Go-Anywhere "Wheelchair" Built From Ford Tractor

Go-Anywhere Wheelchair Built From Ford Tractor MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Handicapped Equipment 19-6-29 "It'll go places no other conventionally powered wheelchair can go," says Canadian inventor Hudson Wilson about a go-anywhere "wheelchair" built out of an old lawn tractor. Wilson and designer/welder Glen Hastings reversed the direction of travel on the tractor so it steers from the rear and drives from the front. It's fitted with two big flotation tires. "One big advantage of this rig is that you can sit up high so people can see you. In a conventional wheelchair people are always bumping into you because you're out of their line of sight," says Wilson, who contracted polio as a boy. "I'm 6-ft. tall standing; 6-ft., 4-in. when I'm sitting in the chair. People in stores and malls see me now." The men started with an older model Ford tractor equipped with a 14 hp engine and hydrostatic drive. They rotated the seat and controls 180?. Thanks to hydrostatic drive, they didn't have to reverse transmission gears. "This way, objects on store counter shelves, for example, are within arm's reach rather than 3 or 4 ft. away," Wilson notes. The men converted the original tractor's foot-operated transmission and brakes to hand-control gears. "We extended the link-ages 15-in. with flat iron so the control levers come up between the left fender and driver's seat," he explains. "I use an 18-in. long tiller bar connected to the rear steering axle and positioned between my knees to steer. This way, we didn't have to move the whole steering mechanism back." They fitted the drive axle with 15-in. car rims off an old car and put 14-in. tires off a Gehl forage harvester on them. "We had to cut a bit of the fenders away with a saw to get them on," Wilson notes. They widened the 8-in. rims on the steering axle to 9 in. and mounted flotation tires off a 6-WD ATV on them. "With the wider tires, the vehicle is 52 in. wide, 12 in. wider than the original tractor," Wilson says. "It weighs about 1,000 lbs., including canopy, operator platform and side rails. That's twice what the original tractor weighed. It's very stable and has all the power I need." Wilson's out-of-pocket expenses were $500 for the lawn tractor and $400 for additional parts. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Hudson Wilson, R.R. 2, Bolton, Ontario, Canada L7E 5R8 (ph 905 857-2875 mornings, 8768 afternoons, evenings).

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