That is what I learned to operate on back in 1955!, those little Bantams were quick and you had to have your stuff together to keep up with them!

It's crazy how quick those old cable machines cycled. Early hydraulic machines wouldn't catch up for years. It's nice to see someone with skill putting the old girl through her paces.

Back in the day u had to b a real operator major hand eye coordination. Now adays any Tard head can hop in a machine and get sumthing done. I learned on 580s with case controls. Now its all buttons and joy sticks. This guy has obviously dug a few holes with the old Bantam. Didn't even splatter mud on machine. Cool vid. Makes u appreciate modern technology.

A skilled operator makes it look easy. Kudos for keeping the old school Bantam in action.

Just think how grateful those men where to receive that machine so they didnt have to shovel for hours and days on end

When I was little I had a neighbor who ran draglines in Florida mines for years. He retired and bought a small farm near us. He built two or three small ponds with a Link Built machine he got out of Florida. I would ride over on my bike after school and watch him for hours. I remember him as slow but methodical in his repeated movements on the levers. Watched him replace the cable from a big drum once. Don't remember if it was gas or diesel (heck it's been 43 years ago). Remember too he always wore striped overalls and an old engineers hat. He died years ago and the old dragline is long since gone. Ponds are still there........ This guy is good.

Nicely restored Bantam and the owner obviously knows how to run it. To make it cycle as he did, you can see how busy he is at the controls!

Now that was great, enjoyed it! 🙂 I'm an old man now but I remember when I was young and going with my dad and he run one very similar to this! He called it " sweet thang " and talked to it like he did his work mules and horses ! I often think about what a tough and good person he was ! Thanks for sharing and take care. 👍

Who knew watching an ancient Cable Excavator would be so damn entertaining.

And operators today complain about the machines we don't know how good we have it

No bells or alarms going off and nobody had to plug a laptop in it all day! This beast is right up my alley and about my speed! Thanks for getting it dirty for us and some great video as well.👍👍👍

On the next letsdig18 video... *so I bought a bantam cable excavator🤣

If you operate anything older, you may have to learn to shout "Wilma" and "Yabba, Dabba, Doo!"

Please make a video talking about how you found this machine, and the restoration process.....Fascinating little machine!

Back in the day, when that excavator was used, a person could buy dynamite at the store. Men were men!

Those machines of the pass will let you know that you put in a days work.I use to play around with a Manitowoc,all hand levers and drag lines.What a work out.😗

Well, at least the contraption won't leak hydraulic oil anytime soon...

I’ve got one of these saved it from the scrapper It’s yard art but I run it every few months to keep it happy

Mike Mulligan could dig more in a day than a hundred men could dig in a week.

Back in the day, they were called Steam Shovels, even if they had gasoline engines.

It's a cool old piece of Machinery but I sure would hate it if a cable snapped

Holy crap. That ol' gal can do some work when in competent hands...

Yep, that BANTAM will surely separate the MEN from the boys! Yep, I see how that Volva hydraulic operator handles a real machine. LOL No sweat buck-a-roo, back in the mid '80's I had to learn to operate a BANTAM 15 T Crane as part of a new job. The mechanic knew how to start it but nothing else. At least you have someone to teach you how to operate that one. That was some fun times building Deck Barges back in my youth. By the way, I was a Gallon Cherry-Picker operator in the Golf Coast Oilfield construction industry and that summer operating that BANTAM taught me a whole lot of respect for the "Old Timers"!

Hi Chris, my dad owned and operated one when I was much younger. Ours was a replacement for a Bucyrus Erie that had 3 options for attachments. It had the cable Hoe, Dragline or Shovel option. Never used the Shovel but the dragline and hoe were used. He then purchased the Bantam for a small hoe and ditch digging and a Link Belt dragline for bigger jobs. A pair of Allis HD16 cable dozers with a pull scraper and a pair of Allis 160 scrapers. He got out of the business when I was like 10-11 years old. I always wished I could have been able to operate those machines. Love your channel and appreciate your skills as an operator.

This Bantam is way older than me by far yet it runs phenomenally. Made back when quality was inherent in the American worker . The old American products were built to last. Pick up one end of a couch made before 1990 and you'll see how heavy it is made with solid wood held together with joinery. Pick up a new couch in the showroom and and it can be lifted with one arm.

You got to love the old girl . No safty mec. No sound proofing . No vibration damping. And no easy smooth control hydraulics. My type of machine . Id be 10 year old in that . Its takes a bit of learning but well worth it .

I'm a pipeline operator (local465) I run a hoe on backfill, tie ins and stringing (getting faster and faster every day so I can dig ditch one day) and if that's how they used to dig pipeline ditches with equipment like that then that's crazy. I'm amazed at how much work goes into running this hoe I'd be wore out by lunch time lol. Cool piece of history man, thanks for sharing.

Machines like this built America.

Thanks Chris, just shows people it's not as easy as it looks, new or old, watching a good operator can make anyone think it's easy. Your a good sport for showing us that,lol

Absolute brilliant bit of video, and great to see a good operator, still plenty of life in the old girl yet, Cheshire England

All that talk of draglines really got to you last year, huh? Did Justin get a chance to run the machine? Seems a bit cruel to bring the man all that way just to make him stand there and watch somebody else have all the fun. Thanks for running the camera, Justin.

The most fun you can have on a machine is playing on the old ones, very cool

Ooo, some of them new fangled gasoline machines? Still won't beat steam power though. Jokes aside really impressive speed on that old thing. Edit: lol when run by a skilled operator that is - quick learner though but the owner hanging on for dear life made me laugh

OMG! We cover excavator works regularly, but never seen this kind of mini excavator. Really amazing.

The operator rips! I’m blown away by the cycle time per scoop. I never expected they could be run so fast. That’s such an awesome machine. Requires a lot of skill to run it like that.

Take a lot of skill to be able to run one of the old beasts. I used to watch the Bucyrus Erie B22 ( I think was the model ) Those operators back then very apparently knew what they were doing. They were noisy buggers too, I seem to recall! Stay with it Chris,..you'll get the hang of it really soon, by the looks of it.

Imagine setting culvert pipe with that. Great video, nice to see an old excavator in action.

Definitely not hydraulic Chris, lol. I smile because I started on a cable dozer stockpiling and stripping land. Lots of bouncing around, not designed with operator comfort, but fun to learn on. Good vids, thank you.

very intriguing, thanks for posting and all the camera angles. Fairly simple machine but moved a lot of earth. Looked like a workout for the operator too. What was the hole for?

Nice paint job! All my years in construction I have never seen a rig like this. I think it should be in a museum before the paint job gets messed up. Dave

That brought back some great memories of my Dad Clearing a ditch bank with a K Ensley

A marvellous machine, but not easy to handle, I think!

That thing digs much better than I thought it might. It's pretty cool you got the chance to run an old machine like that. Bet it made you appreciate your Volvos even more, lol.

I enjoyed every second of this Video, Thanks

Well you don't need DEF for this one boys and girls...

Wow. I worked for E. C. Pace back in the 70s early 80s. They had 2 and were just huge monsters just rusting away. But I be dang if the guy who used them waaay back when didnt get them up and running for a job to do. Great video of a gorgeous machine. 🙏✌from Va. 🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜

Lovely little machine, and a credit to its owner both for the restoration and his skill in operating it ! I have a Ruston Bucyrus 19 RB with a hoe equipment - a gentle machine that’s light and easy to drive - all you have to remember is to put your foot on the brake pedals, when you release the hoist or drag clutches ! It’s most unforgiving, if you forget, as Chris found out !

This reminds me of what my father and grandfather had to work with thanks for showing us

Awesome old equipment. So old but still running. No modern machine can live & work for such a long time!

Very nice piece of vintage heavy equipment. 👍👍👍

Its mind blowing to think that this helped build the industrial revolution. Awesome thanks for showing it!

@letsdig18 maybe next time you're out in chambersburg at volvo ill have the front shovel ready for you to try out.

I never seen one like that, thats cool stuff

Amazing watching old cable machine dig after all these years done a really good job restoring it to its beautiful machine somebody put a lot of hard-working making that machine look that good glad to see it still work love love them old machines

110 hp getting the job done. Crazy if someone build a hi-po engine with offenhauser or clifford performance parts for something like this.

cables and pulleys :) must be fun sitting in that cabin if one of them snaps under tension

That was cool! Reminded me of watching guys drive the old twin stick and triple stick trucks back in the day. You were starting to catch on, but man, complicated! How did you like it? Thanks for the video.

What a marvelous old machine! And way more effective than I would have thought! Great video!

This machine will beat you up after a day work. Much respect for those operators!

I have run a Bantan gradal, many years ago in 1967, at that time there wasn't even a Catipillar out yet, the first one I seen about 1978 or 68. It was a 225 Catipillar.. around 1968 my foremen wanted me to run the old Northwest draglines, I said hell no, I worked around lots of dragline , especially moving the wood pads they set on top of.

I wonder where the def goes on this one... lol Ready to lay out some mats and do some pond dredging??? :))) Loved watching him operate this classic. That gives ya quite a workout to run efficiently, too, and definitely makes one appreciate the fingertip-precision of the joysticks today.

It's a lot faster than I would've thought. It'd be pretty cool to see it in Denton this July.

What you think time to sell those volvos and upgrade to a Bantam? LOL That sure a high water table there.

Two observations: 1) The first load of logs I ever hauled in 1966 was loaded by a Bantam, it was a dipper stick rather than a hoe. 2) Look how we have changed/grown. The controls are build for a man (no women in those days except my aunt) about 5'6". A 6' man has a hard time operating the machine due to size.

Chris out of his comfort zone.

I'm floored at how much digging power these cable rigs actually have.

That would be a work out on a daily basics. I bet the old timers coukd do some cursing.😁

Looks like it would give ya good work out. Tks gary nice vid

Can we anticipate this in the bigdeal 2020 fleet?

Just think how many things where built using machines like that. Amazing those guys where tough.

Great to see how a good operator can move dirt. Chris, you operate that bantam like I do.... poorly at best. Yes I have one too just a little newer, and mounted on a Bantam truck chassis. Good job, keep up the wonderful videos.

This guy makes it look easy.. it was hard work driven them machines,

I am surprised no one brought up the old dragline comments. Having said that this old girl has some serious go with the right operator.

They used one of those to dig out the footings for The Hoover Dam Chris. Might take you a little longer to deal with that puddle though mate. ;)

Chris was getting his ass kicked by those winches

Nice old machine . It makes you appreciate that Volvo

This thing looks like a hand full to operate. Reminds me of the old drott I used to operate that had pedal controls for the swing and bucket.

Bantam- “ This is the way we did it in the old country “

That old girl sure can do her stuff very nice 😀👍👍👍👍

That old flat head six running that excavator. Wow just wow.

Not bad operating by letsdig18 for little time at learning. SO MANY LEVERS! Nice Job!!!

The new hydraulic machines are fast and very efficient but I really enjoy these old cable machines. These are what started it all.

I can only imagine where one of those cables would land when they snap

He is good with the old cable shovel he made it look easy

Buddy that's quick. He might put you outta work on a valvo

You and Justin should buy a Bantam and install twin seats. You could use one half of the controls and Justin ,the other half. Hilarious video.

At first , I thought this may be a home built job , but soon realized the difference. Awesome machine and has the stirrings of a long term project coming to mind

Gotta be weird not being able to articulate the bucket it self.

Cool Excavator your friend made it look easy after you got in the clip of inside the cab i could not be-leave how busy you are in the cab feet hands forearm wow. Did your friend restore the excavator and the truck.

nice video thank you for it ,? is the swing by cable or gear , i see chain final drive ,nice paint job , thanks .

It looked liek you were sure having FUN operating that machine!

What a beautiful piece of vintage equipment. Thank you for sharing this. Also I love the old k whopper.

worked much better than I thought it was going too. I recently saw a guy digging out a pond with an old TD14 dozer and honestly, it only took him about 20% longer than I could have done with a modern machine. The difference is I would not have gone home tired ;)

Thanks for sharing your video. There's a antique road construction show in Brownsville Pa . They have some old shovels there that I go to and watch them work. Those old guys at the show can really make those machines move some dirt.

Beautiful machine. Just needs a big Koolaid sticker.

I thought i was the only one that spray painted smiley faces on my bucket...

Can't beat the vintage stuff

A Bantam front shovel is the first one I learned to operate. Way easier than some.

Beautiful machine, my late boss in Okeechobee Florida had one but it wasn't in nearly as good of condition as your friends, it was more of a heavy equipment yard art.

I used to have an old Bay City cable machine with a backhoe and a shovel front. Never used the shovel. It was a blast to play with.