critter power?

[adventure_ingles]

Here is some sort of treadmill that can power machines that a animal uses. I saw it at an 1880's era farm that is run by Columbus Metro parks in ohio. They got all sorts of cool contraptions there. I want one.
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2113/231/30/196902454/n196902454_30342090_2008.jpg

[ryanmercer]

That is cool :)

[bee_pipes]

There are a number of excellent books out there - two of them I've seen are: "Handy Farm Devices and How to Make Them" by Rolfe Cobleigh (http://www.amazon.com/Handy-Farm-Devices-Make-Them/dp/1604595868/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232975732&sr=1-1) and "Farm Appliances and How to Make Them" by George A. Martin (http://www.amazon.com/Farm-Appliances-How-Make-Them/dp/1558218882/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232975820&sr=1-1). These are inexpensive reprints of old books from the 1800's and 1900's that show the ingenuity of the American farmer. Some of the ideas are not practical nowadays (have you noticed the dearth in wagon wheels in our time?) but they are excellent to get you thinking out of the box. Just about any repetitive chore you can think of, someone has figured a way to deal with it. The tread mill for livestock is addressed in these books - a wheel for a dog to run a pump, I believe the treadmill pictured in the first post is intended for sheep - a little heavier animal to get traction on the mill. With all the garbage and distractions of our modern age, we are fortunate that technology has gotten to the point of reprinting these little gems and they are available to everyone.

Regards,
Pat

[MooseToo]

and i'll bet there are some ingenious ways to adjust speed control with those gadgets -

[AlchemyAcres]

Check put Gita-nagari's Ox Power Unit...
Modified truck differential for some serious high-torque power conversion......

http://www.iscowp.org/Ox%20Power/Working%20With%20Oxen.htm

~Martin

[MHinFox]

Love that concept...however I would have to add fencing around it to make it hold multiple cats i think....LOL if i could ever get them to enter all i would have to do is set a food dish in front of them...man the way they run in the barn for one now has me thinking about power options...LOL