Barrow meets challenge

KATINA CURTIS A CHALLENGE to reinvent the wheelbarrow landed one Berry man on the ABC television show The New Inventors. Richard Morris said he was talking about his previous inventions with his son when they saw a wheelbarrow in the yard and his son issued the challenge to “change that and make it easier”. “I thought about it in that day, what I’d do, and it took me about a fortnight and I had it made,” Mr Morris said. What he came up with was a weightless wheelbarrow: a two-wheel barrow that offers greater stability and manoeuvrability. “The way it’s balanced, a lady could tip concrete,” he said – and as a former builder and concreter, he knows that would not be possible with a regular wheelbarrow. “Also, it can turn the length of itself and can go over any obstacle which, when it’s loaded, is very handy,” he said. Mr Morris, now 62, grew up in Nowra and moved to Berry 34 years ago. He was a builder until three years ago and now, with his wife Elaine, spends time minding their many grandchildren and indulging his opal mining hobby at a property near Lightning Ridge. His other inventions include a new roofing arrangement that uses something similar to floor tiles. Mr Morris said the great thing about the show was the exposure it provided. He has had “stacks and stacks” of inquiries from people wanting to buy one of his wheelbarrows, even though he is still waiting for the patent to be approved.