Trailer and the Plow

The first plow was probably a stick pulled through the soil with a rope. In time, however, domesticated cattle were harnessed to drag the plow in place of the farmer. Yoked, harnessed animals pulled plows in the Mesopotamian alluvium by 3000 B.C.

As a result, farming advanced from the cultivation of small plots to the tilling of extensive fields. By harnessing the ox, men began to control and use a motive power other than that furnished by man’s own self-exertion. The ox was the first to pull a plow utilizing the invention of the “Chain Link” as a universal joint. The ingenious farmer utilized this link to provide strong and dependable side to side and up and down capabilities for whatever was being pulled behind the ox. The ox benefited from this linkage as well, making his work more efficient and fluid, thus relieving muscular strain and awkward pulling angles.

My goal in engineering the RanCorp Services trailers was to develop strong, durable, efficient trailers utilizing simple build techniques and materials available in the countries where they would be built and utilized. This had to be accomplished while making the trailers extremely low-cost and affordable for the masses. Enter the ox and the plow.

Anyone can build a trailer! Elaborate expensive designs utilizing exotic alloys with bottomless R&D funding is an engineer’s dream, but the trailer design I was after caused me many engineering dilemmas and left me with a great appreciation for the simplistic nature of the original plow designs. I have adopted the “Chain Link” (minus the ox) to serve as the universal link connecting the trailers and their various power sources. There is a bit more to it but you get the general idea. This linkage maintains structural integrity, simplicity, common materials usage and is extremely low-cost.

The design elements of the RanCorp Services trailers play a significant role in facilitating a wide cultural acceptance. This is a key element to the success and viability of the project as a whole, however, appropriate design technology runs much deeper than product design and functionality. A comprehensive project must account for product feasibility, usefulness, marketing, sales, distribution, application, adaptability, cultural acceptance, business operations, human resources, legal/regulatory considerations and logistics as a whole.

During the next several posts and throughout the Kibungo, Rwanda project phases, I will be addressing the evolution of a micro-business and the necessary components that drive successful indigenous project implementations while maintaining the goal of project simplicity and cultural acceptance. It is my intention that RanCorp Services Trailer projects reflect the simplicity of the farmer the ox and the plow…