Asphalt cowboys compete at Midlands Backhoe ‘Roadeo’

Clifton Carr climbs up to the cab of the nearly 8-ton machine and buckles himself in with a neon safety belt.

He moves his sunglasses from his eyes to the brim of his hat, then waits for his mark.

Three referees wielding stopwatches give him the OK.

Using 2 large joysticks, Carr begins to move the arm of this tentacled jalopy called a backhoe toward a blue wooden triangle attached to a metal chain. He has to catch the metal chain with the teeth of a large metal bucket at the end of the arm, usually used to dig and move loads of dirt.

Carr secures the metal chain and tenderly moves it toward a hollowed wooden box with holes cut to the shapes of a triangle and a square. Yes, just like those tests for precocious infants.

But this isn’t child’s play. This is the Midlands Backhoe Roadeo, and whoever wins here will represent central South Carolina at the state finals, and then maybe even at the national competition at the end of the summer.

On its way toward its corresponding hole, the triangle block slips from the bucket’s mouth and clatters to the ground. Carr’s competitors give a sympathetic murmur.

But Carr makes just this one mistake. On his second attempt, he delivers the triangle block with ease, and then quickly moves on to do the same with a red square block.

Carr is representing Richland County Public Works along with two others who came out on top after competing amongst themselves.

The Richland County team practices once a week, said Joe Thompson, assistant general manager of roads and drainage for the county. Thompson is effectively the team’s coach. They use the thrill of competition to encourage younger and newer employees to try something new, and hopefully to help them get promoted up the ranks.

“The higher ups see how good you are on the machine,” during the competitions, said Tevin Washington, another representative for Richland County.

The annual Backhoe Roadeo events are held all over the state. Each jurisdiction can send up to three people to the regional competitions, held in the Pee Dee, the Lowcountry, the Upstate and the Midlands.

On Friday, Carr and his colleagues were competing in the Midlands Regional contest. The winners here will represent the whole region in a statewide competition next month. Richland County, the city of Columbia, Lexington County, West Columbia and North Augusta have all sent their best backhoe operators to compete.

The events are held by the American Public Works Association, and for the past three years sponsored by Blanchard Machinery.

It may seem like a niche interest, but Charleston County’s Matt Bishop, who is running the show today, has won two national titles for his backhoeing skills.

In fact, South Carolina holds more Backhoe Roadeo national championships than any other state, Bishop declares. He’s competed in Seattle and Orlando, and he’s even met people from other countries that participate in the event. Turns out a backhoe is a backhoe wherever you go.

“The citizens should be very proud of what they have,” he said with a laugh and maybe a touch of irony, after all he won two of the state’s three victories.

As Clifton descends from the hot seat, City of Columbia’s Fred Taylor is waiting in the wings.

Taylor made it to the state competition last year but this event gave him trouble.

“Last year, when I did this very same event, I got it there and then kept dropping it and dropping it,” Taylor said.

He straps himself into the Backhoe’s cab. His round is over almost as soon as it begins. Clunk. Rattle. Clunk. Rattle. Both of his blocks make it home in one easy try each.

“You got a little redemption,” Bishop calls to Taylor, elated to see the second operator of the day sink two perfect moves.

Their day jobs take a special degree of precision, and the stakes are always much higher than they are today. They’re operating machines that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, performing tasks that might affect someone’s water quality or the safety of a roadway.

But to operate a machine like this, someone only needs to be willing to try, Bishop says.

“The backhoe is one of the most versatile machines in most people’s fleet,” Bishop says with some affection. “I just need someone who’s willing to get on it who is not intimidated by it.”

As the day wears on, the competitor’s matching gray t-shirts darken with sweat.

The second event asks the operators to move a beam between two tennis balls and onto another tennis ball without knocking any of the balls over.

Every operator approaches the contests a bit differently. Some go in fast and precise; one swift motion to lift the beam and another to place it back down. Others are tentative, mechanical. A jerk of motion, then a pause to calculate the next move, another jerk, another pause.

The audience, mostly composed of other public works employees, hums with oohs and ahhs, as in “ahh, almost” and ‘‘Ooh, to the left, ah kick it to the side,” and “oh, this guy is really good.”

When the second event is done, Bishop and his other organizers tally the results. Just five people compete in the final round, and of those the top three will move on to the state competition.

As the results roll in, they slap each other on the backs and taunt each other with friendly competition.

“Oh man, I want you on my team next year,” Columbia’s Taylor calls to a competitor.