By Lisa Marie Stahl
Anybody wholl walk into the Greens garage will get the general impression its just your typical everyday garage. But a closer look would quickly reveal a dozen or so ideas, created only in the mind, that suddenly come to life.
Larry Green has been inventing things for as long as he can remember. And even at age 81, hes not ready to give up his favorite hobby.
Hes created over 15 different inventions, many of which hes patented.
His favorite is an invention hes working on having patented at the moment. Its called the Guiding Lights. This remote-controlled device is used to guide the ball on the back of your pickup until its in perfect position to be hooked up. The remote-controlled device at the front will blink three times when its 18 inches from hookup, then go out when the ball is in place. It can also be used to back your boat into the lake or a camper into the garage.
Then theres the delineator post invention. These roadside posts have been improved to prevent yearly replacement (which costs the state $300,000 a year to replace and repair,) reduce cost of highway repair, for personal safety, and better visibility. Also, the reflectors are designed to be cleaned by Mother Nature instead of sending people out to clean them. Green has created a delineator both for a straight stretch of road, and also an arm swing-back delineator for both curves and straight stretches. Hes designed a smaller version of delineator posts for guard rails as well.
Greens design for the swing away mail boxes was approved by the federal government in 1995. The idea behind this invention is to prevent fatal injuries in case of someone who lost control of their vehicle and drove into a mailbox. The mailbox would swing away, instead of crashing through the persons windshield.
The crash testing for this invention, which cost $17,000, was done by Texas A&M University Systems to permit public use. The testing turned up with excellent results and the swing away mailboxes were approved to be used and are already used locally.
Other inventions Green has created are Sanding Rods, a Steam Trap, and a Table Drum Sander.
Larry and his wife, Helen, also used to have their own business of selling washing machines. During the 38 years in this business, Green says he worked with more than 18 different Hutterite colonies, three of which were from Canada. I sold to eleven different colonies one day, said Larry. Dealing with the Hutterites was very pleasant. They are nice people to work with.
Larry and Helen have been living in the small community of Gildford sine 1975 and say they plan to spend the rest of their lives there.
