Converted golf buggy is the answer
Having lost the use of his legs in a motor cycle accident twenty years ago, Nigel Woodrup could easily have opted to abandon the farming life he knew. But his severe lack of mobility is more than compensated for by resourcefulness, courage and determination. He simply downsized his enterprise and found ways to make it work. Nigel is a practical man who has found a practical solution to mobility in his chosen workplace – a golf buggy, converted to operate with hand controls.
In the Spring of 2005, Nigel purchased a three year old E-Z-GO golf car from his local dealership P.J.Flegg at a cost of £2,150 including the adaptation for disabled use. He already owned a privately imported E-Z-GO, which had given good service. In his words "It was getting on a bit, so I decided to do the job properly."
He employs the E-Z-GO buggy as a genuine multi-purpose vehicle allowing him to respond promptly and effectively to the diverse animal husbandry needs of a small livestock enterprise (and to get his daughter to and from the village school!). These include tending the Wiltshire Horn rare breed (33 ewes & 28 lambs on a 9 acre field and 9 rams on a 2 acre field), taking out the feed and spraying the paddock (the basket on the back takes a 100 litre sprayer).
Nigel has been delighted with its performance and says,
"The E-Z-GO is great value at the price I paid and it's going brilliantly. It has easy access, hand rails for support and a clear bench seat which allows me to slide across from the open side. There is plenty of room for my feet. In a perfect world it would have wheelchair storage too, but it is actually a golf car!
"By using a combination of the hand accelerator and hand brake I can hold it on the occasions when it starts to slip and having it licensed for road use is a real bonus, as it allows me to run our daughter to and from her school."
