Powered Wheelbarrow Makes Sweet Corn Harvest Easier

Powered Wheelbarrow Makes Sweet Corn Harvest Easier FARM HOME Art Linsenmeyer says his 1-acre sweet corn patch is a lot easier to harvest thanks to the powered wheelbarrow he built At 74 and with arthritic knees it was getting more difficult for the Nebraska market gardener to push a wheelbarrow to pick corn for his vegetable stand He used an old lawn mower to push a new 6 cu ft wheelbarrow tub on a tricycle-style frame Linsenmeyer sits on a seat on top of the lawn mower’s engine and controls the speed with a hydrostatic rear end “I wanted a hydrostatic rear end because it has a foot control that adjusts the speed and it stops automatically when you take your foot off ” he says   Though the 11 hp engine is more than he needed it’s what he had available and works well The mower is 32 in wide so it fits easily between the rows In order to irrigate two rows at once Linsenmeyer plants double corn rows 12 in apart on 4-ft centers “The corn pollinates better It lets more light in and I get lots of corn on a 1-acre patch ” Linsenmeyer says The wheelbarrow holds up to 10 dozen ears and Linsenmeyer takes his load right to his vegetable stand where he can tilt the tub and dump it “It’s pretty handy and now I use it for a lot of other jobs around here ” he adds The powered wheelbarrow cost about $300 to build He’s willing to offer tips to anyone who wants to build one Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Art Linsenmeyer 907 East G Wymore Neb 68466 ph 402 228-6089

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