Arable farms still rouging wild oats and black grass in cereal crops will need no reminding that it’s both slow and tedious. Help is at hand in the form of a modified scooter that takes most of the leg work out of the job.
Developed by Peter Offersen of Danish firm Flyvehavren, the field scooter is available as two models; the 50cc two-stroke kick-start PGO Hot 50 and for those seeking a bit more power, the four-stroke and electrically-started Yamaha D’Elight (125cc).
Basically, what the company has done is cut both scooters in half, slot in a frame and seat (total length of both machines 2.8m) and tweak the transmission to get it to run at a lower speed.
Driving along the tramlines, tall crop weeds pulled out by hand are laid in a tray on top of the unit. Fitted at the end of the sliding frame, the support wheel can be altered to vary the width of the unit from 1.4m to 2.4m on the 155kg-heavy PGO Hot 50 and from 1.1m to 2.4m on the larger 165kg model to ensure the vehicle straddles different tramline widths.
One of the big features of the technique is that the height of the seat can be altered (electric option is available) to ensure that the operator’s eye-line is just above the height as the crop, making it easier to spot wild oats, black grass and any other tall weeds.
None of the 10 units sold in Denmark this year are allowed on the road, but the scooters are still under warranty, is the claim, because other than lengthening the control cables, the mechanics are all original. PGO Hot 50 prices start from around £3,735, and the Yamaha D’Elight costs from £4,580.
