[OKC] Developing a practical micro combine

[Bob Waldrop]

Here is a short video about an intriguing project that is developing do-it-yourself local scale versions of 50 essential machines for civilization, many of which are food and agriculture-oriented. 
http://openfarmtech.org/weblog/2011/04/explosion-after-the-online-ted-talk/

And a short written intro:
http://openfarmtech.org/wiki/Crash_Course

Here is a diagram of the 50 machines organized by primary purpose. They call this the Global Village Construction Set.
http://openfarmtech.org/wiki/Global_Village_Construction_Set

>From the beginning of the Oklahoma Food Cooperative, one of the critical problems has been harvesting machinery. Conventional combines cost more than a hundred thousand dollars, and that is an expense that isn’t feasible for small producers. Small acreages are also not attractive to custom combiners, who do work for other farmers, especially if it is a crop that may require adjustments to the machine (like dried beans). I have wished for a long time for a small scale combine that would be affordable. The Open Farm Tech people think that once developed, a micro-combine could be built by a farmer with reasonable farm skills for less than a thousand US dollars. So I have agreed to jump start the research and devlopment program for a microcombine, and I invite all y’all to help.

Please take a look at the microcombine project page at http://openfarmtech.org/wiki/Agricultural_Microcombine and contribute your ideas and expertise. And don’t be shy, if you have something to say on the subject, say it, whether it be large or small. To contribute you need to register as a user of the wiki, which is reasonably simple to do. All ideas are welcome.

Here is the “Get involved” page. http://openfarmtech.org/wiki/Get_Involved 

And please pass the word along about this development project.

Bob Waldrop, Oklahoma City
www.bobwaldrop.net 
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