Dig This attraction fulfills kids’ sandbox dreams
Ken Ruge dabbled in many careers — math teacher, slaughterhouse operator (the family business), salesman and restaurant owner.
Sixty years old, he retired before fulfilling the childhood dream that took root playing in the sandbox with his Tonka trucks.
"He wanted to be a farmer when he was a kid," his wife said. "Parents made him go to college."
Ruge at last indulged his deep desire for large machinery on Wednesday, stepping into a five-acre sandbox along Interstate 15 opposite Trump International tower.
Ruge walked past a pair of bulldozers, making a beeline for a 37,000-pound excavator. He stepped onto the metal tread, pulled himself up into the cab and buckled the seat belt.
As he turned the ignition and shut the door, the instructor walked a safe distance away and, via a radio headset, told Ruge about the controls.
Before he could finish, Ruge had lifted the 27-foot-long arm and bucket off the ground, eager, like a child ripping the paper off a birthday present before reading the card.
In fact, this is Ruge’s birthday present — two hours at the controls of a Caterpillar Excavator — made possible by a 2-week-old company, Dig This.
The company allows anyone 14 or older to quench their toddler Tonka thirst. No certification or training needed. Just a 15-minute orientation. Plus, no limitations and no one else in the cabin.
"When they tear through the ground and see that first bucket of dirt, it’s the same reaction every time," owner Ed Mumm said. "Oh my God. That’s the biggest pile of dirt I’ve ever picked up in my life."
And it’s done with less effort than picking up a gallon of milk. Just a few pulls of the joysticks. The strain comes in paying $400 for your inner child to run wild.
"A lot of people balk at the price," Mumm said. "The fact is this is an expensive operation to run."
Mumm didn’t skimp but went for the full-size Caterpillar equipment.
"People want a Cat. We pay a premium for that," he said, adding that each dozer or excavator costs $100,000 to $200,000.
MOVED FROM COLORADO
Dig This has started strong in Las Vegas, pulling in 50 customers in a couple of weeks, which totals $20,000 in payments. But this isn’t an experiment for Mumm. He moved the business and equipment here from ski-resort town Steamboat Springs, Colo., after three years. He said the business was successful there but limited by its location.
"Las Vegas is a year-round hot spot," he said, whereas Steamboat’s Dig This was remote and open half the year.
Plus, he was able to use the former Scandia property, which had baseball cages and putt-putt right off the Strip. The land is just dirt now, a giant sandbox, but at least it’s still a place to play, although on much bigger toys.
"It’s really empowering for a lot of people," Mumm said. "It gives them a lot of confidence after leaving, especially women.
"Half our customers are women. I didn’t anticipate that."
They often see their husbands at work and want to take a stab, he said.
Ruge’s wife, Melody, didn’t jump into the operator’s seat but never slowed down with her camera, capturing Ruge’s ear-to-ear smile as he extended the arm to knock over a pyramid of 2,000-pound dump truck tires.
He reassembled the six tires into another pyramid like a child playing with building blocks. He would stick the bucket’s thumb through a tire’s center and squeeze it against the bucket, effortlessly raising each tire into the air, reaching two stories to finish the pyramid.
"When you grab a hold of both sticks, you think there’s nothing to it," Ruge said. "Oh no."
The right joystick not only lowers and raises the upper arm. It curls the bucket. Buttons on top move the bucket thumb. The left joystick controls the forearm and swings the cab around 360 degrees. Two pedals each control a tread.
"People have driven by construction sites all their lives and wondered what it would be like," Mumm said. "Here, they realize the skill involved."
TEENS DO WELL
Nevertheless, teens pick it up the quickest, Mumm said, attributing it to their multitasking eye-hand coordination developed through video games. Many pilots come through the doors, even lawyers, doctors and engineers.
"We’ve had Caterpillar engineers who’ve designed components for this exact machine but never used one," Mumm said. "People interested in going to trade school have stopped by to make sure it’s something they’d enjoy."
Jason Heisig, Ruge’s instructor for the day, had never stepped inside any earth-moving equipment before taking this job.
"They told me, ‘We can teach you the basics in 15 to 20 minutes. Interacting with customers is what we’re looking for,’ " Heisig said, which is why Mumm often used ski instructors in Steamboat Springs.
Ruge’s last activity of the day didn’t rely on brute force but finesse. He summited a 6-foot dirt mound and, while perched at an angle on the slope, retrieved basketballs from the top of construction cones. He then dropped them into a tire. Four for five.
After that, he drove back to the pavement’s edge, but didn’t just shut down the machine and get out. He whirled the cabin all the way around one last time, fast as he could like a merry-go-round.
"It really does fulfill a childhood dream," Ruge said. "The bigger the toy, the better they are."
At 18 tons, this is one big toy.
Contact reporter Trevon Milliard at tmilliard@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.
