Avery Zahn, 31, leaves little doubt what he plans to do with the $1,000 he pocketed for winning the 2014 National Backhoe Roe-D-Hoe in Indianapolis. “It’s going towards the restoration of my ’67 Camaro,” he says.
Zahn’s combined time of 55 seconds was the best among 11 finalists that included the top 10 qualifiers and Iowa State Champion Tim Rozendall of Otley, Iowa, who placed seventh. The event took place at the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International in February.
Sponsored by the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association, 86 contestants made 127 attempts at placing bowling pins into PVC tubes and setting a golf ball atop a safety cone from behind the controls of a mini-excavator.
This was Zahn’s second year in the competition. He didn’t have much time to savor the title. Returning from the Expo, he faced 16-hour days jetting out frozen water lines during a tough, long winter.
The owner of Infra Track, a jetting, hydroexcavating and sewer televising company in Worthing, S.D., Zahn has been operating excavators since age 19. In January he sold his septic and excavating business to Nick See, who finished ninth in the Roe-D-Hoe.
Rodney Kyler of Malta, Ill., placed second with a time of 58 seconds and received $500. Mark Shepard of Overland Park, Kan., last year’s Kansas State Champion, received $250 for his third-place time of 1 minute, 4 seconds. The top three finishers also received commemorative belt buckles.
Jeremy Yates of Lenexa, Kan., placed fourth with a time of 1 minute, 6 seconds and David Haney of Bradford, Ohio, was fifth in 1 minute, 8 seconds. Rounding out the finalists were Mathew Weaver of Ephrata, Pa.; Josh Reading of Grant Park, Ill.; Troy Himes of Fort Valley, Ga,; and Ron Miller of New Brighton, Pa., who had a record-breaking time of 35 seconds in the bowling event.
“Most of the contestants this year had very quick times, which is another reason we had the ability to get more contestants through and not have a lot of wait time,” according to Roe-D-Hoe chair Jessi Wood. “I think some of these guys have setups in their garages because we had some amazing times.”
Several father/son competitions highlighted the event, including Kyler, 56, who battled his son Matt, 21. The elder Kyler never doubted he would finish ahead of his son, even if Matt turned a faster time during qualifying. “I guess I always figured I would beat him, just because I have 40 years experience and he’s only got a couple. You always wish your kids do as well as you, but a lot of that takes experience.”
Although they didn’t place in the finals, Jon Houseknecht, 52, of Sunset Septic & Excavating in Rolling Prairie, Ind., and his sons Cody, 25, and Colt, 15, have competed in every Roe-D-Hoe since 2010. Cody came out on top this year, placing 68th with a time of 1 minute, 55 seconds.
“Cody and Colt both started out running equipment at 9 years old,” Houseknecht says. Each family title includes bragging rights for the year.
Another father/son team was Tom Krueger of Traverse City, Mich., and his son Levi. Tom placed 76th with a time of 1 minute, 56 seconds and Levi was 93rd.
Benjamin and Mathieu Leblanc of Quebec, Canada, added an international flavor to the event. Benjamin had the better time of the French-speaking brothers, placing 64th in 1 minute, 51 seconds.
Among the familiar faces in the competition was Josh Reading, last year’s runner-up. Reading and his brother Mike have been annual entrants, although Mike was unable to compete this year.
Contributing sponsors for the Roe-D-Hoe included Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS), Norweco, Jet Inc. and Infiltrator Systems Inc., with space and seating donated by COLE Inc.
