A talented farmer in South India has built a ‘tree bike’ to vertically ride on areca palm trees, which grow up to 100 feet. <br /><br />All he has to do is sit on its seat, start the engine and hold the clutch and accelerator simultaneously. Filmed on June 4, the ‘tree bike’s’ tiny 9-inch tyres race up the thin trees in 30-seconds flat.<br /><br />Ganapathi Bhat, 49, of Komale village near Bantwal in southern India tried building a similar machine 10 years ago without much success. <br /><br />Seven months ago he started working on the concept again and finished the ‘tree bike’ in May using standard motorbike components such as clutch, accelerator, double brakes, shock absorbers and a 2.1 HP petrol engine. <br /><br />“The first time I took a ride to the top, I asked my son to be ready to call an ambulance,” says Bhat. <br /><br />But the machine proved to be safe and he climbed 150 trees before demonstrating it to local farmers. <br /><br />''I have used high-quality components. But if there is a mechanical failure, it stops midway. You just press the clutch to gently glide it down.”<br /><br />Bhat spent about 8 lakhs to develop the ‘tree bike’. Fifty local farmers have lined up to buy his machine, which he plans to sell at Rs 75,000 a piece. <br /><br />Bhat is a graduate in science and earlier was a popular ‘technician’ in his area, who could fix all kinds of machines. <br /><br />“That background helped and I have several ideas like this,” he says. <br /><br />The machine comes as a boon to Indian areca nut farmers who are struggling with a severe labour shortage. Spraying chemicals and harvesting areca nuts are specialised jobs. <br /><br />“Expert workers are hard to come by and are expensive,” says Bhat.
