Put to the test
ABOVE: Frank Ortiz, with the city of Yuma, operates a backhoe, attempting to pick a 16-inch softball off the top of a traffic cone with the bucket, and drop it into the water pipe at the left in the “Backhoe Basketball” event during Thursday’s second round of competition at the 2018 Equipment Rodeo at the city’s Public Safety Training Facility, 3575 S. Avenue 4E. The competition, which started on Wednesday, combined safety training, team-building and friendly competition and included approximately 120 competitors from Yuma County, Arizona Public Service, Southwest Gas, city of Somerton, city of San Luis and city of Yuma. The registration “fee” was a canned food item or donation to Yuma Community Food Bank. The competition is expanding around the country, according to the city, and the top finishers here are eligible to travel and compete in an upcoming equipment rodeo put on by the Arizona Maintenance Superintendents Association in Gilbert.
TOP RIGHT: City of Yuma employee Bill Nicholson scoops up a basketball before depositing it into a trash dumpster during the “Skid Steer Course” competition.
MIDDLE RIGHT: Yuma County employee Nick Orta picks up a 16-inch softball off the top of a traffic cone with the teeth on the bucket of a backhoe during the “Backhoe Basketball” competition.
BOTTOM RIGHT: City of Yuma employee Jesse Aguilar attempts to knock two plastic water bottles off of a ladder, without touching the ladder, at the end of the “Skid Steer Course” competition.
LEFT: City of Yuma employee Abraham Arciniega watches as a bowling ball on top of a pallet rolls toward a tube during the “Forklift Bowling” competition.