a little creative thinking

[keerym]

Hello, My name is Mike, and I am a student of Mechanical Engineering at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. I could really use your help for a class that I am taking, Creative Thinking. In this class we are required to solve a problem in the area of our expertise. I felt that turf equipment and the related area would be my best area to work in since I have worked at a John Deere dealer during my summers off from college setting up and repairing the very equipment that makes your industry go. So here's my pitch to you: I need your everyday problems that need solving. We were told the sky is the limit as far as problems go, and I have a few ideas, but I thought it might be fun to hear what you have to say. Feel free to though out any and all ideas, this is meant to be fun, so please let your mind go wild. Also your problem doesn't need a solution, thats where I come in, I need to work out a solution, or at least an idea for a solution. So with that said, have fun, and please, don't hold back. Thanks for the help,

Mike

[1stclasslawns]

Ok Mike

Here goes time to think outside of the box for sure.

How about a way to dry grass out so the clippings will dispurse when mowed when a heavy due is on.

Or a way to at least stop it from sticking.

Jim

[skyphoto]

Here is one make a zero turn mower that handles slopes and has as much traction as well as a small garden tractor and you would have a the holy grael of mowers!

Peace!

[lawnboy82]

maybe you could work to design some form of truck body? for general landscaping that i could use for tree work / hauling / sanding / maybe pallets too.. or um make a big bagging unit that can go on some form of machine. or a thing that blows out garens. like some kind of hose or something that can go on a machine to clean out gardens as you go. or even better yet, a machine that does walkways without having to get out of a truck? or what else? something that will level out piles of debris when you dump it without needing a pitchfork or loader?

[joshua]

ok, some of you guys might hate me for this one but here goes get rid of all the scabs in our industry. if you find a answer to that one let me know because every year i see about 30 new guys in my area, most don't even know their foot from the yard.

[mmorgan]

Mike,
If you can get another 2 or 3 days in the week, you will get an A for sure and all the praise in the world from everyone here. Good Luck!!

[GREG R]

a ztr tire that doesn't leave pivot marks
on a lawn???

[TLS]

Greg,

Thats an easy one, a slick type smooth tire!

[GREG R]

dixie1
What about traction?

[TLS]

Thats where the student comes in!!!!

I just learned to turn without tearing the turf up. Takes practice, but it is possible.

[keerym]

Everyone,

This is great, I would like to thank you all for replying. I like the idea of an extra 2 days a week, school work seems to be piling up this week. But, if I could do that I would be a magician, not an engineer ;) The smooth tire helps some, but when I worked on a golf course the triplex greens mowers had slicks with round edges on and belive me you could go for quite a ride on wet hills around the greens! The idea of a more stable ZTR for hills seems like a promising project, if I could solve that one I probably won't have to worry about looking for a job when I graduate. Maybe a design for a modular truck body that could be taylored to a particular customer's needs would be a workable idea? The idea of drying grass for better clipping dispersal or better mulching may be the most workable idea so far, I will have to give that some thought. Please, keep the ideas coming, you never know what can come from a simple innocent problem. Once upon a time someone came up with the idea of attatching a motor to a lawn mower so pushing the reel wouldn't be so difficult, now look at what we have!

Mike