Tractor Conversions

F.D

Hi I am wondering has anyone ever seen any tractors converted to be used by a disabled operator, we are farming at home and i have a disabled brother, we have seen numours car/ van conversions but it would be great if the tractor could be converted i'd reckon he would get more use and enjoyment out of it , and be more involved in the day to day running of the farm

SerialComplaint

I've never heard of this happening, but I guess a lot would depend on the nature of his disability. In particular, the climb up into the tractor cab would be the major challenge for many disabled people. Would you like to share mroe details of his disability? Or perhaps you should call some of the conversion companies?

F.D

Hi Sorry for the delay in my response, he has arthrogryposis, so he has limited movement in his joints so there would need to be some sort of hoist to get from the chair to the tractor seat, modern tractors have a lot of electonics so its just a matter of getting a joystick for steering and a multi controller for the other functions like gear changing etc and some sort of interface to link it together, i assume it would be silmilar tecnology as converting a car but hope fully not as expensive as quotes we got when investigating that option
we have also looked at some of road buggys which he can drive his wheelchair into and travel around the farm but with quotes from 18k upwards for basically a pumped up quad bike that you will still get wet and dont have a great deal of scope on the distance you can travel
So hense we are looking at the tractor, good off road, wont get wet, can help out on the farm etc

SerialComplaint

I'd have thought that the hoist to get him up to the required level may be the problem area, but do talk to some of the vehicle converters and see what they think.

aujopimur

Yes, there are several working farmers with disabilities in Ireland,if you contact any farming organization or agri. equipment suppliers they should be able to assist you.

SerialComplaint

There is an interesting article in the current edition of the IWA's Spokeout magazine about a farmer who has adapted a tractor to accomodate his disability (wheelchair user).

jboden

Hey, i am also a wheelchair user living on a farm, has anybody come across any tractors adapted for a wheelchair user yet?

SerialComplaint

jboden wrote: »

Hey, i am also a wheelchair user living on a farm, has anybody come across any tractors adapted for a wheelchair user yet?

Did you check out the Spokeout article mentioned above?

F.D

HI Jboden
No Havent seen anything yet, I did see the spokeout artical was interesting but from what i can remember it did not give much info on who done the conversion or the cost.
The biggest problem for my brother would actually be access to the tractor, and fitting in the door with some degree of comfort the equipment to operate the machine would be available but maybe expensive, if you do come across any idea's stick them up might be worth seeing

SerialComplaint

See http://www.amsvans.com/blog/3551-farmer-designs-a-wheelchair-accessible-tractor/