While researching some wheelchair atvs, I thought about posting a list of wheelchair atvs for folks looking for a way to get back out to the woods.  Most of the stuff I have found has been over in Europe.  Heres a list of some companies that are in the USA.  I will continue to look for wheelchair atv for my hunting friends so that it may help them get out to the woods.

This list was found at http://www.agrabilityproject.org/search/category.cfm?categoryid=8

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Make no mistake, the Extreme 4×4 is no ordinary power wheelchair. Locations previously unavailable to other wheelchairs are now available to the drivers of the Extreme 4×4.

Make no mistake, the Extreme 4×4 is no ordinary power wheelchair. Locations previously unavailable to other wheelchairs are now available to the drivers of the Extreme 4×4.

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With the Landeez you can now access the most beautiful areas of parks and beaches. Designed specifically to enable people who use wheelchairs to come in closer contact with nature, the Landeez can roll easily over sand, snow, and gravel.

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The OmegaTrac is a great indoor electric powered wheelchair, which happens to be the best outdoor electric powered wheelchair you can find.

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Heavy duty steel frame with capacity of 750 pounds. Dynamic 5 speed controller and joystick with large front and rear wheels.

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The Quickie XTR “Xtreme Terrain Reflex” is the first monoshock suspension chair on the market. With the Quickie XTR the rider is assured a smooth, stable ride over a variety of terrain.

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Renegade all terrain wheelchairs are a totally new concept in manual wheelchairs designed for mobility of the outdoor enthusiast without hand to wheel.

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TerraTrek manual wheelchairs are designed to take whatever you dish out, from the urban wilderness to the roads less traveled. Whether your advertures take you offroad, to the boardroom or down to the farm, the TerraTrek Outlook manual wheelchair will help you get there. The TerraTrek Outlook features 12.5 inch pneumatic front casters, ideal for rugged terrain.

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Rotationally molded plastic folding wheelchair designed for both indoor & outdoor use on sand, grass, mud or snow.

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The Trax is Permobil’s revolutionary wheelchair system that goes where others fear to tread. Combine the powerful TRAX base with four-wheel independent suspension and the versatile, comfortable Standard seat, and you’ll go practically anywhere.

Extreme wheelchairing

Comfortable, all-terrain and safe. A four-wheel drive wheelchair with hybrid motor and electronic assistance system helps the physically disabled live more independent lives. The innovative system even checks pulse rate and blood values and calls for help in emergencies.

“This technology offers wheelchair users a level of freedom previously unavailable,” says Prof. Jürgen Wernstedt of the systems engineering applications center of the Fraunhofer Institute for Information and Data Processing IITB, who together with Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH developed the novel assistance system. “Our test driver, a multiple sclerosis patient who has been wheelchair-bound for many years, was enthused. For the first time in a long time, he was able to visit the Thüringer Forest with his family without having to rely on outside help.”

Superfourin, as it’s called, looks like a small all-terrain vehicle with wide, deep-treaded tires, four-wheel drive and roll bar. The robust wheelchair is not shy when it comes to traversing gravel, rocky or snow-covered paths. And with a high-performance hybrid motor, Superfourin can negotiate inclines of up to 40 percent without even breathing hard. The vehicle was designed and built by engineers at Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH. Researchers from the ITTB developed the electronic monitoring and emergency call system, which successfully underwent testing in the rugged conditions of the Thüringer Forest.

For the physically disabled, the new technology means not only independence, but security. The vehicle is equipped with a GPS system that continuously transmits its position to a control center, where a digital map shows its exact location. A display provides up-to-date technical information such as the fuel and battery levels, incline of the axles and the two or four-wheel drive setting. Vital parameters such as pulse rate and blood oxygen content can also be superimposed on the display. In emergency situations such as when the wheels are locked, the wheelchair flips over or if the patient’s pulse suddenly begins to race, the system automatically sends out an alarm. “The system is even designed to enable individual drivers to monitor an entire fleet of wheelchairs,” explains Dr. Andreas Wenzel of the IITB. “The technology creates the basis for offering new services such as a Superfourin rental service,” adds Wernstedt. “This opens up a new market targeted towards the physically disabled and their families. With its versatility, the all-terrain wheelchair can drive over snow-covered mountains, mud flats and sand dunes.”

Source: http://www.fraunhofer.de/EN/press/pi/2006/04/4-2006_Topic1.jsp

While surfing HuntingNet.com this morning I came across a question from Joe who leads a non profit chapter of Outdoors Without Limits in NE Montana.   He has been talking with guides and outfitters about disabled hunting clients.  In the post he was asking his fellow disabled hunters what limitions they have and as to how guides and outfitters can accommidate them on hunts.  I have been thinking about this very subject also.  My main question is if there is a scale or limitations guide that guides use let potential hunters know what they can provide on their hunts.  There are many questions disabled hunters have, like do guides allow hunters to use a wheelchair atv or a Tree Glider.

Im posting these questions here as I start my research into guide and outfitter options for the disabled hunting community.

Is there a listing of guides for the disabled?  Is there a standard limitation scale that guides and hunters use?  If a hunter uses adaptive equipment, is the guide abled to assist the hunter with the euipment?

Heres a list I found:

 http://www.badf.org/DisabledHunters/OutfittersandGuides/tabid/141/Default.aspx

http://www.huntingguidesandoutfitters.net/htm/disabledHunts.html

If you have any comment or information please let us know so we can help our fellow disabled hunters. 

Sporting Clays Shoot for Able/Disabled in Alabama The DSOA Mickey Roy sporting clays shoot that was to be held in Montgomery April 5 was rained out and a new date for the shoot is Saturday May 31^st. If any of your group at Buckmasters in interested in shooting please have them contact me at 205 907 2604. There is no charge for disabled shooters and shells are supplied. Thanks for your help. If you get an opportunity please come. My son and I went down to Jennings Louisiana for the Buckmasters shoot there and had a great time. Buckmasters really puts on a great show! 

Danny Coker

205 907 2604

New Deer Stand Helping you, get back into the tree!  The Mann Stand is mobilized to a location on the small trailer towed by a 4 wheeler or other means.The stand is balanced on the trailer so it maneuvers easily by hand when detached from the 4 wheeler. It only takes a few minutes for the setup.  

A 12V-DC hydraulic remote controlled motor powers the stand. Once the motor is engaged it only takes a few seconds to ascend to its height. The lower platform line of sight, when elevated, is approx. 16’ and the upper platform is around 20’. When not in use the stand is raised and left in the up position. See it at www.kripplekreek.com.

News from the Roost

http://www.nwtf.org/nwtf_newsroom/press_releases.php?id=12536

04/23/2008

Wheelin’ Sportsman Chad Sloan of Blythewood, S.C., listens for gobblers with Richard Vaughn and Tracy Phillips at SRS Saturday, April 19. Click image for print quality version

JACKSON, S.C. — Turkey talk, good food and lots of laughs were the order of the day at the National Wild Turkey Federation’s Wheelin’ Sportsmen Ultimate Turkey Hunt, held at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Jackson, S.C., April 18 to April 19.

The hunt, put on as part of the NWTF’s Wheelin’ Sportsmen outreach program, has been helping hunters with disabilities enjoy wild turkey hunting at SRS since 2004. This year, 27 hunters teamed up with SRS employees and harvested a total of 17 gobblers on a sunny Saturday morning.

“I really look forward to this every spring,” said David Cianfarano, a disabled veteran from Fountain Inn, S.C. “If it wasn’t for the NWTF and their Wheelin’ Sportsmen program, I wouldn’t be out here today enjoying myself, and wouldn’t have been able to experience the thrill of getting this gobbler,” Cianfarano said. “I’ve been here every year for five years, and I definitely don’t plan on missing next year.”

An appreciation dinner was held Friday night before the hunt, and included a silent auction and shotgun raffle to raise money for the Wheelin’ Sportsmen NWTF program. For uncle and nephew team Jack and James Laughridge from Anderson, S.C., luck was certainly in their favor. James won the raffle on a new Benelli shotgun Friday night, and uncle Jack bagged a nice bird the next morning.

“Awesome, awesome weekend!” said James, high-fiving his uncle on the way back to the truck.

NWTF Wheelin’ Sportsmen Assistant National Coordinator Illana Burkhart thanked everyone involved in the hunt, including the U.S. Department of Energy- Savannah River Operations Office, the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Wackenhut Services, Inc., Washington Savannah River Company, the Aiken County NWTF Chapter and the Aiken Sertoma Club.

“The SRS staff is great to work with, and the local chapter members always invest tons of time and work into the event,” said Burkhart. “This isn’t work for me. We love coming back to SRS to help give local mobility-impaired hunters another opportunity to enjoy the the outdoors.”

Wheelin’ Sportsmen NWTF provides all people with disabilities the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors through local chapter events nationwide. The program also provides a full-color, quarterly magazine to its members. Wheelin’ Sportsmen magazine is dedicated to the education and entertainment of outdoors enthusiasts with disabilities.

Whether it is shooting, hunting, fishing or archery, there is no limit to the outdoor opportunities Wheelin’ Sportsmen NWTF can bring to a person with disabilities who’s eager to get outside and participate in an active lifestyle.

A few months ago I posted information about Life Motors and their wheel-chaired ATV.  Well I received some comments from Jill Harden pretty much condemning Life Motors for taking her money and not delivering a custom wheelchair ATV.   Well I kind of got upset that I may have posted information that was not helpful to others.  And I certainly didn’t want to put other people in the same situation.

Instantly I emailed Jill Harden to find exactly what happened to her and I wanted to know everything so maybe I could help her or others by getting the word out.  I got several emails from her in a matters of hours.  She is clearly upset and strongly feels she was taken advantage of by Life Motors. She had made a deposit of $12,000 and felt she had been scammed.  To the point that she even contacted a local TV News station that did a story on it.  See it here:  She also sent a letter to Life Motors local paper in PA. 

I immediately wanted to hear Life Motors side of the story. I had already emailed them to see if they were still in business prior to posting the original post about their Tara wheelchair ATV.  So I waited for a response to Jill’s claims.  Ed Dillon the man behind Life Motors Inc.  returned my email and thanked me for allowing him to tell his side.

Jumping back to last year when this story started to unfold, Life Motors ran into a production problem.  The particular hydraulic system that they used had safety and supplier production problems that were out of their control.  A new system had to be designed to be utilized in the Life Motors custom wheelchair ATVs.  Life Motors was told by the supplier that it would be at least twelve weeks before a new hydraulic system would be ready.  When the time came for the new units, the suppliers needed twelve more weeks.  So once again Life Motors and its customers are left in the dark as when they will receive their units. 

Ed at life Motors answered my questions about Jill being left in the dark as to what was going on.  I’m not going to get into the  he said she said debate but he did state this:

“I can understand her unhappiness with the situation. She has waited longer than I had anticipated for her ATV.  However, I have been in contact with her and have repeatedly let her know the delay was due to a supplier backlog.  In fact, I was on a conference call with Ms. Harden last month with my supplier, her lawyer and a reporter that Ms. Harden contacted regarding her situation.  In that telephone conversation, my supplier indicated to her that the extended delay was beyond my control.  We have since been able to resolve the hardware problem and I am currently in process of completing her machine.”

So now we are in April, and I get this email from Ed:

“Just wanted to give you an update.  Jill’s ATV is done. She was notified of this a week ago and was asked to make payment / delivery arrangements.  We have not heard a response from her.  You asked us to keep you updated and this is where we are at now.  Thanks.

Ed

LIFE Motors Inc.”

Again I emailed Jill to see what she going to do:

“Not sure how this is going to finish playing out.  You have been very helpful and I am sorry you might have got caught in the crossfire.   I will keep you updated on any changes…thank you…jill ”

Sooooo,  this is where we are at  on the Life Motors wheel-chaired ATV Story.

I feel for both sides and I hope that they can meet in the middle to settle this matter.  And the idea that hunters (and non hunters) could regain some mobility using a product like the Tara custom ATV, well I just hope that both Jill Harden and Life Motors can get passed this and help others get out into the outdoors.

I will post an update when they let me know……. hope this helps. 

Ok we have an update on the Tree Glider that I posted about back in January (click here for first post) 

Tree GliderTM
by Wake Up OutdoorsTM

 The makers of the Tree GliderTM have finished their web site and it is here at http://www.treeglider.com/index.html

They also have a video of the proto type going up a tree.

BIG NEWS: TREE GLIDERTM IS POWERED BY INTERSTATE BATTERYTM!