"Bug Squasher" Leaves' Em Laughing

"Bug Squasher" Leaves æEm Laughing FARM HOME recreation 23-6-21 A few years ago we featured a story about metal corn stalks in Tabor, Alberta, "The Corn Capital Of Canada" (Vol. 19, No 2). Designer and builder of the 33-ft. stalks was George Jaegli, better known by many as "George The Genius" for the many off-beat creations he's come up with over the years. He recently showed us his "Bug Squasher", which has been a favorite at parades in Saskatchewan for years. "I build a lot of things to get laughs in parades and this is just one of them," Jaegli says. "It's particularly popular in dry years when we have a lot of grasshoppers." The squasher is built around a 26-in. older-style bicycle frame. Its chains and sprockets had to be repositioned and the front and rear forks widened to accommodate the 24 by 12-in. tractor tire inner tubes fitted to the rims. To mount the tires, Jaegli bent 1/4 by 3/4-in. flat stock into quarter circles and welded them to the rims. He then placed the deflated inner tubes on the rims and blew them up with a pound or two of air, enough to hold them securely in place. "It's a real spongy ride. Not everybody can do it. But an experienced rider can certainly mash a lot of æhoppers during an average parade," Jaegli jokes. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, George Jaegli , Box 448, Cabri, Sask., Canada S0N 0J0 (ph 306 587-2932).

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