We are seeing more and more women joining the industry and operating machines.
In Marple near Stockport one female operator Pamela Evans, widely known as @thediggerlady is proof that Digging can be the winning ticket.
Pamela qualified to operate back in 2001 and at the time she was the first female in the North West and the youngest person in the country with an excavator ticket. Back then you had to be 21 to get your digger ticket, so her dad paid the £250 test fee as her 21st birthday present. He always knew she was destined to dig having put her on his machines as a young girl.
It was a ticket to the future for young Pamela and her digger driving has never stopped.
She worked for Arnold Plant Hire on all types of 360° models up to 45 tonnes and refined her operating skills so much, she was quickly head hunted by a customer. She then spent 8 years at Kelly Contracting, on all types of major civils projects all over the North.
Pamela’s digger skills got her round the world venturing down-under to work on construction sites in Western Australia with up to 60-tonne machines. Coping with extreme heat, dust and the toughest ground, along with deadly dangerous animals while clearing the Aussie bush, proved to be quite the digger operator experience!
Returning to the UK in the wake of the financial crisis, the timing was really tough. With a new baby and her husband partially losing his sight meant digging was the saving grace for Pamela and her young family.
In the early days she would hire a digger for a week and fit in as many jobs as possible to make ends meet. Then she got the break she needed, an old builder friend put his faith in her skills and hard graft and financed a brand-new digger so she could set up her digging business and pay him back monthly. Of course, she went for her favourite, a Takeuchi Micro and has never looked back.
Her excavating ticket really has proved its worth and the digger lady’s digging reputation has grown and grown. Always a firm fan of Takeuchi, Pamela invested in another new TB210R micro earlier this year, this time paid in-full, from her local Takeuchi dealer Parkway Plant Sales.
So, we thought who better to tell us what the best things are about a Takeuchi Micro.
Here’s what Pamela has to say about a Takeuchi Micro
“It’s got great power for its size; no micro is as powerful. The wide extending tracks give great balance and make it so sturdy and stable. The removable ROPS bar is a massive plus, where other fold-down bars can get in the way and create obstacles.
When I’m operating all day, the seat and levers are really comfortable. I like to trench neatly and the hand lever positions offer perfect controlled digging. I like to operate with the palms of my hands and the rounded shape adds to the overall comfort.
The Takeuchi micro has a reduced tail swing so you can spin virtually within itself – in tight spaces, driveways and narrow extensions this makes all the difference.”
