permaculture

[John Schinnerer <john@eco-living.net>]

Aloha,

The bike/stepper water pump is a possibility.  Any sufficiently small 
rotary-shaft pump could be hooked to the bike's rotational output.
However...

> Another item that would be extremely useful is a  stationary bicycle powered
> or stair climber style foot powered  chipper shredder that can be safely
> opperated by one person or two.

The smallest available electric units use about a 1 HP motor, and from 
there on up to many many horses worth of electric or gas/diesel power.

So no way one or two "normal" people could power one...you'd need three 
or more olympic cyclists or a dozen or so "normal" healthy people to run 
even the equivalent of the smallest home/yard unit for any length of time.

Google

human power output

for links to info on how much power humans can actually generate.
Here's one page that has basic info on this (scroll down past all the 
HPV pictures etc. to get to that part):

http://www.ent.ohiou.edu/~et181/hpv/hpv.html

What I'd like to know is if any true shredders (machines that cut along 
instead of across the grain) are readily available in N. America.

Chippers and so-called chipper/shredders commonly sold here are afaik 
all cross-grain cutters.

Cutting along the grain drastically increases decomposition time for 
woody debris - that's how Jean Pain got all that brushy debris in big 
piles to compost so well.

John S.

--

John Schinnerer - MA, Whole Systems Design
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