Physically Challenged Bowhunters of America
Spotlight On New ProductsAwesome power for a wheelchair
In February 1999, President Drew MCartney attended the Kansas Outdoor
Travel Show and met Lloyd Wolfe and Glenn Wells, of TracAbout, Inc.,
Newton, Kansas.
Drew explained to them who he was, about the PCBA and me. Later that
evening, Drew called me to tell me about this awesome power chair that
he'd just seen.
He thought I'd be interested in it, told me to check their web site,
www.planetmobility.com and let him know what I thought.
I was awed by what I was seeing. Being confined to a wheelchair for
20 years, I was very skeptical about their claims.
I've put wheelchairs through some of their toughest tests and never
one that actually did what it's makers claimed.
We contacted Lloyd and Glenn and asked for some information on their
new power chairs and told them about our upcoming membership meeting and
hunt in Henrietta, Oklahoma.
They said they'd like to attend and show their chairs.
Glenn and Lloyd made that hunt and to say that I was extremely
impressed is an understatement.
I put one of the chairs through the paces there. It was a perfect
place, rough, stony, hilly terrain, grass and woods!
Perfect, since that's the kind of place this chair was made for! For
the three-day weekend, I tried the chair out and by the end of the
weekend, I knew I'd just found my next power chair. I went home, called
my chair company, Chesapeake Rehab, and told them I found my new power
chair, a TracAbout, I also told them I wanted to become a local
distributor, since Lloyd and Glenn said they needed national
distributors.
They agreed to see the char and we set up a visit by Glenn. Once they
saw the chair and what it could do they decided to become a distributor.
Glenn, Lloyd and I were on the phone with the different
specifications I needed and I told them (kiddingly) that I wanted it in
camouflage since I would be hunting fromit.
No problem, they said - there was a place close to them in Kansas
that could supply it. That was perfect!
They sent the camouflage patterns and I orderd the ADVANTAGE pattern.
Since I would need special seating, I had Chesapeake working on the seat
while my chair was being built in Kansas.
On July 5, Glenn brought my TracAbout to Pittsburgh, for Rehab
Dimensions to finish. It was an awesome sight to see!
I finally received the chair at home on July 19 and I can't tell you
what a great piece of equipment it is. It's given me the freedom and
mobility that I've always dreamed about.
It's just unbelievable! I can go anywhere here in Pennsylvania or
anywhere else for that matter! My wife, Karen, may never know where I'm
at now!
The TracAbout can go from your living room to the beach, a favorite
fishing or hunting area or anywhere you want to go. TracAbout has an
electronic joystick, variable speed that offers smooth, effortless
steering.
Spped can be variable in a selection of five ranges. Slower ranges
allow for a zero turning radius for maneuvering in tight spots with
plenty of "get-up-and-go" in the wide-open spaces.
This allows you to travel some distance in just a short time, about
12 miles depending on terrain and weight of driver.
It has a unique indoor-outdoor track design (no more flat tires!)
that goes through uneven terrain, sand, mud, and snow.
You can cut across ruts, over tree limbs, cables, cords and objects
up to 4 inches high as if it was on smooth surfaces.
This chair provides us with mobility during all four seaons. As their
advertisements state, "Where do you want to go today?"
It's the absolute truth! I highly recommend that anyone in the marget
for a power chair consider the TracAbout.
Not only have I gotten one, but I know of three other PCBA members
who are either at this moment ordering theirs or about to order.
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