This Inventor's Also An Artist

This Inventor's Also An Artist AG WORLD Ag World 7-6-20 "I look at a piece of someone else's junk and right away I can see something different in it," says Bill Cruff, operator of Cruff's Cycle, Auto and General Repair Shop of rural Rogers, N. Dak. But Cruff does more than repair. He is an inventor, an artist whose medium is metal. Cruff's inventions run from the practical to the whimsical. His most recent "creation" is a fountain for his yard. The base is made from a small water tank. From it rises the pipe of a grain auger. The two upper tiers of the fountain are made of Plexiglas. "I wanted to put tropical fish in my fountain, but there wasn't any point if you couldn't see them," explained Cruff. "So I used the Plexiglas." "That was the most expensive part of the whole project," he continued. "The rest is just made of stuff we found around the place." Holes were drilled in the auger and in the Plexiglass to provide for the streams of water. And, because he works with metal and engines, Cruff topped the structure with a 440 Dodge V-8 engine. "We call it our æCondo V-8' because the wrens have built their nests in each cylinder," laughed Cruff. "I had trouble with twigs plugging the holes while they were building, but they must all be settled now." A sump pump provides the pressure to run the fountain. "My granddaughter Michelle goes swimming in the bottom tank now that we've convinced her there aren't any fish in it," remarked Cruff.

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