Despite the topshot, I have never driven construction equipment – my apologies if you were hoping for a riveting tale of backhoe operating experience. I have, however, driven a few not-cars in my life, excluding two-wheeled motorcycles – which certainly count, but aren’t really in the spirit of the question, though I am for sure interested to hear what bikes you’ve driven.
… or trikes, which is why I made the rather odd clarification of “two-wheeled motorcycles” above. While a traditional motorcycle is likely the most common not-car for a person to have “driven,” three-wheeled motorcycles are much less common. Same for four-wheeled ATVs, but especially three-wheeled off-roaders, having been banned and all.
Pre-ban, I got a lot of seat time on the neighbor kid’s ATC 200 just like the one below. On my first ride, I instinctively stuck out my leg to lean into a turn, only to discover solid-axle ATVs do not lean. I also ran over my own leg. I quickly learned to keep my foot on the pegs, and if I wanted the thing to turn with any kind of speed, I had to hang myself way off the side of the saddle lest the contraption go up on two wheels. Fun once you got the hang of it, but I definitely preferred two-wheelers.
Another weird-ish Honda off-roader I’ve piloted is the original Odyssey (aka FL250), which kid-me thought was going to me some kind of Pismo Beach thrill fest, but when I finally got to ride one on a sketchy go-kart track’s timid off-road course, my whelm was under. Even after I defeated the throttle limiter (a spacer taped under the throttle lever? Come on man), the thing just bogged around with little power and lots of slip from the torque converter, and the rigid rear end threatened to launch me out of the seat. Blech.
Your turn:
What Have You Driven That Isn’t A Car?
Top graphic image: DepositPhotos.com
Land: Ford wheel tractor, IH TD-9 crawler tractor, Kenworth W900, BobCat skid steer, some snowmobiles. Bikes: Suzuki GS550E, GS850G VStrom 1000; Moto Guzzi Stelvio 1200; Honda Gl1800 Gold Wing, ADV 160
Water: 35-foot and 42-foot salmon trawlers; a couple of PWC (jet skis)
Air: Cessna 150, 172; Bell 206; Robinson R-22
When I 14 I had an older brother who was a Marine recruiter. He brought me out on a weekend with a bunch of Marine reservists, and the guy in charge let me drive an M107 175mm self propelled gun. Basically a giant gun on a tank body. It was easy to drive. There was a gas peddle, a shifter with an automatic clutch, handlebars like on a bicycle for steering, and rope you pulled to shut off the fuel to shut it down. I hadn’t even driven a car at that point in my life, but I got to drive and later help load and shoot this thing.
Other things I’ve driven, Quads, fork lifts, gradeall, airplanes (Cessna 150, Cessna 172, Piper Cherokee, Piper Archer, and a Porterfield Collegiate) Izuzu NPR with a crane mounted on the flatbed, Box trucks, cherry picker, and scissor lifts.
Like others, I’ve driven a variety of tractors, forklifts, motorcycles, etc. What would be different is the vehicles used for communication. I’ve driven microwave vans that have a pneumatic mast with a transmitter on top, and a wide variety of satellite trucks, from van size all the way to semis.
Trained one guy how to run a microwave truck who then immediately sheared off the stowed mast by driving under a low bridge. Poor guy was fired immediately. They were all a pain because you had to take care of beating the electronics to death. The larger satellite trucks were the worst even with mild roads, as you never knew what had broken loose inside when you opened up. Hey, anyone got a spare klystron tube I can use?
Construction forklift, warehouse forklift, airport tugs, baggage carts, boats, go karts, a Razr. There must be others but they’re not coming to me.
Coolest thing: ‘The African Queen’ boat from the Bogart/Hepburn movie of the same name, which lives in Key Largo, FL. At 105 years old when I got to pilot her, it was also the oldest thing I’ve driven.
Other than that, I learned to drive on tractors and have run tons of them.
Do teams of horses count?
All manner of farm equipment: combine harvester, swather, cherry picker, sweeper, tractors of all sizes, quads, side-by-sides, etc
I drove a narrow-gauge steam locomotive at our local zoo once, that was pretty fun.
Not too much interesting stuff, but there was this one 3-wheeled dump vehicle you operated standing up. Holy mother of GOD did that thing do donuts!
Didn’t quite get flung off—and never tried again, but it was definitely exciting
Lots of boats. Both power and sail, between 8 and 60 feet. The usual box trucks, side-by-sides, quads, three wheelers, and snowmobiles. A skid steer, scissor lift, boom lift. The most complicated thing that I drove was a PistenBully 400 winch cat. I went out with the kid for an evening. That is his normal winter ride.
Small dozer, scissor lift, large lift, some tractors, some off-road buggies, motorcycles, a snowmobile, boats, jet skis, probably some other things, but nothing that really stands out. Barely moved my dad’s log truck once or twice, but I wouldn’t really say I’ve driven it.
The ususal stuff…boats, carts, box trucks, mowers, snowmobiles, PWC
The less usual stuff…forklifts, scissor lifts, tow trucks
When my grandpa was still alive and building houses, he would let all of us grandkids drive the backhoe and other equipment. Other than that, I’ve driven mini bikes and ATVs mostly
Aside from my wife crazy? Lets see:
Mini-excavator
Trench compactor
Skid Steer (tracked and wheeled)
Excavator of various sizes (FUN)
Dozers from D-6 to D-10 (SO FUN)
Morooka tracked dump truck (also fun)
Forklift, Picker lift, etc
boats, so many boats
Ugh I’m envious. I begged to at least get my forklift and reach truck certs a couple jobs ago, but the manager literally forgot to press “ok” on approving my training and I left before it came through.
I can’t think of anything particularly unique.
Lawnmowers, tractors, a 24′ couple box trucks, fork lifts, speed boats, motorcycles, go karts, a snow mobile…..
I’m interested to see what things pop up in other lists though.