When loading a machine or piece of heavy equipment -- be it a lawnmower, ATV, motorcycle, what have you -- into a truck, you're typically going to need ramps to get the job done. At least, that's the preferred and encouraged method.
But, if the machine you're trying to load happens to be an excavator, and you're feeling a little bit like a loose cannon, you can make like the operator of the JCB mini digger in the below video and pull off some ramp-less leveraging. If you're skilled enough, that is. This isn't something you try your first day on the job, that's for sure.
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Using the excavator's arm to prop up the front end and adjusting the back end to serve as a wider and more stable base, the digger's operator gets this thing up onto the truck bed in less than two minutes, no problem. That likely wasn't the first time our guy tried this move. Nailed it! Perfect score! Bravo!
Now, this technically isn't a groundbreaking maneuver, as most excavator operators worth their salt could probably pull this off without a hitch. And, most of them would would have no problem saying as much.
That said, we've seen plenty of folks out there (God bless YouTube) attempt to load machines into truck beds and fail miserably. And that's even with ramps. We've seen trucks get completely ruined. We've seen ATVs land on their roofs. We've seen folks get seriously hurt and straight-up humiliated in loading fail after loading fail. All it takes is a little too much unchecked confidence, and you can go from thinking you're King Shit to eating your weight in crow.
So, sure, loading an excavator onto a truck sans ramp isn't rocket science, but this dude deserves a pat on the back and a cold beer, nevertheless.
This post was originally published on April 14, 2020.