February 15, 2012

Excavating your basement doesn't sound like a fun way to unwind after a long day of hard work, but Saskatchewan farmer Joe Murray has managed to make a fun hobby out of it -- by doing it in tiny, incremental steps.

That's because Joe has set himself the task of doing the entire project using only radio-controlled scaled models. He manages an entire fleet of miniature heavy equipment, which enables him to dig out two to three cubic metres of dirt per year.

And it's not just tiny excavators doing the work - Joe has an entire work site on his hands, with miniature trucks, miniature diggers, miniature dirt lump crushers and more, making it seem like Joe is in charge of a contractor on Lilliput.

Joe told the CarScoop website (which, fittingly, had the scoop after spotting Joe's postings on the Scale 4x4 R/C web forum), "What a better place to have an all-weather playground than under your house? It's just a few steps away when I have time for it, it's a comfy place to be when it's -30C outside. I am in no hurry to finish."

It's a good thing he's in no hurry: So far, Joe's basement project has been on the go for 7 years, and is set to continue for some time to come.

Check out some of Joe's equipment (part of the Lil Giants Construction Company) in action:

This morning Joe spoke with Sheila Coles of The Morning Edition on CBC Radio One in Saskatchewan. You can listen to his interview here:

Links:

CarScoop story on Joe

CarScoop interview

Scale 4x4 R/C forum

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