Cordless Contraption Lets You ‘Drive’ Your Big Machine

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The RevRider's 'Frankenstein-looking' prototype was built in three weeks.The RevRider's "Frankenstein-looking" prototype was built in three weeks.

Jerry Brainerd, owner of Eau Claire, Wis.-based Revolution Manufacturing, and welder Seth Meier had one goal in mind when they began developing the RevRider DC: Find a way to end the all-too-familiar back pain that comes with sanding a wood floor. “When you’re pulling 800 or 1,000 feet in a day, your body is getting fatigued bad,” Brainerd says of using a big machine. Eliminating long hours wrestling a big machine was the impetus for creating the cordless, motorized device, which allows riders to hook up to and “drive” most big machines. The RevRider works by connecting to the base of a big machine via two metal rods and can run for up to eight hours at a time; its motion is controlled by a small joystick that connects to a big machine’s handles and can be operated using the operator’s fingertips. It can disconnect from a machine within five seconds, Brainerd says. After finishing the prototype, Brainerd and Meier found that not only was the physical strain of sanding reduced, but they were still able to get a nice cut, says Brainerd. “Because you get some more downward pressure, you get some more even cutting,” Brainerd says. This is the first time Revolution, which specializes in drum recovery, has developed a machine of its own design. Living up to the name, they’re also developing a hook-up for edgers, possibly relieving pros of having to bend over an edger ever again. (Go to 101revolution.com for more info.)

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