ANOTHER crop of creative innovators have been crowned after an impressive array of entries at this year’s Rotary FNQ Field Days.
Sponsored by the North Queensland Register, a total of seven inventors entered the Rotary FNQ Field Days Inventor’s Contest.
Inventions featured everything from a “Bird Island” designed to prevent animals from drowning to a crush protection device that can be fitted to quad bikes.
Inventor’s Contest organiser John Hardy said he was impressed with the calibre of this year’s entries.
“The quality of the entries I’ve received are some of the best I’ve seen in a long time,” he said.
“That’s what this all about – people coming up with good ideas and Field Days is the place to present those innovations to the public.”
Taking out the Under $1000 category was Innisfail man Terry Urquhart’s Rescue Bandage – a hemorrhage control inflatable tourniquet-trauma wound management device. The bandage is used to stop catastrophic blood loss immediately after injury has been sustained and can be self-applied.
The award was accepted on behalf of Mr Urquhart by Justine Campagna.
Victorian man Matthew Tiplady of Ag-Tech Industries was the contest’s Over $1000 winner, wowing the judges with his life-saving ATV Lifeguard which also won overall winner on the day.
The ATV Lifeguard is a flexible Crush Protection Device designed to fit onto any quad bike with a steel rack. Its unique vertebrae design absorbs some of the impact following a quad bike rollover.
Mr Tiplady said he was passionate about farmer safety and believes his device is easily adaptable for quad bikes operating anywhere in the country.
“Australia has the highest rate of farmer deaths and injury in the world per capita and I started a few years ago to find out why that was the case,” he said.
“A lot of those deaths are due to quad bikes rolling over and crushing the operator and I have made it my mission to go to as many Field Days and talk to as many farmers as possible to get the message out there that crush protection on quad bikes saves lives.”
The ATV Lifeguard is now being distributed locally by rural farm supplier Landmark Mareeba/Tolga – the first major dealer in Far North Queensland to do so.
But the innovations didn’t stop there, with Tully farmer Callan Marneros winning “Best Machine of the Field Day” for his Vibrating Post Driver.
The device enables farmers to drive koppers logs, rail line, split posts and strainers up to 350mm into the ground in record time with minimal fuss.
Mr Marneros, who is co-owner and workshop manager of Pacific Fasteners and Hydraulics, said it had taken about two years of design and development to perfect the Vibrating Post Driver.
It can be attached to bobcats, excavators, loaders and other industrial vehicles.
Meanwhile, TGT Hardware won Best Lifestyle Site of Field Days, while Beekeeping, Honey and Pollination took out Best Overall Site.
Mareeba Tyrepower, MSF Sugar and Mareeba Mazda are the major sponsors of Rotary FNQ Field Days 2017.
A biennial event, Rotary FNQ Field Days will be held between Wednesday May 24 and Friday May 26, 2017 at Mareeba’s Kerribee Park.
