Quick-Tach Tools For Farmer's Prosthetic Arm

Quick-Tach Tools For Farmer's Prosthetic Arm MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Handicapped Equipment 31-4-39 When Matt Biel of Dickinson, N. Dak., lost his lower right arm in a tragic 2006 auger accident, the prosthetic arm he got was of the "plain Jane" variety. It didn't give him any fine motor skills, making it very difficult to grasp things such as tools. But Biel wanted to continue farming with his dad, so he acted on an idea he'd been given by the sales rep who sold him the arm. First, he cut the handles off a hammer, ratchet, vice grip and crescent wrench, and then welded a bolt onto each one. Next, Biel bought four special adapters from the salesman, and threaded them onto the bolt on each of the four tools. Now, he can connect whichever tool he needs directly to the arm for much better ease of use. "The modifications make each tool like a quick-tach that pushes into the prosthetic, and locks in," he explains. "All I have to do is press a release button, and they come off." Because Biel's vice grip was the type that self-adjusts its size, he was able to weld the bolt where the adjusting screw would have been. Thanks to the simple tool modifications, this young farmer says he can still do most everything he did around the farm before his accident. Tasks just take a bit longer. "These tools allow me to have better fine motor skills than with the prosthetic alone," he says. On equipment such as the swather and combine, the family made modifications to convert hand-operated controls to foot pedals or buttons. Biel does the majority of the seeding and spraying on the 2,000-acre farm. The adapters were priced at close to $50 each; however, Rehabilitation Consulting Service covered the entire cost for Biel. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Matt Biel, 480 Jade St., Dickinson, N. Dak. 58601 (ph 701 483-4321; matt_biel @nd supernet.com).

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