Heavy equipment operators put on a show at CONEXPO 2023

The sun was out on Day 3 of CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2023 and crowds flocked to the Festival Ground where you can see some of the new machines in action. The center piece to the Festival Grounds is the Operator Stadium hosted by the biggest OEM at conference – Caterpillar.

The Operator Stadium is a 70,000 sq.ft^. (6,500 m²) outdoor demonstration arena where thousands of fans gather to watch equipment demos and the popular Global Operator Challenge. This year Australia’s Patrick Doheny took the top prize as the world’s best Cat operator. The demos and events were hosted by Rutledge Wood, best know for his NASCAR expertise and Netflix show Floor is Lava. Mike Rowe from the show Dirty Jobs also made an appearance at the stadium.

Here’s a look at Cat’s best operators in action during a demo.

Pro and amateur equipment operators get to have some fun

It wasn’t all big piles of dirt getting pushed around at the Festival Grounds demos. Some OEMs opened up their machines for fans to get in and test their talents with a test of skill. One particular gentleman was a slam dunk at the Link-Belt display. He used the excavator’s bucket to drop three basketballs into pales with such a deft touch that even LeBron would be impressed.

And here was an excavator with no operator – in the machine. The new DEVELON Concept-X2 is run by an operator using a remote control.

Don’t miss Ritchie Bros. at ConExpo2023

Ritchie Bros. also has a booth in the West Hall. We have brought all our brands together under one roof, including Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, IronPlanet, Marketplace-E, Rouse Services, SmartEquip, Veritread, and Ritchie Bros. Financial Services. if you’re at the show, we encourage you to come visit us and learn more about how we can help you and your business.

Equipment for saleSponsored2026 AGT 12EX-SET5 Misc. Excavator AttachmentChehalis, WA 7 daysView listing

See also

Where did it sell? US agriculture equipment edition