Bay of Plenty digger driver to test skills at heavy metal champs

The competition will take place in Fielding this week. Photo/Supplied.

Bay of Plenty man Craig Crowley will take part in a heavy metal showdown in Feilding later this week when he climbs into the cab of a 13-tonne digger to represent the Bay at a national competition.

Crowley is one of 12 champions from around New Zealand who will test their excavator skills at the CCNZ CablePrice National Excavator Operator Competition.

These range from tests of real-world skills such as traversing a trench or lifting and relocating a manhole cover, to crowd-pleasing tests of precision such as popping a champagne bottle using an excavator's bucket.

"The nationals would have to be the hardest two days of work you do in the whole year," Crowley said.

"The machine operating side is pretty easy, it's the civil stuff I find a bit harder because we do a lot of farm work."

The finals event will take place on March 19-20 during the Central Districts Field Days at Manfeild Park.

This year marks the 27th anniversary of the annual competition, which is organised by Civil Contractors New Zealand.

Crowley qualified for the event after his success in the Bay of Plenty regional competition in June 2019. Craig is a veteran owner-operator who has been behind the controls since he was 18.

Environmentally sensitive earthworks are his specialty and many Bay of Plenty orchards and vineyards have been prepared by his business Crowley Excavators.

He will now drive a Hitachi Zaxis-130 excavator in front of a crowd of hundreds as he battles for the title of New Zealand's best multi-skilled excavator operator.

Civil Contractors New Zealand chief executive Peter Silcock said the competition's mix of entertainment, skill and high-tech machinery was expected to draw a big crowd.

"Every year the competition gets bigger and better. It's an ideal way to showcase the outstanding skill of New Zealand's excavator operators and the capability of the impressive machines they operate."

The civil construction and maintenance industry carries out billions of dollars of work annually, employing more than 60,000 workers including excavator operators.

The industry is expected to employ thousands more workers in the coming years following the Government's decision to invest in infrastructure as a means of modernising New Zealand and leading the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.