Innovative Teen Likes To Tinker

Innovative Teen Likes To Tinker At age 14, Wyatt Giles of Vanderbilt, Mich., is no stranger to tinkering with machinery. “I’ve always liked tractors,” he says. “My family moved up to Northern Michigan four years ago, and many of my friends are also interested in them. We spend a lot of time haying in different fields around us.” This interest led him to an innovative solution when a family tractor malfunctioned. “The bolt that holds the shifter in place on our Deere 1025R tractor came loose,” he says. “A new machine quirk, I guess. My idea was to take an articulated socket extension and put it on a straight socket extension. Then, with some electrical tape to hold the socket in place, I could fish into the crevice where the bolt was and tighten it.” His solution worked like a charm. “It took some trial and error—a good afternoon project,” he says. “If it hadn’t been for that nifty little invention, I would’ve had to take it into the Deere garage just for that bolt.”   Giles also created a custom cart from pallets. “My friend and I found an old 1800s water pump in the woods,” he says. “It seemed like an interesting project, so we used a subcompact tractor to fish it out.” When winter fell, they moved the pump into a farm shop but found it took up a lot of room and was too heavy to move easily. “My solution was to make a box cart from a pallet and four caster wheels. Four 4-ft. wood posts created the rails, which allows space for the big gear on the bottom.” Now that the pump can be pulled out when convenient, Giles continues to chip away at repairs. “There’s a lot of junk and oil to clean out to see whether it’s possible to restore,” he says. “It should be a fun project.” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Wyatt Giles, Vanderbilt, Mich.

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