Garden Cart Saves His Knees

Garden Cart Saves His Knees FARM HOME Miscellaneous 28-3-31 Richard R. Miller still plants big gardens at the age of 78, and thanks to a 3-wheeled cart he made his knees and back no longer hurt from the work. In fact, a shade umbrella makes gardening a cool, comfortable experience all around. "Before I made this thing, picking string beans or strawberries was painful because I'd have to get down on my knees," the Upper Sandusky, Ohio man says. He calls it a self-propelled weeder and crop picker because he propels it himself by pulling it along, using his feet on the ground. Miller says when the idea for the unit struck him, he went to the barn and got two old bicycles and cut them up with his torch. After removing the foot pedals and cranks, he joined the back half of both bikes together by putting a piece of pipe through the holes where the cranks had been. He installed the seat from a garden tractor between the back wheels and then turned the front wheel and fork assembly from one of the bikes upside-down and welded it to where the crank was on one side. This made the front wheel off-set and allows the cart to straddle garden rows. For back support, Miller added a curved piece of metal across the back of the seat. For a finishing touch, he painted it John Deere yellow. "I don't have much in it - mostly just $12 worth of paint," he says. After using it a bit, Miller decided it would sure be nice to not get so hot, working out in the sun, so he got an old tractor shade umbrella and mounted it on the cart. He says it can be easily removed and put back onto the tractor whenever necessary. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Richard R. Miller, 13612 State Highway 294, Upper Sandusky, Ohio 43351 (ph 419 294-3641).

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