| I’ve raised money for this machine twice, once | | | | there weren’t any farmers in the slightest bit |
| back in about 1974 and then again over the last four | | | | interested in a mechanical harvester. In 1984 we |
| years or so. Let’s begin back in the early 70s, | | | | parked the machine in a shed at Geiger Manufacturing |
| when I first started the project. I was in my early | | | | in Stockton California, and I moved on. |
| 20’s and bored one day, and I asked my father | | | | |
| if he could think of something that needed | | | | It was in 2003 I think, when I was talking to an |
| inventing. He told me “invent an asparagus | | | | asparagus grower, and he told me he would give his |
| harvester”. He was a farmer and an asparagus | | | | right arm for a selective asparagus harvester. That |
| grower. | | | | got me to thinking, and I drove into town and |
| | | | | peeked through the gate at Geiger Manufacturing. |
| I had some interesting ideas about how one could go | | | | It was a Saturday and the shop was closed, but I |
| about building a selective asparagus harvester, and | | | | could see through the gate that the harvester was |
| went to my friends and family begging for money. I | | | | still in the shed where we parked it almost 20 years |
| was able to raise several thousand dollars in seed | | | | before. |
| money. I used that money to build a rudimentary | | | | |
| prototype. I built it from angle iron and motorcycle | | | | The patents that we had based our previous joint |
| wheels. It had a sears air compressor, 4 air cylinders | | | | venture on had expired years ago, and technology |
| with blades, and a home made electronics package | | | | has come a long way in the last 20 years. I |
| with an optical sensing system. It could detect | | | | approached Geiger Manufacturing and worked out a |
| spears and cut them, but I had not figured out how | | | | deal. They would provide the machine shop work |
| to pick them up yet at the time. | | | | and we could use the old machine and I would |
| | | | | provide the engineering and work out some new |
| I went to a local accountant who had found financing | | | | patentable features. |
| for my brother to do a photo book about the local | | | | |
| agricultural community, and asked him if he knew of | | | | We did a little maintenance on the machine put some |
| anybody who might be willing to finance our machine. | | | | air in the tires and took it out to the asparagus fields. |
| | | | | I wanted to implement some of the new technology |
| He in fact did know someone. He put me in touch | | | | available, but we didn’t have the funds. I built a |
| with the widow of the owner of a local machine | | | | web site and laid out what I was trying to do, along |
| shop that she was running. She watched a | | | | with my contact information. |
| demonstration of my little prototype that I pushed | | | | |
| down the row of simulated asparagus by hand. It | | | | My website got the attention of Washington State |
| impressed her enough that she told me if I could | | | | University, and a professor came out to see my |
| further demonstrate a way of picking up the spears | | | | machine run, even though it was off season. I was |
| as well as cutting them she would fund the project. | | | | able to get a row of asparagus at a local farm, and |
| Two weeks later I demonstrated a rudimentary | | | | by cutting down the ferns, the spears began growing |
| pickup system and we cut a deal. She paid me a | | | | again. I ran the machine down a row of asparagus |
| salary and her shop split the ownership of the | | | | and made excuses for the problems. |
| harvester with my original group of investors. | | | | |
| | | | | Washington State University was impressed and |
| We built several prototype machines over a 10 year | | | | could see the potential of the machine. They ended |
| period, and we were beginning to make some real | | | | up funding me for the last 4 or 5 years, for a total |
| progress. Selectively harvesting asparagus is a very | | | | of over $200,000. They decided to fund a machine |
| difficult task. Many inventors over the years have | | | | from New Zealand last season instead of my |
| tried, and millions of dollars have been spent in the | | | | machine, and I think they have now expended all of |
| pursuit of a selective asparagus harvester, but so far | | | | the funds they had. |
| no success. | | | | |
| | | | | It would have been nice to get one more year of |
| Unfortunately we realized too late that there was | | | | funding, but we are now ready to market the |
| simply no market for an asparagus harvester. Hand | | | | harvester anyway, and we are in the process of |
| labor was inexpensive and easy to come by, and so | | | | doing just that. Wish me luck. |