2001 - Volume #25, Issue #6, Page #42

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Motorized Lay-Down Work Cart

Motorized Lay-Down Work Cart MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 25-6-42 Visitors to the recent Wisconsin Farm Progress Days Show were able to check out this new motorized laydown work cart that looks like a massage table mounted on snowmobile treads. Made in Sweden, the Drangen work cart has foot controls to steer and adjust speed. The machine is powered by a 5 1/2 to 13 1/2 hp gas engine that mounts on back. Speed can vary from a slow creep to a walk. The frame can be adjusted from 3 to 8 ft. wide for different row widths, and crop clearance can be adjusted from 12 in. on up. Optional weeding brushes, a conveyor system, a trailing wagon, and a seated unit with toolbar for seeders and cultivators is available. "It leaves both your hands free to pick, weed, or tend plants while the rest of your body rests comfortably. As a result, you can do a lot of different jobs with it," says Bob Meyer, who works part time with the Healthy Profits Project at the University of Wisconsin, which owns one of the new carts. "One farmer uses the machine as a vacuum-type salad harvester. A vacuum sucks æsalad mixes' such as baby lettuces and specialty greens into a container and then the worker uses a hand blade to cut them up. A job that used to take four or five people an entire morning now takes one person only about two hours. "Another farmer uses the machine as a water jet transporter. The idea is to use pressurized water to inject holes into the ground, then set transplants into the wet holes so that the roots can start growing right away. "The engine is behind you so you don't breathe fumes,and it's quiet enough to listen to a radio or talk as you work. Some farmers have outfitted the cart with a canopy that shelters them from the sun and rain. The Drangen work cart is not sold by anyone in North America. It sells for about $6,000 depending on options, exchange rate, and shipping costs. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Drangen, Mats Andersson, MAPRO PROJEKT, Box 42, S-74721 Alunda, Sweden (ph 011 46 174-71610; E-mail: design20@telia.com).