Nelson man to take on top excavator operators

Nelsonian Simon Wenham will have his and his excavator’s mettle tested this week when he shows off his skills in a 13-tonne digger at the CCNZ CablePrice National Excavator Operator Competition.

Simon is one of 13 champions from around New Zealand whose excavator skills will be pushed to the limit over a series of epic and enthralling challenges during the Central Districts Field Days on 17 and 18 March.

Some of the challenges will test ‘real-world’ skills such as traversing a trench and digging around pipelines, whilst other more unique tasks may include slam dunking a basketball into a two-storey concrete pipe using an excavator’s bucket, and a slalom course.

Simon qualified for the event after his success in the Nelson Marlborough regional competition in November.

He is the owner-operator of Wenham Contracting and says he is looking forward to meeting the country’s top-of-the-line digger drivers.

“It’ll be a lot of fun.”

CCNZ chief executive Alan Pollard says the competition, which has been running since 1994, is about celebrating the exceptional skill of New Zealand’s top excavator operators and inspiring the next generation to get behind the controls.

“The more unusual tests of skill always bring the spectators, but the competition also has a more serious side, with plenty of more traditional tasks such as trenching, operating around underground services, and tests of operator’s health and safety knowledge,” Alan says.