“Tiller Bike” Perfect For Short Commute

“Tiller Bike” Perfect For Short Commute FARM HOME recreation Shawn Wengerd’s tiller-powered bicycle is an efficient way to make a daily 1 1/2-mile backroad commute from his home to his shop It gets 50 mpg “The front half is a regular bike frame but I built the back half to hold a 5-hp rototiller motor that drives a 12-in all-terrain wheel ” Wengerd says A friend gave him an old rear-tine self-propelled tiller that no longer shifted and he bought the dual suspension mountain bike at a pawn shop Wengerd removed the rear bike tire and replaced it with a platform made out of angle iron bolted together The tiller engine connects to the bike with a 9-in pulley on the wheel shaft “The clutch is operated by a foot pedal The old tiller had a belt tensioner-style clutch that’s connected to the throttle from the engine to the shifter on the bicycle ” he says Wengerd flips up a frame stand in the back that holds the bike upright when he is ready to drive He turns on the tiller switch pulls the cord a couple times revs the engine with the speed shifter pushes in the clutch and the bike is ready to zip along quietly at about 33 mph It only takes 1/2-gal of gas to run the tiller/bike for up to two weeks When he needs to haul something he pulls a small inexpensive trailer behind “It’s a dual-suspension bike so it’s very comfy ” Wengerd says “Some people shake their heads a little when they see it But I have just shy of $50 in the whole contraption It was very fun to build ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Shawn Wengerd 1080 Morgan Rd Janesville Ohio 43701

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