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'U.K.'s "Tramper" When A Wheelchair Isn't Enough'...

I can add a personal story to this thread.

I broke my back ten years ago. By some miracle, I was not paralysed, however, I cannot walk or stand for very long before I either temporarliy lose the use of my right leg or occasionaly, both legs,or the pain gets too much to bear. I need to use an electric wheelchair to get around outside.

Back in September, my wife and I went Pembrokeshire (West Wales for you who don't know UK gegraphy) for a short holiday. While there, we visited an iron age hill fort at Castell Henllys. It has been excavated and partly reconstructed to show how the Celts lived in pre-Roman Britain. As it is a hill fort, it is on top of quite a steep hill. The car park and visitor centre is in a valley. I tried to ride to the hill fort in my wheelchair and failed in spectacular style. Even going downhill I couldn't control the wheelchair very well. I gave up and borrowed their Tramper.

The centre had a Tramper for the disabled to use if they or their wheelchairs coudn't cope with the steep tracks. It was free to use and hauled my 17 stone (240lbs) bulk around the site with ease.
The site wardens used a couple of buggies for their work, one was a petrol powered sort of cross between a quad and a pickup, the other was an electric version. Neither of these vehicles could cope with the terrain as well as the Tramper. The problem I had to overcome was the controls. With my wheelchair I have a joystick and a speed control rheostat. The Tramper had a motorcycle type twistgrip 'throttle' and a switch to to forward or reverse and another to 'change gear'. I kept twisting the speed control to go backwards, but shot forward at relatively high speed instead, which was a bit buttock clenching when you are on the edge of a cliff.

If anyone is ever in the area,it is well worth a visit http://www.castellhenllys.com/

Just to prove it, my wife took a photo of fatso in the Tramper. The picture was taken at the bottom of the hill.
 
I figured if I ever needed a wheelchair, I would design something that would end up looking like a WW2 Kettenrad!
 
Panther 99FS: The use of the Tramper turned an average day into a thoroughly enjoyable one. Far too many atttractions advertise themselves as disabled friendly when they are not. We went to one place which claimed to be disabled friendly, but the only concession made was a disabled toilet in the cafe, but which was rendered useless by the fact that the door had been hung the wrong way round making it all put impossible to get into the toilet. The cafe staff had compounded the problem by storing highchairs next to the hall door so the door couldn't be opened wide enough to get through. To drive around the site (A medieval castle) I had to stay on the grass all of the time as the paths had steps.
I know that not all tourist places can offer the same facilities and accept that I will not be able to get the best out of a visit, but it is not on to be charged full rate and not be able to see more that 20%.
On a positive not, another site,The Bishops palace in St. Davids, had installed a lift for wheelchair users. We could get around 90% of that place, they charged me half price because I couldn't see it all and my wife, as my care, also got in at a discounted price, excellent all round.

Piglet: When I first realised I would need a wheelchair, I thought they were vitually all the same. How wrong I was. I bought my first wheelchair because it came apart for easy transportation in the back of the car, but it was not very comfortable, sturdy or reliable. I did look at the Kettenrad range, but realised that I needed to compromise a little. They would be fine for outdoor, rough terrain use, but not so useable in town centres or shopping malls etc. Nor are they so easy to transport. I now have a basic Invacare Spectra Plus which is comfortable, reliable, rigid, but a bit too heavy to lift in an out of the car. The batteries alone weigh 15 kg each (33lbs). Total weight is around 70kg (154lbs)
 
i have a Jazzy 614HD..i get stuck if i leave a hard surface,the drive tires just spin on grass or gravel..one of those trampers would be great...better yet a kittenrad...there was one at an airshow i went to reciently but i didnt get a picture of it..but i asked the guy if it was origninal or a replica..he just got offended and drove off...lol....
 
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