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Testament to children's interest in construction equipment is the commercial success of the British theme park chain Diggerland[0]. I'm not affiliated with it,

by cjs_ac 1y ago

Testament to children's interest in construction equipment is the commercial success of the British theme park chain Diggerland[0]. I'm not affiliated with it, and I've never been, I just think it's an hilarious concept. [0] https://www.diggerland.com/ https://www.diggerland.com/

xnx 1y ago
I didn't realize Diggerland wasn't of US origin. https://diggerlandusa.com/ https://diggerlandusa.com/
dylan604 1y ago
If you've never actually used an excavator, front-end loader, or any other large equipment, you'll really never know how satisfying it can be. They are powerful equipment that can move a lot of dirt in a short amount of time, but only if you're good at it. It takes skillz to do things fast and smooth in a way that's not going to tear up the equipment or injure someone. Crane operators are impressive too. Watching crews keep tonnes of load under control flying through the air and placing it down softly (while sometimes not in line of sight of the operator) is impressive to watch. Why more people are not fascinated/impressed with it is beyond me. I think people assume it's all automated and a cushy job and do not realize how much manual control is required. Kind of like those "I could build it in a weekend" comments discrediting the amount of work someone else did.
- Waterluvian 1y ago
  Renting a skid steer for a long weekend and getting kinda good at it was deeply satisfying. Also that experience of digging a hole for hours, and then using a scoop to dig the same hole in seconds, and it feeling like you’re digging through jello.
- mothballed 1y ago
  It definitely takes skill to do operate excavator/front-end loader / backhoe etc with any amount of efficiency, but if you don't care how slow you are you can do pretty much any residential task anybody else can do almost right off the bat and it is definitely a blast. I dug the footings for my house on my first day ever on a backhoe, the next day I removed a few trees and built a road, then I rented an excavator and did all my underground electric in one weekend and underground water main in another. All with no experience with any large machinery nor any electrical or plumbing experience, so the weekend comments can definitely be incredibly valid.
  - dylan604 1y ago
    I've seen crane ops lower the hook onto someone's head (wearing a hard hat of course) so gently they barely felt it. Construction crews do goofy things when they're slow and bored. You're not doing that kind of thing after a weekend of playing around. Watching a team signaling an operator that has no line of sight with nothing but hand signals is impressive for both people. But like anything in life when you see someone really good at their job to the point it looks easy can give people the wrong impression. In your weekend, you probably had favorable conditions. Try doing that when it's the day after pissing down rain, or in the build up when the winds are 30mph. Similar when people watch PGA players chip onto the green and roll the ball within inches of the hole thinking it looks so easy when they do it, but you're not making that shot with a weekend of golfing.
    - mothballed 1y ago
      I'm not downplaying how good those people are at their jobs. Only pointing out it looked hard to me until I did it, then when I realized how easy it was so long as I took my time, I started renting construction equipment all the time. I have no idea if the conditions were 'perfect' or not -- I was building a house in a remote desert location with conditions ranging from dry and balmy to monsoons. After a few weekends I definitely don't think I'd ever consider hiring someone for any ground equipment too simple to do yourself if you have the time. Cranes might be a different story (I've moved multi million dollar equipment after a few hours on warehouse overhead cranes, as did practically everyone else in the company, but not the freestanding ones), but not sure because I used rafters instead of trusses so I could just carry all the roof stuff up in single sticks as renting cranes without an operator doesn't seem to be possible here. Takeaway here is homeowner can probably do everything as long as they use rafters instead of trusses, to compensate for potential issues with the crane.
      - deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
      - bluGill 1y ago
        When I built houses we used an all-terrin forklift to lift the trusses. Probably too late, but if you do it again. Building without a forklift is too hard. We did use a crane for one job - there was no room for a forklift. It took 3 people to keep an experienced crane operator busy. They move fast. cement is one job I would be careful of. You can do it yourself but there cannot be breaks or mistaves as cement is curing and losing strength all the time.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- ooterness 1y ago
  If you've ever wanted to try this, I highly recommend "Dig This" in Las Vegas. They'll teach you the basics and then put you in a an excavator or bulldozer, with an open course full of big heavy things to move around. It's great fun. https://digthisvegas.com/ https://digthisvegas.com/
bcraven 1y ago
The best part about that site is the page on helicopter landing. Delightfully niche. https://www.diggerland.com/helicopter-landing/ https://www.diggerland.com/helicopter-landing/
- Aeolun 1y ago
  That's hilarious. I can only imagine landing there in a helicopter and it being used as a free additional show for all the kids there.
1auralynn 1y ago
The UK has it dialed in on this stuff - check out Tractor Ted https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIo-RUdF6QU&t=10s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIo-RUdF6QU&t=10s
jordanwallwork 1y ago
I'm at Diggerland right now, watching my 9 year old drive a 8.5T JCB on his own lol. This place is so much fun, I'm glad to have it nearby!

by cjs_ac 1y ago

xnx 1y ago

I didn't realize Diggerland wasn't of US origin. https://diggerlandusa.com/ https://diggerlandusa.com/

dylan604 1y ago

If you've never actually used an excavator, front-end loader, or any other large equipment, you'll really never know how satisfying it can be. They are powerful equipment that can move a lot of dirt in a short amount of time, but only if you're good at it. It takes skillz to do things fast and smooth in a way that's not going to tear up the equipment or injure someone. Crane operators are impressive too. Watching crews keep tonnes of load under control flying through the air and placing it down softly (while sometimes not in line of sight of the operator) is impressive to watch. Why more people are not fascinated/impressed with it is beyond me. I think people assume it's all automated and a cushy job and do not realize how much manual control is required. Kind of like those "I could build it in a weekend" comments discrediting the amount of work someone else did.

Waterluvian 1y ago
Renting a skid steer for a long weekend and getting kinda good at it was deeply satisfying. Also that experience of digging a hole for hours, and then using a scoop to dig the same hole in seconds, and it feeling like you’re digging through jello.
mothballed 1y ago
It definitely takes skill to do operate excavator/front-end loader / backhoe etc with any amount of efficiency, but if you don't care how slow you are you can do pretty much any residential task anybody else can do almost right off the bat and it is definitely a blast. I dug the footings for my house on my first day ever on a backhoe, the next day I removed a few trees and built a road, then I rented an excavator and did all my underground electric in one weekend and underground water main in another. All with no experience with any large machinery nor any electrical or plumbing experience, so the weekend comments can definitely be incredibly valid.
- dylan604 1y ago
  I've seen crane ops lower the hook onto someone's head (wearing a hard hat of course) so gently they barely felt it. Construction crews do goofy things when they're slow and bored. You're not doing that kind of thing after a weekend of playing around. Watching a team signaling an operator that has no line of sight with nothing but hand signals is impressive for both people. But like anything in life when you see someone really good at their job to the point it looks easy can give people the wrong impression. In your weekend, you probably had favorable conditions. Try doing that when it's the day after pissing down rain, or in the build up when the winds are 30mph. Similar when people watch PGA players chip onto the green and roll the ball within inches of the hole thinking it looks so easy when they do it, but you're not making that shot with a weekend of golfing.
  - mothballed 1y ago
    I'm not downplaying how good those people are at their jobs. Only pointing out it looked hard to me until I did it, then when I realized how easy it was so long as I took my time, I started renting construction equipment all the time. I have no idea if the conditions were 'perfect' or not -- I was building a house in a remote desert location with conditions ranging from dry and balmy to monsoons. After a few weekends I definitely don't think I'd ever consider hiring someone for any ground equipment too simple to do yourself if you have the time. Cranes might be a different story (I've moved multi million dollar equipment after a few hours on warehouse overhead cranes, as did practically everyone else in the company, but not the freestanding ones), but not sure because I used rafters instead of trusses so I could just carry all the roof stuff up in single sticks as renting cranes without an operator doesn't seem to be possible here. Takeaway here is homeowner can probably do everything as long as they use rafters instead of trusses, to compensate for potential issues with the crane.
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
    - bluGill 1y ago
      When I built houses we used an all-terrin forklift to lift the trusses. Probably too late, but if you do it again. Building without a forklift is too hard. We did use a crane for one job - there was no room for a forklift. It took 3 people to keep an experienced crane operator busy. They move fast. cement is one job I would be careful of. You can do it yourself but there cannot be breaks or mistaves as cement is curing and losing strength all the time.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
ooterness 1y ago
If you've ever wanted to try this, I highly recommend "Dig This" in Las Vegas. They'll teach you the basics and then put you in a an excavator or bulldozer, with an open course full of big heavy things to move around. It's great fun. https://digthisvegas.com/ https://digthisvegas.com/

bcraven 1y ago

The best part about that site is the page on helicopter landing. Delightfully niche. https://www.diggerland.com/helicopter-landing/ https://www.diggerland.com/helicopter-landing/

Aeolun 1y ago
That's hilarious. I can only imagine landing there in a helicopter and it being used as a free additional show for all the kids there.

1auralynn 1y ago

The UK has it dialed in on this stuff - check out Tractor Ted https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIo-RUdF6QU&t=10s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIo-RUdF6QU&t=10s

jordanwallwork 1y ago

I'm at Diggerland right now, watching my 9 year old drive a 8.5T JCB on his own lol. This place is so much fun, I'm glad to have it nearby!