❝Working the controls of an excavator is a little like flying a helicopter in that it requires the use of both hands independently, as well as your feet. I say that having never flown a helicopter, and having been in an excavator for all of five minutes, but it is definitely more like flying a helicopter than driving a car. When do I get to crush something?

These are the thoughts I’m having in the climate-controlled cab of a 26-ton Komatsu PC210LC-10 idling in a north Texas pasture while Jason Nibbe speaks calmly into my headset via two-way radio. Prior to handing me the keys to this bright yellow beast, Nibbe asked me and another client to watch a brief instructional video demonstrating the basics of operating this excavator, as well as the bulldozer and wheel loader that we would be driving later. Nibbe says I am to ignore the two ­pedals—each of which is paired to one of the machine’s ­independent steel treads—and focus on my hands.❞
     — Josh Dean, At this amusement park, drive the heavy machinery you loved as a kid

Tags: Josh Dean + technology coolness + excavator + amusement park + skimmed