X Games medallist Jarryd McNeil used a Hidromek HMK140LC excavator from Onetrak to build the course he utilised to film his video entry for the X Games Real Moto contest recently.
Jarryd grew up on a farm in Kerang, Victoria and has been riding dirtbikes since he was 2 and a half years old.
Today Jarryd lives in the US, has collected 15 X Games medals and tours the world with Nitro Circus. This year Jarryd and filmer Jacob Johnson entered the X Games Real Moto contest and filmed their video in Australia.
Jarryd used a Hidromek HMK140LC excavator from Onetrak to build the track seen in the video. We caught up with him to chat about his experience with the Hidromek excavator.
Marc Jones Photography
“I grew up on a dairy farm in regional Victoria. When I was 8 dad handed me the keys to our 16 ton excavator and I learnt how to operate it cleaning the irrigation channel and dams and used it to pick things up on the property. In my spare time I used the excavator to build tracks and jumps”.
“I now live on a 10-acre property in southern California and have an 8-ton excavator and a tracked skid steer loader for property yard maintenance and to build motorcycle jumps.
“I’ve had some experience operating other machines like front end loaders, bulldozers, articulated loaders, backhoe loaders, tele handlers and dump trucks”.
“When I found out I was doing the Real Moto contest I was on the lookout for a machine to help me build the tracks and Onetrak and Hidromek were really helpful and came up with the goods.
“It’s funny because I had seen Hidromek feature a lot on social media. For me personally it is a brand I haven’t seen a lot of previously but what I saw on social spiked my interest and I was really keen to have a go in one of these machines.
“I was stoked when Onetrak came onboard as it was the perfect opportunity for me to get to test a Hidromek”.
“It’s not often you see a new brand enter the construction equipment market – you see the same brands all year every year. The presentation and design of the Hidromek is really interesting because it’s different, modern and sort of sporty looking”.
“I had the Hidromek HMK140LC for a week and I can’t fault it. The machines are European quality and built for quarries so they’re really tough and definitely stack up to other major brands quality wise. It’s both powerful and tracks fast”.
“Having not operated one before it’s super easy to jump in and operate – all toggles and functions are easy to find, controls are standard and the quick-hitch is straight forward”.
“One of the highlights is the interior of the cab. It’s super comfy to sit in. The control panel and everything in the cab is laid out nice and neat and it’s got really handy features like a built-in USB charger”.
“It’s no secret I’m a big fan of some of the other brands but the Hidromek definitely lives up to those expectations. There are a lot of things I really like about it – actually – I’ll go as far as saying it is hands down the best machine I’ve used in in terms of the controls being really to smooth to work with.
“Some bigger machines are sort of slow on the controls and smaller ones quick and it takes time to adjust – but the Hidromek is just straight off the bat super smooth”.
To watch Jarryd’s and Jacob’s Real Moto video go to https://xgam.es/RealMcNeil, to find ourt more about Hidromek visit www.onetrak.com.au
Photography: Marc Jones Photography