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Man Invents Ingenious Tree-Climbing Scooter to Save His Farming Community

Speed: Zero-to-Treetop, 30 seconds. Mileage: 360 trees per gallon

By Rain Noe - May 8, 2020

in Social Impact

Climbing coconut and arecanut trees to harvest their prizes is strenuous, dangerous work, and requires a young body. But in Dakshina Kannada, India, "there is a substantial migration of well-educated youngsters to the cities for white collar jobs," K. Ganapathi Bhat told India's The News Minute. "There is a huge scarcity of employment in labour-intensive sectors like agriculture, especially those skilled in climbing trees."

"Having been born in a family with an agricultural background, it was painful to see the ripe coconut and arecanut either eaten by birds or falling across the fields," Bhat says. At 60 years of age, he's too old to climb the trees himself. But unlike most farmers, he has a Bachelors of Science in Physics, Chemistry and Maths. Thus he cobbled this together:

The bike-based contraption runs on gas, using what appears to be a chainsaw motor. After testing it out for two years on roughly 2,000 arecanut trees on his own farm, Bhat reckons the "mileage" is 90 trees per liter of gas (360 trees/gallon), and that the machine can carry an 80kg (175-pound) person to the top of a 30-meter (98-foot) tree in 30 seconds--safely. If the brakes fail, a backup brake kicks in to jam the wheels in place. As long as your tree isn't mushy and algae-covered (he tested those, too, and found the performance unsatisfactory), you're in business.

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Here's more footage of the machine in action, including Bhat jumping up and down on it, to demonstrate that it safely stays in place:

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Although he's been approached by several manufacturers, Bhat has turned them down, as he's not interested in profit. "I wish to partner with an organisation that would help me share the technology with the farmers to benefit them," he says. "I do not wish to seek royalties for such a venture. But I want to make sure that this product reaches as many farmers as possible, so that, in some way, it helps in the development of the overall agricultural scenario of the country."

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Raviraj Pare

4 years ago

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I am from this region of south india and as a kid remember seeing harvesting nuts from the arecanut tree. When harvesting we don't go up and down every tree.. one swings from tree to tree which is way faster and easier(with practice) than climbing up and down each tree. It’s a sight to see!

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Pablo Bodente

4 years ago

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Also handy in case of zombie apocalypse (depending on the type of zombie apocalypting)

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Frank Borsboom

4 years ago

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I want one! Now I only need to grow a tree...

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Juan Cano

4 years ago

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Freakin' brilliant. Put a basket on the front or a sack on your back.

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