A Levin man is the first Kiwi dairy farmer to add the Segway Dirt Bike to his fleet of vehicles.
John was attracted to the X260 because it is very quiet around the livestock, starts instantly, and is easy to mount and dismount. With no gears, riding around and amongst cattle at any speed is effortless.
"I have a 200cc Suzuki farm bike, and if that falls over I actually struggle to lift it up again - especially in slippery conditions" says John. Lifting the 59kg Segway X260 is safe and easy. Being so light, it is also very easy to get out of tight situations.
The Segway 'Dirt Bike' is not spec'd or sold as a fully fledged farm bike, as such. Accordingly, this enterprising farmer intends to make a few modifications to improve suitability. The first is to add a larger foot for the kickstand, for extra support when parking it on soft ground. John's farm is on flat, low-laying land close to the western coast of the lower North Island.
He has also identified the need for some addition shielding, to protect the bike from a build-up of cow dung. A rear flap, and a cover over the front face of the frame were two areas discussed with Philip Bendall from Segway NZ during delivery. Several third-party manufacturers offer flaps for this purpose on sites such as eBay. Additional shielding may also be required elswhere on the bike for use in a heavy dairy environment, depending on where, how and by whom the X260 is used on the farm. This may be less of a consideration on cattle, sheep or deer farms, and unnecessary on orchards or vineyards. The off-road, recreational-use design of the Segway Dirt Bike makes it ideal for long climbs on steeper properties, and better for adventurously accessing rougher areas than a utility bike.
By design, the headlight of the Segway X260 lights up whenever the key is turned on. John says it would be helpful to be able to turn off the headlight so as not to be shining the bright light into their eyes, especially when moving cattle at dawn and dusk at certain times of the year. Minimising stress of all kinds is essential to maximising production across a dairy herd, and farmers have identified near-silent electric motorbikes as a way to minimise stress resulting from vehicle noise.
Segway NZ offers an after-market OFF/ON Switch for the Headlight for $95+GST. This switch is a 'plug & play' accessory - simply plug it in-line to the Segway Dirt Bike wiring loom, and you're good to go (no cutting or joining of wires is required).
John is an electric vehicle enthusiasts, and is committed to reducing the carbon emissions from his farming business. His garage already includes a Tesla Model 3 and a Nissan Leaf. On the day his Segway Dirt Bike was delivered a new electric lawn mower also arrived. His house has solar panels on the roof, and energy is stored in a Fronius Primo storage battery pack on the wall of the garage to power the house when the sun isn't shining.
UPDATE 8 March 2022:
A year down the track
The Segway Dirt Bike is proving to be really good on the farm. It is pretty much the only thing I use now. I've had it for almost a year, and I've found I'm hardly ever using the 4 wheeler at all. Nor the other petrol farm bike. Typically, I only need to charge it every 3rd or 4th day.
John has had an almost trouble-free run with his Segway X260, despite using it every day under heavy farming conditions on a coastal property near Levin (west coast of the lower North Island). He's just replaced the front wheel bearing, and intends to upgrade the front shock absorbers to improve the ride after a year of transversing typically rutted, reasonably flat, farmland.