In October 1998, Mark Anderson, an Illinois grain farmer, was transporting the grain platform from one farm to the home place when a semi truck rear-ended his vehicle. The ligaments in Anderson’s neck were severely torn. After months of rehabilitation his neck improved, but he was still unable to do many of the things he had always taken for granted.

For a year, Anderson tried doing activities much as he had done them in the past, but he had to call on his dad more than he wanted and employ a new hired man. Even with this help, he continued to have problems getting things done, and his stamina was much diminished. If he over-exerted himself, he developed a migraine headache. Despite this, Mark kept going because, as he puts it, “in farming you can’t just shut down for four hours in the middle of the day to get over a headache.” To help Mark reach his goal of remaining an active farmer, his therapists at the University of Iowa Medical Center told him about the AgrAbility Project.

Anderson contacted Mike Brokaw, Program Manager for Illinois’ AgrAbility Unlimited (AU) program. Through several site visits, they identified the activities which caused the most trouble for Anderson. Machinery and power tool vibration and repetitive turning to observe tractor implements caused the most problems. In addition, he noticed that looking up while climbing bin ladders caused his arms to go numb, making it difficult for him to grip the rungs.

Brokaw helped identify and locate the resources necessary to help Anderson with these issues. He also involved Illinois’ Office of Rehabiltation Services (ORS) early in the process. The first issue they tackled was equipment vibration. After trying many combinations of vibration dampening materials for gloves and pads and seats for the tractor without success, Anderson began discussing a new tractor with his local dealer. This new John Deere has an optional “ActiveSeat” seat, which can swivel 20 degrees right and 15 degrees left. This new seat has a vibration dampening system that should sense and remove the bumps before they are transmitted to the operator through the seat. ORS did not buy the tractor but they did help pay for the extra cost of the seat (an $800 option). In addition to the seat, the tractor is also equipped with state of the art electronic controls that allow one-touch control of the tractor and implements, which reduce the flurry of operator activity at the end of the field. These features should lessen the stress on Anderson’s damaged ligaments and nerves.

The other area Anderson and Brokaw addressed was that of access to the grain bins. They consulted with bin manufacturers and decided the most effective way to accommodate Anderson’s limitations was to install a set of stairs on one of the bins and then construct a short catwalk to the adjoining bin. This arrangement allows access to two bins with one set of stairs and allows Anderson to monitor both bins at the same time. ORS funded these modifications.

For more general information on grain handling and storage systems, a good web site to visit is: http://www.grainfeedequipment.com. Other good sources of information regarding grain handling and storage systems are listed in the reference section at the end of the next article.