Some people adopt hobbies that are very strange, but that doesn't make them any less interesting or entertaining. For example: if you had an entire basement at your disposal, what would you do? Would you turn it into a workshop? Create a 'multimedia cave' with several computers and high-definition screens? In the case of Joe Murray, everything revolves around his radio control models, which he has used for the last 14 years… to excavate, and he documented a good part of the process on YouTube.
Radio control models are truly fascinating, but depending on where you live, some models range from expensive to prohibitive. Fortunately, there are people out there who have managed to turn RC toys into much more than entertainment. For Canadian farmer Joe Murray, they are almost a portal to another world. Gone are the cattle and grain: once at the controls, Joe becomes the mastermind behind a titanic mission… which is to excavate his basement using those models. Don't believe me? Then watch this:
The excavators pick up the dirt and load it into trucks, which in turn move it to other areas of the basement or take it outside. The same activity we might observe at a construction site… with obvious differences in scale, of course. Sometimes he needs to intervene more directly, for example, wetting the ground (“looks like granite,” according to Joe) to assist the machines. His dedication is impressive, but he doesn't see himself as obsessed. Joe's hobby found a privileged place on YouTube, under the channel LilGiantsConstrCo. More than 8,000 people follow him there, and he has accumulated 6.5 million views since he first joined the service in December 2007.
However, Joe's interest in radio control predates YouTube. In the channel description, he reveals that he took his first steps in 1995. The models are from the German company Fumotec, and with them he managed to enlarge his basement by 30 percent. His calculations regarding the volume of soil are not entirely precise. The description indicates a total of 30 cubic meters, but in an interview he gave in early 2012, he talks about three cubic meters per year. Now, what will he do when he's finished? One possibility is to move the entire operation to his barn, where soil conditions will allow him to use larger and more powerful models.
Joe Murray on YouTube: Click here
More images: Click here
