His leaf blower looks weird, but it sure does git 'er done

[totalmotorcycle]

His leaf blower looks weird, but it sure does git 'er done
Ahrens' home-rigged contraption has plenty of wind power to spare
Monday, December 11, 2006 - MICHELE WAYMAN - Special Correspondent - The Charlotte Observer - charlotte.com




Sedgefield neighbors use the typical devices to combat leaves.

Here's a woman bending over a pile of leaves, smashing them between the rake and her hand and stuffing them into a metal can lined with a black garbage bag.

A few houses down, a man waves a backpack leaf blower over a driveway. Another neighbor has called in the pros.

But the circle at Sedgefield Road has Billy Ahrens on his Redneck Leaf Blower.

It's basically a riding leaf blower with at least eight times the horsepower of the handheld kind. It's also a tad louder.

"As you can see, it's kind of messed up," Ahrens said. "It's screwed-up looking. It's something a redneck would do."

It starts on a key turn, and a lever releases the clutch. The blower in back turns, sucking air into a 6-inch-wide PVC pipe that squares over Ahrens' head and dips toward the ground at the front of the tractor. There, gradually smaller pieces of pipe connect to an elbow that directs the air streetward. A pedal moves the elbow contraption left and right.

There are headlights for dim days and night blowing and a cup holder made from an old plastic mug.

The black-and-orange motif is an homage to Harley Davidson.

It has handlebars, motorcycle seat, windshield and supercharger "blower," but they're just for show. They come off for serious yardwork.

That includes the neighborhood common space -- a circle in the middle of the street that neighbors pitch in to maintain. Ahrens blows the leaves into big piles and neighbors can take turns bagging them.

"It's just a matter of doing a few bags a day," neighbor Jim Kelly said. "Yeah, it's noisy, but it's a small price to pay."

The Redneck Leaf Blower is a reincarnation of Ahrens' previous invention -- a leaf sucker. Back in the late 1990s, the tractor still had its decking. He had it rigged so leaves would get sucked in through the decking, through a plastic tube and into a cube-shaped trailer toted on the back.

But in 2000, Ahrens had an aneurysm that paralyzed his left side and put him out of commission for a few years.

"But I survived!" he said, throwing his arms up Rocky-style. "I just keep doing crazy things."

Ahrens, 49, said he was a jack of all trades before that -- mechanic, electrician -- and could fix about anything.

He said he has about 65 percent use of his left side, but he can't work or drive. So he tools around his house, which belonged to his parents before they passed away. Friends come by and his dogs, a yellow lab named Sarge and a dachshund named Scooter, keep him amused.

Then there's his invention.

This year, he rescued the rusting heap of tractor from out back and created the leaf blower.

"It's in its experimental stages," Ahrens said. He wants to figure out a better way to move the elbow to create more of an angle.

Then he gets to thinking, rubbing his oily-black hand on the salt-and-pepper scruff of his chin.

Fighter pilots can fly their planes through their helmets. To turn, the pilot turns his head.

Wouldn't that be cool for the Redneck Leaf Blower?

But what would happen when he tilts back his head for a sip? Kelly asked. Chaos.

Besides, there's no money in his budget for that kind of technology. But it's still a good rescue.

"It could be thrown away, but it's doing something," Ahrens said.