I thought this was a standard at playgrounds, lots of Seattle area playgrounds have them.

Ooh - the tires in the background look like fun too!

I’ve never seen another one - glad to hear they’re widespread, at least locally! I think they’re brilliant.

Are there any other similar “tools” at playgrounds that seem designed along the same lines? I have been wondering since if there are other types of heavy equipment that could be modeled with levers like this.

There’s one of these in Henderson KY’s Audobon State Park’s campground playground.  I think they may be rare here in the Midwest.

I’ve seen them at a local park (Los Altos, CA), where they have to have a pair or kids fight over them. There is a also a sandpit at Storybook Island in Rapid City, SD with 4 of these diggers—that’s all that is in the sandpit.

The Hearthsong catalog carries a home version of the digger. Grandpa bought it for us for Christmas because he remembered having one as a kid.
http://tinyurl.com/yardo9d
Our three kids (2,4,6) have had fun moving gravel and sand in the driveway—it doesn’t quite fit into the sand box that we have under the playstructure—the posts are in the way for active digging/moving.

I know at least one playground in the Indianapolis area has a couple of these. My niece loves it!

We have one at our local playground just down the block.  Until I moved to Michigan, I had never seen one either!

They are fairly common in Iowa, and even after my 2 yr old lost a fingernail to one, I’d still agree that they are one of the best playground toys out there.  (the nail grew back, of course).

We have them in the Chicago-land area as well.  I’ve only seen that style (although I think ours are yellow.)

That’s so cool!  I’ve seen them all over since we moved to Germany!  I can’t wait until my children have the size and strength to really maneuver one of these.  My daughter has tried, but I have to help quite a bit and I think that takes most of the fun out of it for her.  I think the coolest I’ve seen is a coin operated “Bagger” (backhoe/digger) for the kids at a local zoo.

We used to have these on all playgrounds growing up in the midwest (1970/80’s), but they began to disappear.  I’ve seen a few popping up again.  It was my brother’s favorite activity as a child.

Despite living in the Seattle area for 14 years, the first time I saw one of those was in Austin.  It’s in the Lost Creek Neighborhood park.

We have these at one of our playgrounds too. It is great except not for younger children (2-3). I tried to put my 2 1/2 yr old on it and she couldn’t lift it to dig and actually fell and had a nasty bruise on her face. If you have a bigger little one maybe but these are for older children. Just keep it in mind when you try it!

I’ve seen them at many of the playgrounds we frequent in the Boston, MA area.

I second Rhonda; they’re common in the Boston area.

I second the sighting of many when we lived in Germany. FYI: Not only do they have the coolest strollers and balance bikes, but they have the coolest playground equipment too! I suppose that’s because German kids still play outside, but that’s a whole other topic! ;)

We have a couple of these at our closest park (Jackson, WY). They are great! My son has been using them (with help) since he was one.

They’ve been a staple in our area parks (in MI) since I was in elementary school (maybe a I was a bit older?).  I wish they made them in 2 sizes.  One just a bit smaller that 2-3 year olds could use.

I keep seeing this post, and couldn’t help but relay a story with this piece of playground equipment. We have them all over Austin too, and the kids all seem to love them! However, PLEASE just make sure everything is in working order before letting your little ones near these. A good friend of ours was in town with her daughter who was on a playground with one of these. The scoop had been broken and was left with a jagged edge (horrible negligence on the part of whoever was in charge of maintenance). Our friends 4 year old daughter was playing on the ground nearby, when another child pushed the broken scoop down on to her fingers and almost amputated the tip of one finger. She was lucky that there was a hospital close by and is fine now. I just couldn’t help but pass along this warning since I now cringe whenever I see one of these!