permaculture

[Will Carey <cure@rtinet.com>]

John...

Good to hear someone else with this problem.  I'm 6'6" (198cm) and have
found ways around this "short handle" problem.

I've adapted the "semi squat" posture from Tai Chi and found that I can save
my back and get myself more "normal height" in relation to the ground.  It's
tough on the thighs for a while, but it works!  .  Getting into the Wu
"flow" state of mind and body helps too.  Tai Chi Chores.... A book yet to
be written

I'm also using raised beds in the garden toward that same end.  I form the
beds in scale to the reach of my long arms and the reach of my  garden rake.

I've adapted other methods of composting that use a claw rake similar to
this (but with longer tines)...

<http://www.gopromos.com/idea_center/art_image.asp?id=5813>

... To work compost from the top down.  The piles are formed in windrows.  I
pull material down with the rake, then restack it with a five-tine manure
fork.  Easy turning!   The claw rake has also become my favorite tool in the
garden for adjusting the coverage of the sheet compost, roughing up
seedrows, breaking up clods, picking up rocks, etc.  I even keep it on the
tractor now for picking up the stray bit of nylon baling twine, etc,  right
off the ground...  

Of course, it's a smaller tractor...a Ford 800...  A power tool that is easy
to justify if you've got a lot of animals and/or acreage.  Nothing can
replace a good front end loader for moving the biomass.

Will from Oregon

on 1/13/06 16:15, permaculture-request@lists.ibiblio.org at
permaculture-request@lists.ibiblio.org wrote:

> John Schinnerer <john@eco-living.net> wrote:
> Aloha,
> 
> Main problem I have with just everyday tools (shovel, rake, etc.) is
> that the handles are too short.
> 
> I'm taller than average, sure, but nowhere near NBA tall - only 191cm
> (75.5") - and still, most all shovels and rakes and hoes and brooms and
> other "stand-up" tools need about another 6-8" of handle to be long
> enough for me to use comfortably (that is, to use with proper standing
> posture, keeping my back safe, etc.).
> The more affordable the tool, on average, the shorter the handle (with a
> few happy exceptions).
> 
> Years ago I was thinking of starting a "tall tools" specialty, just
> contracting with existing tool makers to do longer handles.
> Maybe we'll roll this in with your enterprise, Larry? :-)
> 
> cheers,
> John S.