Design of a tree root ball transporting device

Tree root balls from nurseries are often too heavy for one or two people to lift and plant, but powerful machinery can be expensive for small landscaping organizations or the weekend home gardener. This thesis intends to document the market for such a device and describe why the current products don't meet the specific requirements of the groups listed. The progress of designing a new device is illustrated from the initial constraints of the product to the evolution of a final prototype. Key aspects of the final design are emphasized and the complete process of transporting a tree root ball with the prototype to the desired hole is described. As future work after construction, customer feedback and usability testing can be collected to ensure that a valuable product will enter the market and fulfill the needs of landscapers in all parts of the country.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Grossman, Christopher (Christopher M.)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• David R. Wallace.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40420

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/40420