Home-Built Wheelchair Gives Daughter Mobility Outdoors
“My goal was to build a wheelchair that could handle grass or sand and be easy to load into the back of a vehicle,” says Jim Sullivan about the motorized chair he built for his 9-year-old daughter, Emily. “The biggest thing is to give her mobility in the summer, so she can keep up, especially when she’s off hard surfaces.”
Emily was born with spina bifida and paralyzed from the waist down. She is a bright, active child who gets around fine with her manual wheelchair indoors. Sullivan is a CAD drafter for a cabinet company with fabrication experience.
“I really just started researching,” he says. “YouTube is a great tool. I used existing technology and put it together the way I thought it would work best.”
Sullivan didn’t want to reinvent available technology so he used parts off a motorized chair that had been given to Emily, which she didn’t use because it was always getting stuck. He bought other parts off eBay including four quality wheels with four motors to run them independently. To reduce the weight, Sullivan welded a compact aluminum frame just big enough to hold the motors and wheels.
Because it’s compact (24 by 32 by 24 in. tall and 185 lbs.), it loads easily into a van or pickup – and fits under a Tonneau cover.
“It turns like a skidsteer with a joystick. It has a center of gravity that’s extremely low. I’m very happy with that,” Sullivan says, noting it allows Emily to go up slopes safely. “I built this to articulate. The back axle pivots to follow the contour of the ground. All the wheels stay on the ground so there is no teetering.”
Sullivan invested about 80 hours of labor and $1,800 to create the chair. That’s less expensive than most motorized wheelchairs, plus it has features that fit Emily’s needs. Sullivan believes she will be able to use it for a few years. With some modification, it may be possible to adjust the seat and foot rests as she grows.
Because the wheelchair skids on rugs and hard surfaces, it isn’t really designed for indoor use, he notes. Outdoors, Emily has driven it through 4 in. of snow and over curbs. Best of all she can easily keep up with everyone, since the chair travels up to 5 mph, with a range of 5 to 6 miles per charge.
The first working prototype has turned out so well, that Sullivan is considering creating plans or manufacturing chairs in the future.
“Before I do anything, I want Emily to put it through its paces this summer,” he says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jim Sullivan (ph 507 327-5361; jim@abilitychair.com; www.abilitychair.com).
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Home-Built Wheelchair Gives Daughter Mobility Outdoors AG WORLD “My goal was to build a wheelchair that could handle grass or sand and be easy to load into the back of a vehicle ” says Jim Sullivan about the motorized chair he built for his 9-year-old daughter Emily “The biggest thing is to give her mobility in the summer so she can keep up especially when she’s off hard surfaces ” Emily was born with spina bifida and paralyzed from the waist down She is a bright active child who gets around fine with her manual wheelchair indoors Sullivan is a CAD drafter for a cabinet company with fabrication experience “I really just started researching ” he says “YouTube is a great tool I used existing technology and put it together the way I thought it would work best ” Sullivan didn’t want to reinvent available technology so he used parts off a motorized chair that had been given to Emily which she didn’t use because it was always getting stuck He bought other parts off eBay including four quality wheels with four motors to run them independently To reduce the weight Sullivan welded a compact aluminum frame just big enough to hold the motors and wheels Because it’s compact 24 by 32 by 24 in tall and 185 lbs it loads easily into a van or pickup – and fits under a Tonneau cover “It turns like a skidsteer with a joystick It has a center of gravity that’s extremely low I’m very happy with that ” Sullivan says noting it allows Emily to go up slopes safely “I built this to articulate The back axle pivots to follow the contour of the ground All the wheels stay on the ground so there is no teetering ” Sullivan invested about 80 hours of labor and $1 800 to create the chair That’s less expensive than most motorized wheelchairs plus it has features that fit Emily’s needs Sullivan believes she will be able to use it for a few years With some modification it may be possible to adjust the seat and foot rests as she grows Because the wheelchair skids on rugs and hard surfaces it isn’t really designed for indoor use he notes Outdoors Emily has driven it through 4 in of snow and over curbs Best of all she can easily keep up with everyone since the chair travels up to 5 mph with a range of 5 to 6 miles per charge The first working prototype has turned out so well that Sullivan is considering creating plans or manufacturing chairs in the future “Before I do anything I want Emily to put it through its paces this summer ” he says Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jim Sullivan ph 507 327-5361; jim@abilitychair com; www abilitychair com
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