Think way back to the days when you were just a school-aged
child. Remember those days you woke up,
fully expecting to go have a typical, normal day of school and then once you
got there you learned you would be treated to a special movie, a special field
day or a special presentation. Suddenly
this ordinary day is a little more extraordinary and a little more fun. Well, the ladies in our office had one of
these days today.
At the start of this season we acquired two new Caterpillar
Skid Steer Loaders. A Skid Steer is a
small, front-end loader first developed in 1957. It gets its name because it is steered by powering wheels on one
side while breaking on the other so it can skid in a pivot around its own
axis. Hence the name "Skid
Steer". Many operators will attest
that if it can't be done by a skid steer, it can't be done at all. Being small and maneuverable these machines
can easily get in and out of most places.
A wide range and variety of attachments are also available to get the
job done. This type of machine is used
to push, carry and load materials.
Today, Laurie (Bookkeeper), Stephanie (Operations
Administrator) and myself (Shaunda - Operations Manager) were given the
opportunity to get a lesson and take a turn driving one of the new skid steers
before they go out in the field. Tio,
our sealcoat/slurry foreman probably didn’t wake up this morning and think he
was going to be teaching some ladies from the office how to do this but he sure
was a good sport, a good teacher and I think he got a good laugh out of it too.
We each got a turn backing, turning, and driving the machine
and then loading and unloading both sand and rock. We were all hesitant at first but once we got on and started to
figure it out it was nothing but smiles.
Laurie really got a hang of it and I think if she gets tired of being
the bookkeeper she could probably move right on over to skid steer operator. It
was interesting to get a little taste of what the crew goes through and how we
get our jobs done. Sitting in this
machine really gives you perspective on how powerful it is and also how safety
minded you must be when operating it.
Also – it was a fun break from the usual day-to-day work we are
accustomed too. Now if we can just
convince Dan that Stripe 'N' Seal needs a race-car. That’s a test drive I think we would all like to take! Check out
our Facebook page for additional photos.
Shaunda
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| Stephanie, Laurie & Shaunda |
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| Tio the Brave |
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| Stephanie |
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| Laurie |
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Shaunda
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