CCNZ CablePrice National Excavator Operator Competition 2023

The 2023 CCNZ CablePrice National Excavator Operator Competition was held on 17 and 18 March at Manfeild Park in Feilding during the Central Districts Field Days. Check out the action in the event video!
The CCNZ CablePrice National Excavator Operator Competition has been running since 1994. Otago’s Troy Calteaux successfully defended his title at this year's competition, against a formidable field of 12 regional finalists.
The Milton local and Andrew Haulage 2011 Ltd employee dug deeper than ever before, securing the win and becoming a three-time national champion. Calteaux’s success at this year's competition follows national titles in 2018 and 2021 and puts him alongside the most successful operators in the competition’s history.
The runner-up this year was Northland champion Steven George, of Steven George Contracting Ltd, who put in an impressive showing at his first shot at the nationals. The 2021 runner-up, veteran Waikato competitor Mike Bowe, of Bowe Brothers Excavating Ltd, placed third.
One of the more job-specific challenges was the Z Energy One-day Job Challenge, where competitors had to demonstrate start-to-finish competence for a common task, such as planning, layout, and execution of a particular job. George impressed the judges with his seamless approach and took the highly respected trophy home.
The Humes MVP award went to Bay of Plenty regional champion Marni Kemp, of Central Demolition, who demonstrated a willingness to chip in and help others out as well as all round positive approach through the event. The award recognises teamwork and goes to the person judged to be the one you’d most want to have working by your side.
This year a new award was included to commemorate Geoff Duff - a nationals judge and truck driver who passed away last year due to pancreatic cancer. The Geoff Duff Memorial Trophy goes to the person demonstrating the best scores across the truck-loading challenges featured in the competition and was won this year by Auckland regional champion Jarrod Hoskins of Fulton Hogan.
The Platinum Sponsor for this year’s competition was CablePrice, which has been a longstanding supporter of the industry and the competition.
CablePrice also provided and serviced the Hitachi excavators the competitors operated during the event. Other major competition sponsors include Attach2 (this year's event video sponsor), BeforeUDig, Connexis, First Gas, Hirepool, Humes, Z Energy, Milwaukee, Civil Trades, Contractor Magazine, and Doug the Digger.

[@cohenfox7420]

I used to work at Andrew Haulage limited and Troy makes the place what it is when I was there he was working as a mechanic top bloke

[@barbabrasorrells5896]

'Promo SM' 💃