It’s time to saddle up the backhoe and show off your skills.

A total of $5,000 will be awarded at this year’s backhoe rodeo at CEG Production’s second annual Charlotte Construction Expo at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center in Concord, NC.

The competition will include various tasks that will test the skills of the competitors, such as:

• The Pipe Drop — The operator must lift two cylinders, one at a time, using a tooth on the bucket and placing each over a metal post. Time will stop when both cylinders are in place and the bucket is returned to the start position.

• Backhoe Bowling — The operator will start with the backhoe bucket resting on the ground at a full stop right. The operator then moves the boom left, picks up a ring with a tooth, lifts and swings to knock down the pins. Then the operator must return the chain and tooth to the start position and boom to the start position.

• Backhoe Basketball — The operator starts with the toothed bucket on the ground in a designated square. Then the operator must pick up balls off of traffic cones and drop them into a bucket placed near the cones.

• Egg in the Nest — The operator starts in the center position, moves the bucket to the right, picks up the egg from the sand pile, then moves the bucket to the left where he or she deposits the egg in the tire with the straw “nest.”

• The Backhoe Sand Trap — The operator picks up a golf ball from the sand trap with a special tooth on the bucket, swings the boom and drops the ball into a coffee can.

The backhoe rodeo competition will be held each day of the Charlotte Construction Expo — Dec. 6 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. and Dec 7 from 1 to 3 p.m. The top five finishers will receive the following cash prizes: $750, $500, $375, $250 and $125. The winners from each day will face off for an additional $1,000 grand prize.

The Expo runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Parking and admission are free.

For more information, call 800/523-2200. To become an exhibitor, call Bob Buckley at 800/992-7116. CEG Staff

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