Fieldays Exhibitor 2008 Issue 3 - Wintec

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Fieldays Exhibitor Don’t pooh pooh this idea By Aaron oile The � rst year of lawnmower racing has inspired the creation of a motorised toilet. The Sportaloo is the latest creation by Adam Pendred of Tauranga. Pendred owns a mower shop in Tauranga, and is at the Shindaiwa stand on G Street at the Fieldays. While he has some faster, more traditional, mowers for racing, it is the four-wheeled novelty racing toilet that is catching the eye. Pendred found the toilet in a scrap heap at a local school and thought it was too good to throw away. “The rest of it is made completely from lawnmower parts – the frame is made of lawnmower handles and the wheels are from ride-on mowers,” he said. Complete with a roll of toilet paper on one side, the creation is said to reach speeds between 10 and 12 km/h and is proving popular with site visitors. Pendred started racing when he modi� ed an old mower to compete in a mower race for a school gala fundraiser. In 2006 at the Fieldays, he started riding round on a hot-rod type mower, resulting in of� cials telling him off. Ironically, the of� cials asked him back to compete in the mower racing this year. Pendred is racing against three other competitors before the Avocado tube eases picker’s task By Luke Parker With a drive for cheaper alternatives, and a touch of Kiwi ingenuity, father of seven Warwick Gilmour has created a new userfriendly invention – the avocado picking tube. Three years ago, Gilmour came up with the idea after yet another tiring day up a ladder in the orchard. He went down to a friend’s local hardware store and bought a two-metre plastic stormwater pipe with a 90mm diameter. After experimenting, he realised that if he placed the pipe over the avocado and pushed, its stalk snapped, and it slid down the pipe into the palm of his hand. For greater productivity, he modi� ed his contraption by cutting two L-shaped incisions into SITTIN PRETTY: Adam Pendred tests the Sportaloo weekend and he is modest about his chances. “I’m expecting a top three � nish,” he jokes. His racing mowers can reach 80 km/h but will be racing at a safer speed of 40-45 km/h. the picking end of the pipe, and made an extension with a socket and inner piping, for those “hardto-reach” avocados. It now has a possible reach of up to � ve metres. The stalk is slid into the Lshaped incision, and after a simple twist and push, the avocado is released, sliding to freedom. Gilmour says, “I’ve come up with cheaper alternatives… not so much new ideas. It’s more I try to � nd another way… another option. “If I can save someone a broken arm from falling off a picking or hydro ladder, then I’ll be happy and feel like I’ve succeeded.” There are other pipe-picking products on the market, but these are laden with technical cutting systems and accessories. “The less of that stuff I can put on the better.” PHOTO: Kelly Petersen He treats the racing event as a bit of fun but it also helps him promote his shop and his products. “It helps draw people to the business and they see the likes of the Sportaloo and think, wow, that’s a hard case,” Pendred said. Gilmour wants to gauge public and investment response to his new invention at Fieldays, and intends to manufacture the tubes by hand, supplying local avocado growers. The tube will cost around $30. EASY REACH: Warwick ilmour Vintage tractors are still pulling their weight By Mary Holmes A 90-year-old hacksaw, old stationary engines and 1920s tractors are all in action down on History Lane. The Waikato Vintage Tractor and Machinery Club have an impressive exhibit of the working machines and tractors they have restored. Mystery Creek has a permanent tractor feature but they are not working machines. Eric James who has been a club member since 1989 says, “We like the gear to be going, like they used to once, so we like to restore them.” John Dickson found his 1928 Hart-Parr tractor as a wreck lying under a tree, and spent three years putting it together. “This is our second love, we’re lucky to have wives who tolerate it.” There is a 1938 Lanz Bulldog tractor from Mannheim, Germany which, says Eric James, “blows beautiful big smoke rings” when worked hard. Bill Troughton has a 1952 Lanz Bulldog. The two-stroke diesel has one cylinder, 40 horse power and he says it’s pretty economical to run. He also owns an older one, built in 1931. As well as the tractors there is an impressive display of old stationary engines. Bill Troughton owns 40-50 of these, and 90 per cent of them work. “It’s a full-time job just keeping them going.” Graham Freegard has been baling hay for 54 years and bought his 1958 New Holland Super 17 baler about six years ago. “It still bales a couple of thousand hay bales every year.” There are a couple of old vintage ploughs on display, and a wagon built around 1910-20, owned by Ron Arnott, and pulled by two Clydesdales. Willy Willetts, the president of the club, says, “You could use all the machines tomorrow to go collect hay.”
If you fancy the strength of your kick there’s a chance you could win a car for six months. The fastest ball-kick into the net during Fieldays, as calculated by the Jugs Professional Sports Radar, gets to keep the brand new Kia Rio Diesel for six months with fuel included. Kia Motors sales and marketing manager Jason Groube said the car was capable of getting 100km out of 4.5 litres of fuel and was brought in especially for the Fieldays. “The Sportskick Challenge is a great way to interact with people coming through,” he said. “It’s a bit of fun.” Kia is the principal sponsor of the Euro 2008 international FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2008 Fieldays Exhibitor Rural folk shown fi re risks By Shaun Bamber Rural property owners face a higher risk from � re than their urban counterparts and need to be more aware of the dangers and how to avoid them. That’s the message the New Zealand Fire Service continues to put across to the rural community at Fieldays. Their kitchen � re demonstration trailer is set on � re every hour dramatically illustrating how quickly and easily a simple pot � re can get out of hand. Todd O’Donoghue, � re safety of� cer for the Waikato and Bay of Plenty region, has been attending Fieldays for the last eight years as a � re safety advocate. Primarily involved in education, legal compliance and � re investigation, he delivers the � re safety message at public events around the district. Leaving a pot of cooking oil on the stove, he demonstrates the right and wrong way to put out a fat � re. Smothering the � re with a pot lid, a wooden chopping board, or a damp tea towel is recommended. Water, however, is not. From a safe distance and kitted out in full safety gear, O’Donoghue dumps a cup or so of water on the � aming pot. Instantly, � ames leap up to 3m By Katie Stone From a family-owned fruit and vegetable shop to a world-famous business that produces 26 million bars a year; Annies is a classic Kiwi success story. In 1986, Ann Giles’ husband bought her a dehydrator. She began experimenting with converting apples into dried fruit leathers, and soon her humble dehydrator was 26 trays high. A second dehydrator also reached a height of 26 trays. It wasn’t long before the demand for the sweet, chewy fruit leathers outstripped the capacity of both dehydrators and the couple invested in a commercial drier. Today, Annies produces an extensive range of 100 per cent dried fruit bars. All products are free of added � avours and arti� - cial ingredients, making them a great alternative to fresh fruit. HOT POT: a fi refi ghter demonstrates how uickly a pot of oil can ignite in the air, causing many in the crowd to take a step backwards. It’s a popular and striking demonstration. While the � re service has long maintained a presence at Fieldays, this is the � rst time they’ve done so in conjunction with Farmers Mutual Group (FMG), Sweet treats successful et your kicks here... Founders Graeme and Ann Giles still work in the factory and Ann is the name and face behind the product packaging. Regional Sales and Marketing Manager Stephen Julian said there is more to Annies than just business. “She’s very believable, very passionate and engrossed in the company,” he said. Annies is also a major player in Mission On, a Government-wide initiative campaign that encourages healthy eating in schools. Annies is also a sponsor of Bike Wise and Starship Hospital. “The biggest thing for Annies is giving back to the community. It’s not about the money; we’re trying to help people by delivering a healthy, cost-effective solution for everyday lifestyles.” Based in Blenheim, Annies operates three factories and exports 70 per cent of its products. New Zealand’s leading rural insurer. It’s a mutually bene� cial association, as FMG’s focus this year is on risk management and prevention, which coincides with the � re safety message. FMG offers insurance discounts to homeowners with By Luke Parker PHOTO: Naomi Williams PHOTO: photographer here smoke alarms installed and � re extinguishers on hand. They’ve attended Fieldays since the beginning and have been servicing rural New Zealand for more than 100 years. Check out the � re safety demonstration at the FMG site on Innovation Lane. soccer tournament under way in Europe. Earlier this week Sam Russo was leading the kick challenge with 116km/h. Following in second place was Wintec Sports and Exercise Science student, Kieran Hill, at 106km/h. “I have a bit of a bad knee at the moment… I think I’ll come back a bit later and have another crack,” Hill said. Launched at this year’s Fieldays, the Kia Rio Diesel has a 1.5 litre engine. “We are running the Kio Rio Diesel $10 Challenge where, based on fuel effi ciency, the car can run from The Dome (Fieldays) to Auckland, Tauranga or Turangi on $10,” Groube said. The ball-kick challenge is staged at the Kia stand in The Dome.
Page 1 and 2: Friday 13/06/2008 Issue 3 Tractor t
Page 3 and 4: Kiwi ingenuity shown in Fieldays to
Page 5: Cracking good time on offer A CRACK

Fieldays Exhibitor 2008 Issue 3 - Wintec

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?