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"Cherry Picker" Lifts Farmer Into Tractors, Combine
Don Skinner, Pawnee, Ill., suffered the use of his legs as a result of a fall from a grain bin more than 20 years ago. He needed a way to get into his tractors and combine without needing help from anyone else. So he modified a stationary lift boom by adding a 4-ft. length of steel tubing behind the lift arm and mounti
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"Cherry Picker" Lifts Farmer Into Tractors, Combine MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Handicapped Equipment 26-6-7 Don Skinner, Pawnee, Ill., suffered the use of his legs as a result of a fall from a grain bin more than 20 years ago. He needed a way to get into his tractors and combine without needing help from anyone else. So he modified a stationary lift boom by adding a 4-ft. length of steel tubing behind the lift arm and mounting a seat on the end of the machine's telescoping lift arm.
Skinner installed a battery-operated boat winch at the base of the machine. He also welded a 4-ft. length of tubing onto the back side of the telescoping lift arm and mounted a pulley on it.
Skinner uses a switch mounted under the seat to raise or lower the seat on the lift arm. A length of angle iron mounted under and parallel to the lift arm keeps the seat parallel to the ground at all times. One end of the angle iron is bolted to the seat, while the other end pivots on the cherry picker's vertical main beam. As the lift arm is raised or lowered, the angle iron pivots to keep the seat from tilting too far backward or forward.
"I can use it anywhere by myself with no need for anyone to help me. It's far less expensive than a new commercial lift and eliminates the need to mount a separate lift on each machine," says Skinner.
"To use the rig, I roll it over close to whatever I want to get into, then transfer myself into the seat and use the switch to raise the lift. After I pull the door open and pull myself into the cab, I simply push the lift away. I've even used it to get in the passenger side of a semi tractor so that I could ride with my son. My son, who is not disabled, has used it to change light bulbs in our shop ceiling, and to get rid of bird's nests above the shop door."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Don Skinner, 139 E. 1200 N Road, Pawnee, Ill. 62558 (ph 217 526-3358).
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