Motorizing your living room furniture

Posted at 9:07 AM on October 22, 2009 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: Tech

The case of the Duluth man who drove his motorized La Z Boy drunk is getting plenty of attention today. Let's face it: Most of the buzz -- no pun intended -- is because he slapped a motor on some furniture.

He's not the first Minnesotan to do this.

A couple of other Minnesotans gained some fame in aviation circles years ago for a motorized couch. It was profiled in a 2006 article:

The couch is powered by a six-horsepower Tecumseh engine. Mounted on a custom steel frame, it runs up to 45 mph. A motorcycle throttle and brake lever control the speed; the same bar moves up and down to control the turns. Just like a 747 tiller, I'm told.

It has off-road tires, replaced after breaking the originals from too-fast cornering, and they've been driving the heck out of it.

Clay Adams owns it. Clay is better known as owner of a gorgeous Travel Aire in the American Barnstormers Tour. Clay lent the couch to his friend, Stein Bruch, president of SteinAir, an avionics dealer and instrument panel manufacturer near Minneapolis.

Besides being the proud owner of the Travel Aire and the sofa, he also owns a motorized Lazy Boy, and a Weedwacker Margarita Maker, said Bruch. "Plus a whole lot of other crazy stuff," he added.

Looking like something out of a cartoon, the davenport gets a lot of attention as it motors through the grass. People smile and wave.

I am trying to get an update status on the couch today. I'd heard it met an untimely demise when it crashed into the side of a hangar. The driver was sober at the time.

Want to build a motorized couch? Here's how. Inspiration can be found here.

Every Man's Dream - Katie Collins Reporting - The funniest videos clips are here

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Comments (5)

Are there any pics?

Posted by LK | October 22, 2009 9:44 AM

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Make: television, a cool DIY program produced at Twin Cities Public TV, featured a motorized lounger in one episode. Each episode contained a segment which gathered independently submitted DIY projects, and the motorized lounger was a part of that segment. Check it out here:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/01/maker_channel_104_io_brush_barcalou.html

Posted by Joel | October 22, 2009 9:48 AM

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I have a pic somewhere of a guy on a motorized couch who has been in the ArtCar parades on Lyndale, at least twice.

Posted by Joanna | October 22, 2009 2:27 PM

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My pic of the motorized couch at the Art Car Parade: lots more floating around on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/83872810@N00/196205291/

Posted by Joanna | October 22, 2009 2:35 PM

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Hi, Joanna. That's me! You can check out couchmobile.com for info on the Couchmobile's adventures as they come up.

Posted by Morgan | October 22, 2009 10:27 PM

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