Anand Mahindra appreciates Areca tree bike invented by a Bantwal farmer

Bantwal: Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group has appreciated a unique invention of a Bantwal based farmer, Ganapathi Bhat from Sajipa, who has invented a tree motor bike with which makes climbing areca nut trees greatly easy for one person.

Mr Mahindra, who came across a news story on Bhat’s invention was impressed, and not only tweeted his appreciation but also proposed to market Bhat’s device as part of Mahindra Group’s farm solutions portfolio.

Climbing tress made easy

Bhat a B Sc graduate who turned to full time farming started designing a machine that works like a bike but moves vertically. He was compelled to design his machine in the backdrop of the challenges of climbing areca nut trees and the difficulties of finding people who can climb them. He took help from a mechanical engineer friend, and came out with a successful machine.

Efficient design

Mr Bhat’s concept took 6 years to become a reality. The machine has a gear box mated to a 2 stroke engine and is also equipped with shock absorbers, disk brake and safety lock. The scooter can climb 90 areca trees with one liter petrol and is pegged at a cost of Rs 75,000.

Women friendly with safety mechanism

The simple design of the vehicle makes it women friendly and can scale a height of over 100 feet with great ease. The machine is also equipped with a safety harness that stops the climber from falling.