Innovation
Tree Climbing Bike
A farmer-turned-inventor has developed a bike that can scale really tall trees up and down with ease…
A few months back, the video of a farmer climbing the tree with the help of a machine went viral on social media. The video was of K Ganapati Bhat, a farmer from a small village of Komali in Sajipamunnur, Karnataka, who has developed a manned machine to climb the tree and to spray pesticides or pluck bunches of areca nut, without taxing any muscles or bruising arms or legs!
The Innovator
A Science graduate in Physics, Chemistry and Maths, Ganapati Bhat came up with the idea of developing a machine to overcome shortage of labourers in areacanut plantations. His manned machine is based on the model of a bike through which one can scale the trees up and down with ease. Ganapati Bhat said that the use of the machine was tested on his farmland on a trial basis recently, and it worked without any problem. In fact, after the video was circulated by his daughter on the social media, he has started receiving calls from across the globe for placing orders for the supply of the machine.
The Machine
The machine weighs 28 kg and has a two-stroke engine. It has hydraulic drum brakes, gears, double chain, seat and safety belt. Wearing safety belt, any person weighing up to 80 kg can climb the tree within 30 seconds just by the press of a button. Similarly, he/she can alight from the tree by switching off the engine with ease. The use of hydraulic drum with shock absorber in the engine ensures that there is no harm to life, even if the engine suddenly slips to the ground. The engine runs on petrol and with one litre petrol, you are able to climb around 80 trees. The engine runs on petrol. For one litre petrol, one need to use 40 ml engine oil. With one litre petrol, you can climb 80 trees, if you weigh around 50-60 kg.
Economically Effective
On an average, a labourer had to be paid Rs 2,000 per day for climbing and spraying pesticides. On an average, a labourer climbs 35 to 40 trees manually. But this scooter is at your disposal any time and for any number of uses. Pegged at a cost of Rs 75,000 per unit, the vehicle comes with a handle and a brake as well as a clutch for the smooth movement of the machine. Along with it, it has an indicator to show petrol and oil content. By sitting on one arecanut tree, one can spray pesticides to several trees nearby.
Farmer Saviour
The machine will provide solution to problems by minimising the role of human labour in the operation of spraying pesticides and harvesting the crops. Bhat says even women can climb the tree with ease as the machine is quite safe as it has been tested on more than 2000 trees in his farmland. But he warns farmers or for that matter anybody to try this Bike machine on trees with algae, as it does not work on mushy or moisture-based surfaces. So, he is now planning to modify the machine to use it for climbing coconut trees as well.
Many firms have started getting in touch with Bhat for manufacture of his innovative tree scooter. With further modifications, the machine will be of great help to farmers, who are facing acute shortage of labour for activities like harvesting and for spraying pesticide.
-Manoj Mahanta
-Team, ScienceNow Digital
