Newby here, Sully by name

[Sully]

Hi there, I have been lurking for quite a while now, it is time to get acquainted. There is a great amount of great information on this site for an old dude like me to absorb.

I am a 73 year old retired Supt of Public Works, and Codes Enforcement Officer have done all kinds of work through out my life. I owned a dairy farm, I was a construction underwater diver, welder, Navy Vet. blah, blah. I know just enough about a lot of things to get myself into a lot of trouble, and usually do.

I got the bends a few times from working in not always too deep and too fast surfacing but from being at depths for long lengths of time and up just a little bit too quick. Unfortunately, the decompression tables are not like hand grenades, close is not good enough. The last and to me most devistating case of the bends was 40 years ago, and I not only lost a good part of my mobility, but a way of making a living I really loved to do. That being said, I was able to last working long enough to retire at 65. But the pain and now accumulating weakness in my legs and back has made me find refuge in a chair. Age, artheritis, neuropathy, Blah blah has taken my body over.

I always loved to fish and hunt, and am interested in all sorts of outdoor stuff. I do have some intention to make or get made a mildly off road power chair. I use an old Invacare Ranger 11 in the house and an equally old Pride 1170 I bought for $160 US for out doors and riding about. Plus I have one of each for parts. I have a streak of independence that makes me dislike using our Medicare system to purchase a Power Chair that someone else thinks is good for me. So I buy my own and they are always used. I live in South Eastern North Carolina and there are a lot of beaches where I can go along with a public hunting land area that I can utilize within less than 3 miles of my home. So I am real interested in some of the ideas that Burgerman has come up with, and maybe adapting those ideas to a creation that would be handy for me.

Another unfortunate thing is I did not have enough foresight, even before I retired, I started to shed myself of the tools of my many trades, and brought almost nothing in the tool line along with me when I retired. I never thought I would have a use for them any longer. Stupid stupid me.

So hi all!!!

[Burgerman]

Well if you hang about here for a while, you will likely end up buying a few back.

[geordie graham]

Hi Sully your problems sound very similar to mine,weakness in legs, neuropathy, severe aches pains and spasms the only difference is I am only 53 and it all started when I was 39.I am surprised after reading you words and words from our other friends on this site from across the pond that you are also being offered sub standard powerchairs mainly because i thought with the amount you pay in health insurance that you would be at least be offered a quality product.One of the most important words that you and BM and others have said is independence which for some reason powerchair manufacturers think you shouldn`t have.They think you should change your life to suit their powerchairs.This site has given a lot of people who thought their standard of life was about to degrade,a massive boost and the know how to change it.Take care my friend and enjoy your pursuits

Graham

[Art Springs]

Geordie, it is no surprise that the chairs pushed on us via Medicare providers are substandard as Medicare standards are they are supposed to be needed in home full time only with no regard for the fact that if a person needs a chair in home then they likely have enough medical problems that there is at very least a need to make it to medical appointments.

The chairs are supposed to allow us greater independence but the standards and how they are applied are such that they condem many who need them to a life of solitude as a shut-in with no rights to a life for fear that someone might get a chair so as to expand their world.

[Sully]

As I stated I am a very independent cuss, and I don't use Medicare to supply my chair. But I buy with my own money used chairs at extremely low prices off places like eBay. The amount of grief to get a medicare supplied chair, in my opinion is not worth the grief, since it seems many of these chairs are faulty let alone low grade to start. Now this is only my opinion, but I feel like a beggar. Yes, I paid into this Medicare since it was started, and I further purchase stop gap health insurance for both doctors and medicines. Doing this allows me to budget my health care without getting caught off guard with some sort of additional charges.

What is very true is insurance companies run this country closely followed by the Banks and then what is known as Wall St. the rest of the financial community. But I will reiterate my choices are mine and not in any way forced on me. Everyone blames the government because you have faces that are on the TV, but the culprits are the rarely seen money folks. At least that is what I believe, with no reservations. They do manipulate the news media and set us against each other, we stupidly (the general public) fall for this. OK enough Politics it's depressing.

Since I do pay for everything, and I am not close to wealthy, I take my time ask lots of stupid questions and eventually will build my beach/woods chair. And like everything I do it, will be using mostly used parts. I seriously doubt it will be as beautiful as Burgerman's but as long as it is functional, I'll be good with it.

Oh yes one more comment about Medicare purchased Chairs, many are purchased and go absolutely unused because by the time they get it the user is too far along to make use of it. That is one of my observations. I had an old friend WW2 Vet. He lost his motor skills because he had been an industrial color matcher for a paint company he was always breathing in chemicals like Acetone and toluene etc. Everyone was in denial about the cause, but today there is enough evidence to say without reservation, that's what did it. Anyway it took him so long to get a manual push chair that his kids bought it for him. A guy with the greatest sense of humor a man could have.

[Burgerman]

I am the same. Pay for everything myself. Started off with about 3 and a half used F55 chairs. But one thing I do differently is to build them absolutely better than new.

I found out that a bit of extra effort, and replacing the bits that fail with either brand new (motors for eg) or upholstery, swapping bearings for stainless food grade, bolts for stainless etc., was pretty much essential as it allows you to build chairs that just go on and on. The result is actually cheaper and less labour intensive in the long term. And you cant have too much reliability. Especially alone in the woods!

I was recently trapped at the rear of my house with a failed chair. Actually a pressure washer hose wrapped terminally around a drive wheel. In this case it wasnt the chair that failed but still trapped in the cold for hours... Fortunately a carer thought to look at the rear of the outbuildings and found me! Hacksaw and ten mins later and I was free. Its very scary when you are helpless. Phone was in the house... But reliability is very important to me. As is longevity, dont want to be maintaining or repairing...

And those BM2 chairs worked out at about 1700 (2500 dollars?) each, built much better than any new chair. Plus lots of my time.

[Sully]

Your work shows the time and thought that goes into your creations. I absolutely agree with your use of stainless steel. I carried that idea in a different direction. While I was still much more mobile but legs failing, I built my bathroom to be suitable for me. It was obvious to me I was losing ground, so I tried to accomodate what I thought I foresaw. Where the pipes came up from the basement I built the end of the shower and the WC backs up to that wall, it is installed with small stainless screws, so the plumbing is accessable without destroying the whole shebang.

In fact there are all sorts of fastenings that lend themselves to the use of stainless. I did pretty much the same when I had a 24' fishing cruiser boat. All the add ons to the engine were stainless fastened. I doesn't make sense to use mild steel fastners where they can be replaced with stainless.

It was many of your ideas that attracted me to utilize many in what I was contemplating for an off road power chair. There are 23,000 acres of hunting preserve land very close to my home, some with HP reserved areas. I do intend to utilize this area the best I can. The same applies to the ocean beaches, once you get beyond the soft sand and gain access to the sea compacted beach almost any chair can go with relative ease. However, they are all not accessable to gasoline driven OR or all terrain vehicles. I seriously doubt the very fast chair used at the speeds you can attain with BM3, would be very welcome. Much over 6 Mph would be likely frowned upon. It is an envelope I do not want to push. I do fear it would be destructive to others in the future, and that would not be good.

However, the range and lighter weight that can be achieved with the LiFePo batteries will be of great benefit. I have yet to read all the information available on your site. But the differences between the various lead/acid batteries and LiFePo batteries and different charging schemes make some areas contradict themselves. But I am sure someone has already pointed this out. It is extremely difficult and time consuming, to edit in/out information, when a new technology comes along. Thanks for reading my crap!
Sully

[Burgerman]

But the differences between the various lead/acid batteries and LiFePo batteries and different charging schemes make some areas contradict themselves

News to me. Every time someone tells me this its because they are confused or dont understand what I am saying. Or because my dismal writing skills and never actually read what I write, means errors!

Can you show me an example or two, or just tell me what is contradictory?

[rollingcowboy]

"Actually a pressure washer hose wrapped terminally around a drive wheel"

better stop doing burnouts around hoses!

[Burgerman]

Happens every time I pressure wash the drive about a dozen times. But by winding the hose "the other way" and re running over it it normally comes free. But this one was really tangled! To the point where I made it worse and worse trying to get free. And was stuck. 29 uk beer tokens to replace a 10 meter hose.

[Sully]

I will try to find and catagorize them. It also may be my failing reading comprehension skills as well.