Terramite T5C

You show up to the work site and it's a muddy mess. A water main burst the night before and now water has been dousing the area for at least a few hours. Walking through the muck adds 30 pounds of mud stuck to your boots; walking to the work truck for a wrench is now a huge chore. On top of that, you are going to have to dig. There is no question about this as the water main, shooting water at 60psi, is six feet below you underground. It is going to be a pretty shitty day.

Near the work zone, some old dude is sitting on what looks like a lawn tractor built in the 1960s. It's yellow, has a backhoe attachment, a bucket attachment, and it is making a sound like a high pitched Chewbacca with his hand caught in a blender. What the hell kind of tools is your boss giving you? This digging machine looks like it was constructed out of used auto parts and that sound it makes...it might just be falling apart in front of you.

On one of the bucket arms, in bold cursive script, a logo reads Terramite as if somebody at the manufacturer were proud of this awkward and tiny machine. The "caution" yellow paint is chipped, faded, and even burned in places and there isn't even a cushion on the tractor's steel seat. Like you thought before, it's gonna be a pretty shitty day.

Mini backhoe

The above introduction is pretty much what everybody thinks the first time they see a Terramite T5C bucket loader/backhoe. And while a lot of the description is true about the machine, that it makes a terrible noise, usually is beat to hell, and isn't a fashion statement, you will not believe what this thing is capable of.

The T5C is constructed small so that it can fit into tiny spaces, yet dig to a depth of at least 8 feet; the depth where most utilities can be accessed. It is also constructed tough. T5C tractors were discontinued by