A NOVEL way to lift and shift loads around the farm caught the judges' attention at The Weekly Times Elmore Machine of the Year awards.
The Quantum Lift System, exhibited by David Humphris, from Georgetown in South Australia, missed out on the silverware, but the judges were impressed with the system's ingenuity.
Head of the judging panel and senior engineering lecturer at Melbourne University's Dookie campus Graham Brodie said the Quantum Lift System was a simple, but clever, piece of design.
"It's remarkably simple, but very effective," Graham said.
"What's particularly impressive is the way the trailer shifts the weight of the load over the centre of the axle."
The Quantum Lift System looks like a conventional trailer chassis, with two stub axles on each wheel and an extendable drawbar.
The clever engineering is at the rear of the chassis, where a platform pivots up and down, acting as a lifting table.
David said the ability to lift and move a variety of objects made the Quantum system ideal for farm work.
"There's a variety of implements you can put in the end of the chassis, including hay bale forks, a tipping skip or bin and a platform for fencing wire," David said.
"Whatever is lifted is placed over the centre of gravity of the trailer, so it's stable and safe."
The unit can lift and carry two medium-sized square hay bales, one large bale or, with the fencing attachment, three rolls of wire.
"You just back the trailer and the forks or fencing poles into the bale or wire, then the load can be lifted either manually via a winch or electrically using the vehicle's 12-volt system," David said.
