2014 Annual Report for FNC14-975
Farmer-Built No-Welding Root Washer for Small Farmers
Summary
WORK ACTIVITIES
Design, protyping, build, plans and documentation, field day demonstrations and shared documentation of the project were all completed in 2014.
The innovative work unique to this project relates to "lowest barriers of entry possible":
1) No welding required. No advanced fabrication skills necessary.
2) Video build documentation. Farmers will be able to "see" the construction process regardless of their location in the world.
During summer 2014, several low-cost root washers were constructed, CAD plans created, photos and videos shared, and the entire body of work shared with the public via a series of Field Days and posting to FarmHack.net. See: http://farmhack.net/tools/root-washer
RESULTS
Design, protyping, plan creation, field day demonstrations and documentation of the project are complete. We’ve learned that material choices can be impacted by local codes, e.g. choosing between cedar boards vs solid polyethylene lumber for construction of the drum. We’ve also learned that the likelihood of building DIY tool projects go up exponentially when producers know “someone else has done it before” and plans or documentation are available.
WORK PLAN FOR 2015
The project is essentially complete, awaiting final version of overview video.
OUTREACH
We conducted several field days over the season, both independently and in collaboration with NRCS (twice), SARE, Practical Farmers, and other organizations. Field days had from 12 to 60 participants, with overall in-person exposure to the project over 200 people.
In 2015, the SARE project will be included in outreach from FarmHack events, including future public builds in New England. The project will also be featured in presentations in 2015 at Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) and Permaculture Voices conferences.