11
Update: Overheard a young guy at the supply yard call a dredge a 'big water vacuum' and it got me thinking about how we explain our work.
It reminded me of trying to describe my first cutterhead job on the Mississippi to my granddad, a lifelong operator, who just nodded and said, 'It's moving earth, son, always has been.'
4 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In4 Comments
the_wendy3mo ago
Read a blog post once that called heavy equipment "dirt translators.
3
gibson.avery1mo ago
Heard a story from a buddy who worked a job next to a golf course. Groundskeeper comes over and asks what the excavator does. My friend said "it translates the dirt from here to over there." Groundskeeper just nodded and walked away. @the_wendy would've gotten a kick outta that. Half the time you're just swapping piles of rocks anyway.
5
amy_anderson3mo ago
My wife calls my dozer a 'land Zamboni' and honestly, she's not wrong. Trying to explain grade work to someone who isn't in it always ends up with these funny pictures. Your granddad and wren638 have the right idea, it's just moving dirt. But you have to laugh at the names we come up with when the real terms don't stick. Makes you wonder what the first guy to run a steam shovel called it when he got home.
0