Articulated Bean Buggy

Articulated Bean Buggy SPRAYING Bean Buggies 11-3-6 Using old auto parts and salvaged steel, Burton Spaude, Gibbon, Minn., built a bean buggy that's equipped with a unique articulated steering system. The 3-person buggy's powered by an 18-hp. 2-cycle Briggs & Stratton gas engine. That's teamed up with a 3-speed car transmission that chain-drives a car rear end that extends across the full width of the machine. Drive sprockets off the end of the axles drive sprockets on the buggy wheels. The buggy's fitted with car tires at rear and smaller implement tires up front. All controls mount within reach of the operator, who sits in the center seat. "It's designed so both hands are free while you're driving," says Spaude. The transmission is behind and to the left of the operator. The buggy travels at speeds from a crawl up to 4 mph. A steering control is behind and to the right. Steering can be locked onto a course but a foot control lets you change direction slightly back and forth to stay on the row. For big turns, you use the hand lever. The steering lever controls a power steering unit that powers a jackshaft running between the front and back halves of the buggy, joined by a hinge at center. The powered jackshaft articulates the buggy to steer in either direction. Spaude covers 6 30-in. rows with the buggy. It can be expanded to fit 36-in. row spacing in about 20 min. He purchased the 25 gal. spray tank, pump and spray guns new as a kit. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Burton Spaude, Rt. 1, Box 188, Gibbon, Minn. 55335 (ph 507 834-6331).

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