Ganapathi Bhat of Komale, Karnataka, India, needs to get up his trees to harvest areca nuts. So he built from motorbike parts a machine that reliably moves him up and down safely. MSN reports:
Seven months ago he started working on the concept again and finished the ‘tree bike’ in May using standard motorbike components such as clutch, accelerator, double brakes, shock absorbers and a 2.1 HP petrol engine. “The first time I took a ride to the top, I asked my son to be ready to call an ambulance,” says Bhat. But the machine proved to be safe and he climbed 150 trees before demonstrating it to local farmers. ''I have used high-quality components. But if there is a mechanical failure, it stops midway. You just press the clutch to gently glide it down.”
Neighboring farmers are very interested in his clever invention. Bhat plans to sell them for about 75,000 rupees a piece. That's just over $1,000 USD.
I suspect there'd probably be a recreational market, too. It looks like fun!
-via Geekologie
Comments (0)
Those dates don't seem quite right.
The best part of his tales where what they did in their down time. They were stationed in Cuba and at night would head up with a couple bottles of rum. Once they were in flight the pilot would put the plane into a slight bank and tie the control stick in place with rope. Then the pilot and mechanic would climb out on the wing, sit and drink rum while doing lazy circles over the ocean.
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