“Go big or go home,” they say. So, since Canadian farmer Joe Murray wanted to go small, he went to his house and climbed down to the basement. He has been excavating it using remote control toy machines since 2005, saying that it’s his “favorite pastime, my escape from everyday realities, nothing more.”

Image credits: Joe

“(I’ve got) greater dexterity in both hand and eye coordination,” he told News.com.au. “I can better judge accuracy at a good distance from me. I can mentally picture several different scenarios of how to best tackle a project, make a better plan for success, lessening the chance of a costly failure.”

Image credits: Joe

The RC toy enthusiast estimated that his mini machines shift about three cubic meters of soil each year. He went almost completely hands-free in late 2010 after acquiring a 40kg (88lbs) JD850 toy excavator armed with an operating hydraulic pressure of nearly 400psi.

Image credits: Joe

“I do need to use a bit of water to soak up this bone dry clay soil somewhat … it’s like granite.” Throughout the years, Joe has been regularly uploading his cool hobby progress to YouTube, where his videos have already amassed him over 6.3M views. And after his basement is done, the farmer is thinking about giving a makeover to his barn. “The one thing I’m looking forward to about the barn is the much bigger area, and it’s flat too, which will work better for bigger, more powerful R/C toy trucks,” he said.

“I might dig a pond in there with some river channels for tugboats/barges… We’ll see.” Well, that’s one interesting hobby, for sure!

More info: YouTube

People were happy to meet such a devoted hobbyist