re. diggerland...
 

Not that I would ever depart from the subject of a thread...;)

But how the hell is that place legal? Rides on diggers for little kiddies at £1 a pop? I seem to remember it being illegal for under 13s to ride on tractors - and here are some outfit charging for it. In fact I remember being challenged by a roving HSE guy one summer on the farm when straw-carting in a field with SD senior aged about 13/14 - didnt tell him I'd been driving them since I was 7 or 8 though:O .

And as for whizzing around in a modified JCB bucket, are the HSE OK with this too?

Anyone else on here with a farm (I know there are a few of you!) and experience of the HSE in said environment not raise an eyebrow at this site.

....unless its all a big wind-up....

Typical double standards innit? If the fella is an instructor (one day ATB course no doubt) that's probably OK. A farmer with a lifetime's experience of tractor driving is given grief over taking his own kids for a ride now and then.

I have an aurgument here every time they show up about not wearing a crash helmet when riding the quadbike to get cows in ect. Before anyone pipes up about why I should, let me tell you I have GOOD reasons why in this case I shouldn't!

It always makes me giggle when they do wander about here checking stuff ... They always go on about things that whilst potentially dangerous, often aren't ... when right behind them, and glaringly obvious to me there is something that very much is dangerous and they miss it!!!:rolleyes:

Still, good luck to the digger guys. If well run, it should be pretty safe ... potentially lethal maybe? but just how much cotton wool do we need to wrap the whole population up to protect them from everything?

SS

Go with Sir George Cayley's suggestion and phone em up and ask who is going to be doing the interviews and then ask to speak to him, her (It also shows that you are interested enough to want to do your homework and it lets them know your name in advance) actually ask what items of plant that the sucessful applicant will be required to drive. The chances are that they are shortening the list of applicants to weed out the ones who when told to cut the grass say "wot me? I cant drive a tractor" There is nothing that cant be driven and I don't know your age but you can always say at interview that you have driven a number of different types of those (whatever) in the past but not recently and need to brush up. There are enough people with contacts on this forum to give you some basic instruction on whatever it is that you are going to have to drive before you turn up to do the job and nothing is impossible to drive, it just needs practice. The interviewer will know that if you can fly then you will be able to drive anything!

Make up with bullsh!t what you lack in experience! Enthusiasm counts more than experience in many instances anyway.

Good luck. :ok:

Thanks for all the responses. Stik - I'm not entirely sure whether your offer of me spreading much for your BIL is a good one or not. :uhoh:
As it's the Council doing the hiring, I may have some problems even getting an interview. Apparently, they have a tick list of things that applicants MUST have, and if you don't match all the boxes, you go no further. There were a couple of little things I don't have experience of or my certificate is out of date. We shall see. It's about time I had some good luck. :sad:

Ignore Whirlybird and his associated idiots - don't lie.

Tractors are not simple beasts to drive or operate, and you'll be caught out very quickly if you do tell fibs, like aeroplanes, they are very complicated animals and bite back if not handled with due respect.

Simply say on your application that you've no experience of driving tractors, but are keen and willing to learn, your other natural talents will get you the job, and they'll get someone to train you to drive and operate a tractor.

AB,

Come help me mow our strips... Got a tractor at the field with a gang mower. On second thoughts though, the 'ol man's got several tractors, a JCB, a mini digger and a dumper truck... man, it's like full sized tonka toy heaven at his place...! Best thing is, we could land in his little paddock in the Cub - what you say..?

PK

You'll probably be given your very own Hi-Vis Jacket & told to go out & direct the Saturday Market traffic.

But if you ask very nicely, maybe John will let you have a ride in the Big Red Refueller ;)

Ahhhh, the Saturday Market, retailing the most astonishing variety of worthless tat ever assembled, and attracting entire families of mouth breathers from miles around. Look mummy, lets watch whilst the silly pilots try to land in stonking crosswinds whilst the perfectly into-wind runway is closed on account of all those stalls selling knock-off Arsenal shirts in the undershoot. Still, its better to put up with this than have the place bulldozed.

I can see that you've been there too FNG, you're secret is out! Its the sort of place you only ever visit once and proves that the statement 'You get what you pay for' is absolutely true.

Mrs K & I went in just before last Xmas, we got talking to one stallholder about how his business operated and I mentioned that I flew from the airfield. His reply was 'Oh, I didn't realise that they had aircraft here too'

Its sort of difficult to miss a Jet Provost or a herd of Yaks taking off.