George Marsh is a collector at heart. Recently, he’s begun hunting for and collecting chain saws. Why? “Why not?!” he says. But because this is a podcast about construction, George’s most obvious (and precious) collection is the armada of heavy equipment that he and his father have accumulated over the years. According to George, a self-proclaimed “old iron enthusiast,” they have something like 70 pieces on their property… and most of them still run! But in addition to the old equipment, he’s also quite the Dirt World historian and an old soul, especially when it comes to being a dragline operator.

This week on Dirt Talk, host Aaron Witt and George Marsh dig into why George believes in the power and education that operating only old equipment can provide. George also shares the history of earthmoving in his own family before laying out what drew him to draglines and why it’s such a good fit for the work he wants to do right now. Later, he and Aaron discuss some of the downsides of using and relying on GPS and the pride and level of expertise that can be gained by learning operator skills on older equipment. The guys also discuss the lack of tolerance for mistakes in the industry, the shortage of entry-level positions, and the fulfilling nature of manual labor. 

If you want to learn more about the equipment that George collects, he’s @oldschoolgeorge on IG.

Stay Dirty!