Larry Greedy’s grandson drove a bulldozer into the open class building of the Fremont County Fair Thursday as fair officials applauded and an amazed audience gathered.
Greedy, a welder and heavy equipment operator from Sidney, built the compact dozer from spare parts and a resourceful mind.
Most of it came from an old sprayer, but its blade was crafted from an old propane tank and four-inch steel was cut to assemble its roller chain.
Cale Phillips, the son of Greg and Beth Phillips of Hamburg, backed it down from Greedy’s trailer at the fairgrounds. He revved up the two-cycle Kohler engine and masterfully employed the hydrostat transmission to reach a top speed of 5 mph.
Kids strolled along and teased about his deliberate pace to the fair building, where Greedy would enter the machine in the farm shop category.
Greedy said he took all the help he could get over the winter to turn his design into a working machine. Unable to call it a “Cat” due to trade name considerations, Greedy engraved the name GreediPillar on its metal dash.
He said the dozer was built for parades. “I just wanted to see if I could build it,” he said.
He said converting the mechanisms of the sprayer into the compact dozer posed a challenge and frequently put him back at the drawing board.
Phillips said he enjoyed the drive, but left open a chance for a future demonstration by wondering out loud how the dozer would perform in mud.
