Howmans Chair

YMCA at Howman’s Gap approached me about a chair for a nice gardened area with views of Spion Kopje, a snow covered ridge in the winter. I had a bit of free rein on this one, and since the chair in the mountain bike park was so popular I thought it would be cool to do another one, not quite so rushed this time.

As luck would have it my new best friend ‘Benny’ had another fertiliser spreader rusting away on the farm, and I shoved some money in his pocket, against his will and loaded it on my trailer. I’m careful to look after the people that look after me.  He loaded me up with fresh Veggies off the farm and I was on my way.

The build for this chair took about a week, I disected the fertiliser spreader completely and re built it from the ground up with quite a bit of new steel. I also used treated pine sleepers for the seat and back rest, which normally I’m not a huge fan of, however with the severe weather changes this seat would see up there, including being snowed on, I felt it was the best way to go.

Our aptly named town, Mount Beauty, was holding a music festival right around the time I completed this build. My wife Rachel, who is also a big part of our builds, was helping the girls beautify the town for the festival and we decided to make up a custom temporary backrest for the chair and placed it in one of the parks in town that was a venue for some of the music.

Autumn in town is all about the leaves changing colours and falling off the trees, it’s the best time to be here. The chair was a popular addition to town and after removing it and delivering it up to the YMCA a lot of people were disappointed to see it go. Perhaps I can convince the local council to commission a replacement!

The chair was delivered up to the YMCA and looks great nestled in amongst the native garden, making a great spot to sit and admire the views.