An inflatable Iron Man looms over teacup rides at the Otago Taieri A&P Show in Mosgiel on Saturday. PHOTOS: LINDA ROBERTSON

A Mosgiel man was left feeling like a "proud dad" after his 19-year-old son continued a family winning streak when he clinched the title of Otago’s top excavator operator.

Mosgiel resident Andrew Hollands, who operates Hollands Excavation with his wife Sarah and brother Carl, said his son Kaleb started operating diggers when he was about 5 years old.

Seventeen children tumble to the ground as a rope being towed by two Clydesdales owned by Dayboo Stud snaps during a tug of war.

While his son was possibly too young to be driving a digger when he started, Kaleb is now the youngest winner of the Otago Regional Excavator Operator Competition, Mr Hollands said.

The contest pitted 16 digger operators against each other and a panel of judges at the Otago Taieri A&P Show on Saturday, where they were scored in their ability at 14 tasks.

Gavin Turner of ProCivil, Dunedin competes in the 13 tonne log crawl.

They included using a paint brush to write the word "dig" on a board, pouring a cup of tea and dropping a basketball into a manhole.

The win left him feeling like a "proud dad" and Kaleb himself was blown away by his podium finish.

Dunedin resident Matt Stewart takes part in the underhand chop demonstration at the show. He said the key to success was getting a good footing. He had been chopping wood competitively for about four years and said technique was more important than physical strength.

When Mr Hollands was younger, he won the regional competition four or five times and once came second in the country.

Likewise, his brother Carl had also taken out the top spot for the region one time.

He passed on advice to his son for the upcoming national competition at Fieldays in March.

"Stay cool, relax — treat it like it’s a job you do every day and don’t get ahead of yourself."

Contestants brought much sharper skills than in previous years to the Saturday competition.

Troy Calteaux, of Andrew Haulage in Balclutha, would also be going to Fieldays to defend his national title.

Mr Hollands was pleased there would be two local members at the nationals.

"It’s quite a serious event ... There’s a lot at stake and a lot of prestige if you win it."

Civil Contractors New Zealand Otago branch chairman Scott Shaw said the contest was about testing the different abilities of civil construction operators.

It had been running for about 30 years.

Danseys Pass resident Sarah Stalker with her horse Lochslea Pride and Joy, the supreme champion of the show and winner of reserve paced, mannered and champion hack.

He had been been amazed with the ability of operators across multiple disciplines, who came under pressure from the large number of spectators.

"It’s not like you’re out there just with your two-man crew digging a trench," Mr Shaw said.

He was hoping Otago would come out on top of the national competition, where it had historically done really well.

"Represent Otago with pride — but most of all, have fun."

oscar.francis@odt.co.nz