Open Source Farm Equipment

[Lex]

The (Open-Source) Ecologist


This is some pretty cool stuff. Has anyone ever heard of this guy or the project?

Here is their website with status and notes on their progress:

http://opensourceecology.org

TED video:

Marcin Jakubowski: Open-sourced blueprints for civilization

[KBCraig]

Interesting.

I hadn't heard of Marcin or his project. I've been glancing through his wiki while watching the videos, and the first problem I spotted was that his tractor design doesn't understand much about tractor design. The modular detachable power source is nice, but he needs to gear it waaaaay down for tractor use. I also wasn't impressed with their cutting/welding skills; they used modern tools, but a 19th century blacksmith could do better.

Early tractors that pulled plows through the tough prairie soil of the American midwest had little more horsepower than the average modern suburban riding lawnmower. But, they did have a great advantage of lower gearing and low RPM torque.

There is some good open source low-tech at OtherPower.com, and their Listeroid page is a great resource for what has become an open source version of the Lister diesel engine.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Is the Listeroid guy still living?

[Russell Kanning]

cool

[KBCraig]

Is the Listeroid guy still living?

George B.? I don't follow him closely, but he had some blog posts just this past week.

[Jim Johnson]

TED has gone down that road that the Discovery Chanel went down with Sun International Pictures; they don't vet things before they present them.