Mountain Bike Park Chair

This was the first seat that I built. Our mountain bike park has amazing views down the Kiewa Valley and every time we rode past this one spot we would always say, “we need a chair here”.

We were waiting for our visas to come through for work in the USA and I had a little time on my hands. I had seen some old farm machinery in a paddock on a ride and had imagined how it would look great as a bench seat.  I approached a bunch of local farmers trying to get something to use and no one seemed to want to give up their ‘old junk’. It seems that the antique dealers have been fleecing farmers of their old machinery and selling it at huge mark ups. This has made it hard to get these sort of items now.

I had approached one of our local farmers, ‘Benny’, he had an old fertiliser spreader that would be perfect. At first he didn’t want to sell it, but I explained that it was a donation for the community, and his attitude changed and he just gave it to me. Amazing.

I had visualised the large wheels at each end as penny farthings, and set about building it. Most of the steel and timber were either donated or pulled out of the local tip. I am passionate about recycling and keeping parts of the local history alive.

The fertiliser spreader was used locally for who knows how many years, and instead of rusting in a paddock or a front yard, it is now sitting high on a hill being sat on and enjoyed! The timber planks on the seat were salvaged from a chalet that sat on the hill just below the mountain bike park.

The build only took about three days, and was done in my back yard. I roped my mate Matt into helping me haul the parts up the hill, which was no mean feat! I love this seat, I guess because it was my first real project, but also because I get to ride up there and enjoy the view. If your ever in town, it’s just a short walk up the hill, go enjoy the view!