Ever since I was a little kid, my dad has invented things. As I think about it, most of them were "work avoidance" machines of some kind; or else they were things he created to solve a particular problem. Not surprisingly, he has always been good at solving problems! Engineers are like that.
Dad's inventions are things like the remote controlled lawnmower that he could use to cut the grass while sitting on the front porch when I was 4 or 5 years old. Of course, there were always a few interested neighbors and friends standing around watching the spectacle. So effectively it took half a dozen people to cut our grass. But never mind!
As a teenager, I remember that our old Volkswagon was so rusty that the water splashed your feet when you drove through a puddle in the street. However, in the 60's, cars were just starting to have windshield wipers with variable speeds. Dad got a pulse motor and a little dial control and hooked it up in one of our VW's (we had two blue ones just alike); and voila!!! Our car had fancy shmancy windshield wipers, too!
It's been this way for years! Crowds of people watching my dad . . . not working? Recently, Dad has invented yet another labor saving device. And this one has been picked up by the press! Since not every newstand carries FARM SHOW Magazine, I am giving family members a preview here on the blog. Dad is once again a celebrity inventor! Read on for a description of his latest invention. Great work, Dad!! You are awesome!
Dad will be making a return engagement to the blog next month on a different subject. He has been chosen to go to Washington, D.C., for a day in April with a group of World War II veterans to see the war memorials . . . especially the World War II tribute . . . and a number of sites around the city. We expect a full report including pictures of Dad and his Army buddy, Freddie, who will meet him at the mall that day. For now, here's the inventor story that will appear in the May(?) issue of FARM SHOW. You get the scoop!
P.S. Mom and Dad don't actually live on a lake channel. The invention is for a cottage they own in Indiana.
Floating “Robot” Automatically Removes Weeds From Lakes
Garl McHenry of New Carlisle, Ohio, needed a way to remove floating weeds from a channel in front of his home. So he built a remote-controlled, electric-operated Styrofoam pontoon that’s equipped with a 2 1/2-ft. wide aluminum rake. The floating “robot” measures about 18 in. wide by 4 ft. long and is covered by fiberglass.
While sitting in a lawn chair, McHenry moves the pontoon back and forth to collect weeds. Once the rake is full of weeds, he brings the unit into shore to dispose of them.
“As far as I know there’s nothing like it on the market,” says McHenry. “Whenever I get it out on the channel it usually isn’t long before there’s a crowd standing around watching it run. Some of my neighbors on the channel even come out with their rakes and ask me to help them. So I go up and down the channel pushing weeds toward the edges of the channel, where they can rake them up and then dispose of them.
The entire unit doesn’t weigh more than 35 or 40 lbs.” The device doesn’t cut off weeds. Instead, it gathers up weeds that are cut off the bottom of the lake by boat propellers and then float to the top. “The floating weeds can plug up boat propellers as well as motor cooling systems. There are often large patches of weeds, up to 40 ft. wide by 500 ft. long, that can’t be reached from shore,” says McHenry.
The pontoon is propelled by an aluminum paddle wheel on each side. The wheels are controlled individually by small electric motor gearboxes powered by a 12-volt DC battery. The rake on front of the pontoon is made from aluminum tubing and has tines that are 9 in. long and spaced 4 in. apart. A spring-loaded cable is used to lift the rake out of the water when positioning the pontoon for another sweep. A metal counterbalance makes it easier to raise and lower the rake. The entire unit is controlled by a 4-channel, ground frequency radio control system purchased at a hobby store.
“Four servo motors were purchased for the system and are used to operate eight microswitches. The microswitches are used to go forward, reverse, right turn, left turn, rotate left, rotate right, raise rake, or lower rake,” says McHenry.
To operate the unit, he makes a path every 3 to 4 ft. It goes about 10 ft. every 30 seconds. I can turn sharp by rotating one wheel forward and the other one backward. I usually use it to retrieve weeds up to 150 ft. away, and never more than about 400 ft. Beyond that it’s hard to see the weed patches laying on the water.”
Once the pontoon reaches shore, he unloads the weeds by raising the rake and then backing away. “As I back away, the paddle wheels push the weeds even further in toward shore,” says McHenry. “I use a pitchfork to load the weeds onto a conveyor which delivers them into a trailer, which I then haul to a disposal site.”
The robot displaces only one or two inches of water, which can be a problem in some conditions, says McHenry. “The buoyancy makes it difficult to operate in fast moving water or in windy conditions.
To make the pontoon, McHenry bought a 4 by 8-ft. sheet of Styrofoam and cut it in four pieces, then used “liquid nails” to glue it together.
“I spent about $500 on materials. I’m 83 years old so I’m not going to manufacture this unit. However, anyone who’s interested is welcome to contact me.”
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