Motorcycle-Powered Picnic Table

Motorcycle-Powered Picnic Table FARM HOME Novelty Items 34-4-2 Dave Durbin of Oconee, Ill., gets a lot of attention with his one-of-a-kind motorized picnic table. The machine has a Honda Gold Wing motorcycle front end and a golf cart rear end equipped with lawn mower tires. It can carry 7 adult riders, thanks to a 6-seat varnished oak picnic table that's built onto a metal frame. "It once won first place for the æweirdest homemade machine' at a motorcycle rally," says Durbin, who has taken the machine to several states, including Kentucky and Tennessee. He has put some 800 miles on it from driving in parades and motorcycle rallies. The machine is powered by an 18 hp Kohler engine, which belt-drives a right angle gearbox off a Cub Cadet riding mower. The gearbox chain-drives the 3-speed transmission off a Deere riding mower. The machine's 18-in. high rear wheels and axle are also off the Cub Cadet. The rig uses the golf cart's original brakes. "It's definitely one-of-a-kind. People think I'm nuts if they haven't seen the machine and I tell them I'm going to go drive my picnic table around," says Durbin. "I even won an award at a motorcycle show that I never attended. I was riding past the show when someone saw me riding around and started taking photos. "I use my pickup to haul it to parades and motorcycle rallies. Sometimes I let people take turns driving it around, and some of them even pop wheelies. If you let the clutch out too fast it'll go straight up in the air, but it won't tip over backward because of the picnic table." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dave Durbin, Rt. 1, Box 176, Oconee, Ill. 62553 (ph 217 539-4517; jeandurbin698@hotmail.com).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.