Dig This

[Viking45]

Back in the late 80's I buried phone cable for a short time (in between cutting trees) and met an ole boy that won a backhoe Rodeo down in Texas. His prize was something like 1000 bucks and a Remington 870 12 gauge. (always remembered the shotgun)
They used a pitcher of water and he had to fill glasses similar to the guy in this video. They also had to open a pizza box and move chess pieces around (large ones of course) and a few other tricks.
I watched this guy move a backhoe over a large tree stump using his front bucket,hoe and out-riggers without touching the stump. He could also detect a tiny "drop line" that is the small phone wire that comes from a pedestal to your house(about the size of a tv cable).
He claimed once you run a hoe long enough you can tell the difference from a rock and a wire. I thought him full of sh*t but he never cut one drop during the time I knew him.
They get quite creative in their maneuvers planning. This keeps it fresh so no one can practice ahead of time.
I ran a backhoe for a couple of years and was pretty good but these guys are nuts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No2d52jezD4

[tequiza]

That's the difference between an operator and a lever puller

[Vagrant]

[~Chad]

Pretty cool!

[daddyloko]

I had a boss that was really good like that on a backhoe as well. I thought he was B.S., but sure enough, he never hit a house drop or any underground utility line.
What was really cool was on weekends, we would go up to the main yard and get in the Bobcats and just have some fun Then our project manager put a stop to that