Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Gallery: Twelve-Tonne Tea-Pourers and Serious Stuff

Anyone for tea?
 

One sugar or two?

Then there’s the serious stuff

These are the best excavator operators from around the country, winners of regional competitions, demonstrating their skill and precision. After all, a few centimetres of miscalculation can rip open a buried gas pipe costing many thousands of dollars to repair.

As well as keeping a rock-steady hand on the 12-tonne digger controls, operators also have to plan, cost and carry out a One Day Job which tests their versatility.

Former National Champion Brian Hoffmann wins The One Day Job. And after two days of gruelling competition, James Lux of Papamoa, Bay of Plenty, emerges winner of the National Excavator Operator Competition - the over-all title. It’s been held each March at the Central Districts Field Days in Feilding for the last 18 years. Winners are held in high regard by the industry and NEOC also helps raise standards and train novice operators.

At Kids Corner, children get instruction on a mini-digger. Their prize is a bottle of soft drink which they lift from the water.