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Pretty good operator.

I saw another U Tube about a little guy like that operating a loader in a quarry. He had to stand on the cab floor, because his feet didn't touch the floor when setting in the seat.
You will never see that in the good old USA. today.
I would dare say many of us here on YT started driving equipment at very early ages.
Loren
 

The guy who I drive for now and then got his twelve year old son going on excavator operation this last summer. I drove by one of their jobs this last summer and he as on a big Komatsu moving material from in front of where the house will sit to the back. Then a few weeks later when I got back to the shop at the end of the day he was clearing dirt and putting gravel down in the corner where the truck gets parked with a mini excavator. I had asked one of their full time guys to put a little stone in that corner last year so that I wouldn't get mud on my shoes. The mud was finally addressed.
 
One of my best friends has been an equipment operator his entire working career. He started at 15 years old in a gravel pit. When msha came around hus boss had him hide in the back of the pit in a pick-up truck. This was in about 1995-6. He now owns his own business and has 3-4 triaxle dumps a few excavators and a couple dozers.
 
I came home from 1st grade and there was a brand spanking new JD 420 parked in front of the barn. My Dad said hurry up and change your clothes I want to show you how to drive this!
 
I should add that I took my Son out of preschool to help pull a broke down Ford 8n out of the woods, put him in an AC7000, (not the 1st time he operated this machine but the 1st time alone) showed him how to shut it off, started it off in 1st gear and I hopped on the Ford before the chain was tight. Once we got going he opened the throttle a bit and power shifted it up. We got up to the buildings he power shifted it back and throttled down. When we got to parking area he shut it off. I know that someone will say OMG What If!!! But it is the way most of us were raised, and lived to tell about it. If you ask him today how old he was when he started working on the farm he will tell you "I was either 3 or 4". Funny side note we were flying a puddle jumper into Grand Junction Co. pre 911 days, Flight attendant took by then 7 year old up to the cockpit and talked with pilots, they were very nice and explained how the instruments worked etc. Pilot asked, Matt you think you could fly this, He responded, "Well if I can drive my Dad's AC 7000, I guess I can operate about anything" Priceless! Cockpit meeting ended soon after that!
 
What I would bet is that young fellow will do fine in life. He already knows how to run things and THINK. Yes it had a little bit of danger involved but the good out weight the bad ten times over. We are raising a generation of snow flakes in this country. That kid's generation in his country will kick our kids butts when they both are adults.

All of the kids and grand kids in my family know how to run equipment before they are out of grade school. Teaches them how to think and gives them true confidence to succeed in many things in life.
 
This is probably going to get me flamed, but loading an excavator with steel tracks on a steel deck trailer is one of the most dangerous things to do with heavy equipment. Many an experienced operator has had one slide off of the lowboy. I started operating small equipment when I was ten, but no way I would have been allowed to load on a lowboy. My father was a heavy equipment operator, mostly excavators for 50 years, and he had them slide of off the lowboy.

Rich
 
I started operating a farm tractor when I was six and been running them every since, owned bulldozers, loaded them, loaded tractors on trailers etc. If that guy is comfortable with the young man doing it. So bee it. Show him how to chain it down correctly.
 
Here's my girl running my trackhoe. Think she was 6.
cvphoto6397.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 22:04:32 12/19/18) Here's my girl running my trackhoe. Think she was 6.
<img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto6397.jpg">
Click to expand...

It comes natural to them since they're like using the controllers on a video game, and that helps with the hand-eye coordination at an early age even though we all know there are drawbacks to them.
 
My boy has a small time excavating business. He started his son and daughter on the mini excavator when they were six. I have them do my dirt work, they're 12 and 10 now. We've never told them they were immature. Course, we keep a close eye on them. I was still playing in sand boxes at that age. I guess that the size of the sandbox is all that's changed!
 
Dad was a logger and sawyer. I cracked a spocket on the bulldozer in the woods when I was eight and was told I knew better.
 
Right. As kids, we started driving tractors as soon as we were heavy enough to shove in the clutch. Mind you, 60 years ago, that would have been a 30 hp tractor. My three girls could drive any tractor reasonably well, and actually preferred to drive the manual shift Toyota over the automatic in the other car. They were all smiles teaching their boyfriends how to drive a standard...
Ben
 
For my son's seventh birthday we rented a mini excavator. We roped off an area and made an skills test. We added a hook to the bucket and had them moving five gallon buckets of gravel placing them into tires. Then they took a tire and placed it on a pipe I had driven in the ground. Those kids would stand in line and wait their turn, and as soon as it was over get back in line again. Two hours solid, just running at an idle. I doubt any of those kids had ever been on any equipment.But they all did very well the girls especially! We underestimate how children's minds are like a sponge. Learning is as much physical as it is mental. The smiles of confidence I saw were well worth the money spent.
 
I remember the first Woods zero-turn mower I bought slightly used, the first owner said his six-year-old daughter was better at driving it without tearing up grass than he was.

Grandma never had a drivers license, she was more than happy when I could fill in for her on any tractor, truck, etc.
 
(quoted from post at 18:55:16 12/19/18) This is probably going to get me flamed, but loading an excavator with steel tracks on a steel deck trailer is one of the most dangerous things to do with heavy equipment. Many an experienced operator has had one slide off of the lowboy. I started operating small equipment when I was ten, but no way I would have been allowed to load on a lowboy. My father was a heavy equipment operator, mostly excavators for 50 years, and he had them slide of off the lowboy.

Rich
Click to expand...
I have to agree with you. To many things could go wrong quick there.
 
(quoted from post at 11:40:11 12/20/18)
(quoted from post at 18:55:16 12/19/18) This is probably going to get me flamed, but loading an excavator with steel tracks on a steel deck trailer is one of the most dangerous things to do with heavy equipment. Many an experienced operator has had one slide off of the lowboy. I started operating small equipment when I was ten, but no way I would have been allowed to load on a lowboy. My father was a heavy equipment operator, mostly excavators for 50 years, and he had them slide of off the lowboy.

Rich
Click to expand...
I have to agree with you. To many things could go wrong quick there.
Click to expand...

...and therein lies the problem. Too many "helicopter parents." Oh that's dangerous, little Johnny might get a scrape. Keep 'em in the house covered in bubble wrap.

Then sit and complain because they do nothing but play video games. When you won't let 'em do anything else, what do you think is going to happen?
 
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