AN invention by a Lamerton man and his son to make life easier on the farm has won them a runner-up prize in a national competition.

Roger and Matthew Young received a cheque for £300, an engraved tankard and a framed certificate for their tractor bucket in the ?simple inventions? category of the Farmers Weekly contest.

In order to transfer feed into the cattle troughs, the bucket on Roger?s tractor needed to be offset; however that positioning then made the vehicle too wide to go through gateways and along farm tracks.

To solve the problem, the father and son team designed a bucket ram, which would allow the whole bucket to swing from feeding position (offset) to transport position (directly behind).

They used a ram that was once the tilt ram of a forklift, bolted to the rear axle using the cab-mounting bolts and made another bracket to bolt it to the nearside arm. The ram was then attached by pins to both brackets and operated from one of the spool valves.

Roger, who has made his living out of making and repairing Land Rovers, owns a Land Rover dealership in Saltash and has passed on his practical skills to his son.

?We are both practically minded and are always fiddling with something mechanical,? he said.

?It was Matthew?s idea to enter the competition and he took pictures of three or four things we had made.

?We did not expect to get anywhere so it was quite a surprise to be picked as runners-up.?

Matthew is currently working on a new invention for his design and technology ?A? level which he may well enter into the Farmers Weekly competition next year.

l Roger Young is pictured (left) with his unique bucket ram which won the Farmers? Weekly prize.