Josh Keane, who works for McEwan Haulage, beat 19 other excavator operators to win the Otago Regional Excavator Operator Competition, as part of the Taieri A&P Show in Mosgiel, on Saturday.
Excavator operators were challenged to use excavator buckets to dunk a basketball, pour a cup of tea, traverse logs and write words with a paint brush — along with a job-safety analysis and risk assessment walk-through.
The event also featured social and company excavator operator competitions, and a chance for children to get behind the controls of an excavator as part of a mini-dig experience run alongside the competition course.
In a statement, Civil Contractors New Zealand Otago secretary Nicola Darling said the calibre of competition on show at the Otago regional final was commendable.
"Watching the operators do tasks like the teapot pour is something else — I can’t pour a great cup of tea on a good day but the operators can pour it to the millilitre using their machines.
"The looks of concentration on their faces is priceless — there are a lot of tongues hanging out."
The annual Otago competition had become a "mainstay" of the civil construction calendar in the region, and she encouraged other local excavator operators who enjoyed a challenge to step up and test their mettle next year.
"The precision required in modern civil construction is remarkable, and events like this help showcase the extraordinary level of skill that excavator operators possess to the wider public – inspiring a new generation to tackle the bigger tools of the civil trade.”
Mr Keane said his previous experience in the regional competition — an event he had won twice before — helped keep him on track for the win this year.
"It was tough but I must have done OK in the end.
"Every time I looked around at the other competitors everyone seemed to be doing pretty well, which kept the pressure on."
His placement at the event secured Mr Keane a spot in the national finals at the Central District Field Days, in Feilding, in March — where he would represent Otago against 11 other winners from regional competitions.
Mr Keane said the national finals, of which this would be his third appearance, were "a different ball game" and he hoped to improve on the fifth and third placings he achieved in previous appearances.
— APL
