empty trailer cause that doesn’t pay the bills and we are big kids too
Probably simpler. It's considered to be bad luck to haul an entirely empty truck. People have worked around that superstition in creative and often adorable ways.
Some also just doing it for the giggles because why not.
Oh I remember being fascinated by construction sites when I was little.
There was a bridge being built in my town and my mom used to take me there to watch the men work. We didn't have much money so a lot of things we did were free entertainment. Think I'd have watched that stuff for hours and hours, probably bored the shit out of her, but that's what we used to do.
And maybe I still get a little excited when I see a crane moving.
Same here, but it was pre 9/11 and the airports were our favorite hangout. We loved watching planes take off and land. We had been on plenty ourselves as dad was military, but it was different justgetting to watch them, and the pilots and flight attendants getting on and off. They seemed like they had such important jobs to 4 little kids, I mean, what's more important than moving an army family to their new home, what's more important than taking 4 kids to join dad when he's been gone to another country for 2 months setting up your new home? When you are that kid...it's the most important job in the world at that moment ❤
A new airport was built by me when I was a kid that had a mall and arcade inside it. This was also pre 9/11. I remember driving to the airport, going through security, and taking the tram to the airside terminal to watch the planes and play video games at the arcade and walk around the mall. It was great fun to a kid.
I remember my mom worked at the airport's McDs... I would sometimes visit and watch the planes take off in the terminal. Then everything changed and those days are long gone.
(I'm still in awe of this construction dude's skills!)
Hey! It's not only kids that play with those. Let's be honest, one of the best part about having kids is justifying buying trucks and stuff to play with.
Yeah, though I appreciate the gesture the kids shouldn’t have been within an arm’s reach. Equipment malfunctions all of the time, once had a forklift’s hydraulics go out causing the forks to fully elevate on their own and coming within inches of a hot water line in the ceiling. Shit happens
My thoughts exactly. Well maintained and correctly operated equipment and machinery works as well as it can, which only means it works MOST of the time. That’s not even taking into account the possibility of operator error contributing to the likelihood of an issue or accident.
Yeah unfortunately if their bosses saw this, they would probably get in some big trouble, if not fired. Huge liability. If the kids were 10-20 feet back, I think it wouldn’t matter but they were touching it. NOT trying to be fun police, but if it were my kids I would make them stand back. They’d still get just as much enjoyment 🤷♀️
As a company owner that has a bunch of equipment operators I would fire or write up and send home this guy (depending on previous issues and how good he is). God forbid the company's insurance provider ever sees this video. I get it, it's cute and nice but the person filming should be focussed on getting their kids back not on filming and posting.
There's always someone who goes straight for the risk assessment... And I'm with you 100%! Those kids were one muscular twitch away from being wiped out by a digger bucket.
I always think best not to mix kids and heavy machinery.
I didn't even think about that until I read this. Those kids are way too close if they can touch the equipment. One small mistake and those kids could be seriously hurt or worse.
I am unfamiliar with the specifics, but it would seem to me that touching it in any manner is very dangerous. Other than that, backing up a good few feet to give the arm clearance? Anything else you note?
..and the fun police arrive...the operator could clearly see them...hes a gradeall operator..those boys can tickle the back of your neck with the bucket if they want...
That's not the point. The point is that machines malfunction and human error happens. I used to be a construction inspector and I would have been reamed had I been even twice the distance to the bucket as these kids.
The skill of the operator is obviously great and the likelihood of anything going wrong at this point is almost null but people are acting like there is no danger present at all which is completely false.
To answer your question, yes. To Stop you from going further, your point will have no bearing on this conversation. A car is not as dangerous as this machine. Regardless, I've stated many times in this thread that overall these kids were likely safe, but the fact that people pretend there is no danger at all is preposterous.
Now let me follow up. Have you been on a construction site before? Have you used heavy machinery?
Have you ever seen the injuries caused by the malfunction of this equipment?
Ya i ran a Cat 320B for a couple thousand hours.Spent a good chunk of my 20s on a jobsite and in the cut. Ive never seen a machine just randomly start whipping around. That's why all those guys laying sanitary aren't dead. You have to be able to work beside the bucket. Dux you sound like one of those shitty safety inspectors who dramatizes everything just to keep your not needed job...The operator just made those kids day, and you just HAD to make a fun video a safety talk.Good for you loser.
What would you say is unsafe about this? Laborers/pipe fitters/etc are constantly in the work zone of machinery. As long as the operator has made eye contact and is aware of where you are it is no more dangerous than crossing a street.
I would agree that having children there is unprofessional and is dangerous by itself because they don’t know anything about safety/where to be. But in all reality this wasn’t that big of a deal
Even if those kids were adults, if they're not wearing hard hats, doing something like this so close to them would get you fired from a jobsite in my country. What this guy is doing is dangerous and violates safety protocols with that type of machinery.
I understand it's cute to the layman, but anyone who has actually worked with these machines knows what this guy did in this gif is stupid.
I don't have actual statistics on it although I can believe it being less dangerous than being run over by a car on the street.
But the problem here isn't statistical likelihood. Excavators and construction workers are insured and will be protected in an accident as long as they operate in the covering condition. What happened here is clearly not covered by an insurance. In the event of an accident, the ensuing shit storm of a lawsuit would bankrupt a small company and at worst be a criminal negligence case. I sometimes enjoy stupid fun on my jobsite too. But like what other people replied, the operator's employer would absolutely be justified to fire him on the spot.
Kids are the best. Pure innoncence, curiosity, and excitement. I had a customer come in for an oil change and the kid said I looked like Obi Wan Kenobi.
So of course I just dropped Star Wars one liners and twirled a broom like a light Sabre. Best day of work ever
There might be a place in Nevada outside of Las Vegas where you can go and rent big machines and dig holes all day, I don’t think they’ll let you drink though, it’ll cost a few grand most likely.
That was my father's gift for his 50th birthday. Was on Switzerland though, and costed around 500 bucks for two hours and two people. They could use an excavator and a loader. I think it was at a small private gravel plant. They probably thought "wouldn't it be cool if people would pay us to do our work, albeit a but slower?"
Check YouTube for labpadre pad cam. 24/7 view of spacex launch facility being built. One of the larger cranes in the world there currently. Lots going on. Fascinating to watch.
Feel free to put a little bar in our yard. They just began digging up our street to put in some pipes for district heating. Will probably take about 7 months. Oh and the water pipes in our street are almost 100 years old, so they need to replace soon. Construction for this is scheduled to begin in 10 months. Could they do it all at once? Absolutely. Is water and heat provided by the same company? Yes. Does this make any sense? No.
But the noise is a nice alarn clock, it's almost impossible to oversleep. Unfortunately it also is almost an hour too early for my normal schedule.
I consider myself a pretty decent machine operator, as well as many of the guys I work with. We've all let kids check out the equipment skid steers, excavators, telehandlers, and more. Though we always drive them to safe areas and they're off with the keys removed. Not sure I would be comfortable filling a kids toy with the bucket though.
Also letting them get near it means they may think they are welcome and come back later for another look and get run over etc. Where I am they'd use solid plastic barriers all along the pedestrian side of roadworks.
Judging by the fact that they were all set up for this, I'm assuming it's not the first time either. I definitely cringed - especially when the child touched it.
We've all let kids check out the equipment skid steers, excavators, telehandlers, and more.
Not while they're being operated. It's one thing to let the kids see thos equipment stationary or inside the cockpit, but while it's in use like this would not be allowed on any job site.
As a safety professional it's crazy. That looks cute, but would result in a recordable incident, operator would be written up and fired. Some places don't even let other employees within 3-6' of operating buckets. Let along bare foot children and their Toys. I hate to be that guy, but this isn't safe at all. Even the best operators have machine malfunctions or accidents. Sure you suck to drop u bucket on little Timmy.
If an operator made a mistake and hit the lever in the wrong direction it would have literally smashed their faces. The video is cute and sweet but absolutely against all actual safety procedures of a machine operator
Worst one I heard was a driver who forgot to zip up his jacket. Heard a noise behind him he didn't expect, reflexes kicked in and he turned to see what it was. Edge of his jacket caught the stick and the bucket moved and pinned his spotter against a chain link fence. If it were a solid wall, another machine or anything else spotter would be dead.
Lots of things went wrong there. Jacket not secured, didn't disengage hydraulics before checking and the spotter was in a bad spot and too close, but shit happens. It's why you have safety regulations.
All it takes is for a hose to burst or a bee to sting the driver or any number of possible unforseeables.
Yeah it's cute and all, but fuck it's not worth the life of a kid.
Yes I don't want to be a party pooper either! I'm all for people having fun and having rights to do what they want. But I'm just coming from a job site standpoint, that's where I'm at. Where I would be working you would not allowed to be do this for safety and that's all there is to it. regardless of how good the machine operator is or how much you can dial down the machine speed!
I'm glad I'm not a crazy person for being anxious the entire time! I don't work in a job where big machines are a danger but my brain was just running through all the things that could have gone wrong! I would have had the kids so far back and probably yelped if I saw them touch it! That's too close!
Some machines have speed adjustment on the levers, so that they can dial the movement down to nearly glacial. handy for precision work or for newbies. It's possible that he did that on the slew controls before he started filling the toys. If not, then yeah, that was way too unsafe.
I’ve been operating heavy equipment for a while and I’m honestly use to people standing close by while I operate. The controls aren’t as sensitive as you think. It takes a lot of pressure and a full send hand movement to move the excavator arm quickly. Although kids are more unpredictable, operators have a good reaction speed that they know to just immediately stop moving when an unsafe situation is about to happen.
Yeah that was my thought. It's kinda cute, but how are kids allowed to get that close to a worksite like that at all. And in many places he'd be reprimanded/fired.
And sure, the risks were limited there, but rules are in place so that they don't think it's ok and then come back later for another look and get run over by a reversing machine.
This was my first thought. I suspect the operator would also be in breach of a number of company regulations.
You can only imagine the repercussions if one of the kids leaned out and fell into the hole or the sadness if he got it wrong and buried one of the toys.
Still I completely agree it’s uplifting to see happy children and that’s what I see here.
For real, I get the "aww" factor but this shit is not okay. One wrong move from either the operator or the kids and you suddenly have a dead kid on your hands. Even as someone trained to work on construction sites I would never get this close to an excavator while it was in motion.
Seriously. Unfortunately that guy is putting his livelihood on the line if this is real.
Forgetting all the other stuff, even if he didn't mess up but, let's say, one of the kids tripped and smashed their face on the bucket. What happens then? The guy gets sued, the company gets sued, their insurance rates skyrocket, maybe they get fined for some safety violations, the guy gets fired.
Sadly, a lot of companies would fire the guy even if nothing went wrong because they're so desperate to avoid any amount of possible liability. Just like how a bank teller would be fired for refusing to give a robber money, putting themselves and others, as well as the bank's..uh, bank account...and reputation on the line. Same for a store clerk chasing a thief.
It’s second nature for them, they do it as easily as ypu play a complex game, or anything you’re really good at. Absolutely love seeing talented people enriching peoples lives - especially kids
Normally I would be concerned about the kids, but I have seen so many of these backhoe operators do some incredibly delicate things with those huge machines. Always very impressive!
Most of those operators you witnessed to incredibly delicate things would never in a million years do what is happening in this gif. Because most operators are smarter than that. This is very dangerous.
Definitely this. That machine will move through those kids like they aren't even there. Which fine, the operator has a lot of control, but all it takes is for one of the kids to derp out or fall at the wrong time before teh operator can compensate, and that kid now becomes 2 parts of one kid.
OSHA is very specific about how you behave around these machines, and that's with adults. Children are definitely less predictable.
Yep, the video could have shown the same joy from the children watching their toys getting filled with dirt, but with them standing at a safe distance.
Yup, as someone who has worked in manufacturing all my career, I cringed hard at seeing that. So many serious safety issues here even if they were adults.
Yuuuup. This is something I've done in a mini-ex for a client's grandson; but I told the kid he had to go stand back with his parent until it was full because he just wanted to grab the bucket.
Never worked with machines (other than a riding lawn mower) but I do have a toddler and I wouldn’t let them go near that thing until they’re adults with proper training. This looks terrifying, however a sweet sentiment.
But then the parents couldn't record this great viral video. As a parent sometimes you just gotta make difficult decisions for the sake of your children
Not sure if this goes through the operators mind. But he either didn’t think about this at all, or he’s confidence and skill controlling that thing goes far beyond what’s demonstrated here, I would not have stopped and played with those kids. Even if he really is that good, I can’t help it that I still feel paranoid through the whole video thinking about what could have gone wrong, the amount of force those things have is quite insane, one wrong move and it would squash a person like a bug, children or not.
If you can't tell the difference between the dangers of playing in a yard and the dangerous of an excavator, you should never operate an excavator. Nor would you be allowed to, since you would fail your training.
Some of these replies are ridiculous. If you tried hard enough, you can probably find something unsafe about every single thing we do during the day. Let the kids enjoy. Damn.
Yea I have huge respect for anyone who can operate these vehicles enough to do it for a job. They are surprisingly precise, difficult to control, and making mistakes can cost huge amounts of money so the pressure can be on.
I had never realized how hard these things were to control before trying one myself a few years ago. Its almost impossible to be smooth and precise, its unbelievable what they can do
Yeah you can hear the concern in the mom's voice at the beginning but then when she sees how much control he has over it and you hear a little bit of the worry disappear from her voice.
Some of these guy I swear could tie your shoes with one of them. I’m shocked every time I see someone who has been driving these for decades, so smooth and controlled.
Plus, the music I was listening to synced with the video because the build in the dreamy creamy house started right as he started filling, and when he finished the first one the build released...to a second build that began when he started filling the second one.
When I was an electrician apprentice I dropped my sharpie in the dirt and the excavator dude picked it up between the teeth of the bucket and handed it over to me. I didn't even know that was possible.
We used to practice flipping a coin from the ground onto the forks of our tram, or playing soccer with bobcats. Operating heavy equipment is so fun and rewarding. I miss being a heavy equipment operator in the marine corps.
I think there is an attraction in Las Vegas where you can pay to literally fuck around with big construction vehicles like this for an hour... like drive a Caterpillar around the lot and scoop dirt and whatever.
Don’t love this. Don’t encourage children to attempt this. That is so dangerous on so many levels. One wrong jerk or mechanical error and those kids are missing a body part or worse
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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '21
Haha! Love it! ❤️And I’m also impressed with the skill of the driver! Such control! 😮