3-legged 4×4 tortoise
Tina the tortoise has been given a lift after being fitted with a suspension system and a pneumatic tyre to help her cope with muddy terrain.
The three-legged reptile can now go ‘off-road’ after the 4×4-style system was attached to her shell.
Tina was fitted with a plastic wheel four years ago to replace her rear right leg.
But our increasingly warmer autumns mean Tina hibernates later in the year, leaving her battling to cope with muddy grass and slopes and dead leaves.
So the rudimentary wheel has now been replaced with an air-filled tyre and a spring suspension system with shock absorber.
From Metro.co.uk.
October 27th, 2006 at 6:18 pm
That tire is not pneumatic (air filled0, it is actually a tire from a scale aircraft and is foam filled at best.
October 27th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Tortuga todo terreno
tina, una tortuga de 3 patas, ha recibido con beneplácito la sustitución de su extrañado miembro faltante por una rueda neumática con suspensión por resortes helicoidales
October 27th, 2006 at 10:38 pm
who cares
October 27th, 2006 at 10:44 pm
necessary?
October 27th, 2006 at 11:25 pm
lov turyle soup with lots of crackers
October 28th, 2006 at 1:53 am
[...] This animal is killing a few less humans… for now. Meet Tina, the three-legged, one-wheeled tortoise. Tina was given a plastic wheel a while ago, but they found it gave her problems in mushy terrain. So they modded a turtle. “The rudimentary wheel has now been replaced with an air-filled tyre and a spring suspension system with shock absorber.” Race that bitch for pink slips. [...]
October 28th, 2006 at 2:56 am
Uh… it is pneumatic — It explicitly says so:
“So the rudimentary wheel has now been replaced with an air-filled tyre and a spring suspension system with shock absorber.”
October 28th, 2006 at 5:16 am
Juan - what do you think foam contains? Yep… air bubbles and that makes it pneumatic.
You, sir, are a spanner!
October 28th, 2006 at 10:25 am
thats just…i dunno. Im a keeper of chelonia, I’ve learned they can get along fine without mods like this. They learn and adapt; they’re not stupid animals.
I agree, it’s a foam filled model aircraft tire.
October 28th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
The tire isn’t pneumatic. The spring is.
October 28th, 2006 at 6:08 pm
[...] Sai no site DailyWeird [...]
October 28th, 2006 at 9:38 pm
I hate to be ~that~ guy, but this looks very photoshopped to me!
October 28th, 2006 at 11:47 pm
Seek freedom; recapitulate before it’s too late. What are you waiting for — looking forward to senility?
October 29th, 2006 at 1:57 am
[...] Now, when you repost something from another website, it is normal to provide a link to the original source. It surprised me quite a bit to notice that Gizmodo attributed the tortoise to boingboing, who attributed it to The Daily Weird, who attributed it to METRO.co.uk, who is presumably the original source as they attribute the story to nobody. [...]
October 29th, 2006 at 8:57 am
If the tire is foam-filled, then it’s not pneumatic even if it has air in it, as it’s not pressurized. And the spring is not pneumatic, either — it’s just a spring. Perhaps you mean the shock absorber (the part inside the spring)? It’s probably an RC car oil-filled shock absorber/damper. If I was a betting man, I’d say it was from a Serpent or Mugen 1:8th scale on-road car, but it’s hard to tell the exact size from the photo — could be any number of 1:10th on-road kits.
Either way, very cool.
October 29th, 2006 at 12:50 pm
[...] Check this out.. Three-legged tortoise gets a wheel Tina the three-legged tortoise has been retrofitted with an air-filled tire and shock absorber to help her get around. [...]
October 30th, 2006 at 10:13 am
wow. you guys have too much time on your hands! LOL. Like me.
Anyway, the tires are pneumatic although you can’t inflate them. They come sealed from the factory. They are typical Du-Bro radio control airplane tires like these http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/869750.asp - End of story.
If this is a pet turtle I think it’s a cool thing although if it’s out in nature how does the turtle adjust for shell growth? These turtles live for over 50 years and their shells do change/grow. In that case it’s a cruel gadget.
In any event, I agree with Titus. This looks like a clever photoshop job. Where is the rear view? Also, why does a turtle need a sway bar? It moves at less than 1 mile an hour!
Anyway, I love turtles and have two. Check our my live turtle cam! http://pcplaza.homeip.net:8081/turtlecam
October 30th, 2006 at 1:27 pm
Now, how did he get out of his cage…i Mean environment. I shall send some Houder bots to retrieve my newest genetic freak, GO HOUDER BOTS!
October 30th, 2006 at 2:19 pm
[...] A bionic dolphin or a 4×4 tourtise. [...]
October 31st, 2006 at 1:03 am
what happens if she gets a flat?
October 31st, 2006 at 3:38 am
Reading all these comments about whether the tire is pneumatic or not makes me want to punch someone in the throat.
October 31st, 2006 at 2:52 pm
[...] Mark Frauenfelder: Tina the three-legged tortoise has been retrofitted with an air-filled tire and shock absorber to help her get around. Link [...]
November 1st, 2006 at 4:04 am
http://www.bambooturtle.us/turtlewheels.html
Here’s pictures of another wheeled turtle. Is it just me, or do they all look like cyborg turtles?
November 1st, 2006 at 9:56 am
Here is another turtle with wheels. Her hind legs were paralyzed but she was able to get around on a set of model airplane wheels. http://www.bambooturtle.us/turtlewheels.html
November 1st, 2006 at 10:00 pm
[...] LINK [...]
November 2nd, 2006 at 3:32 pm
[...] 3-legged 4×4 tortoise » The Daily Weird (tags: funny weird turtle) No Comments so far Leave a comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI Leave a comment Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong> [...]
November 16th, 2006 at 3:01 am
Tina: The Tripod Tortoise
Tina the tripod tortoise was always rather blue
‘Cause she couldn’t get about so well – like other tortoise do!
She would frolic in the sunshine, but her tough old tortoise skirt
Always hung down in one corner – and then dug into the dirt.
The friendly tortoise keeper, down at Longleat, just near Bath
Would stand protective near her – asking children not to laugh
when she scraped across the gravel, listing slightly off to port.
‘cause her rearwards right hand corner had no meaningful support.
One day, whilst watching Tina, a brainy sort of kid, said
Fit her with a rubber wheel - or a little Teflon skid.
It’s sad that all her under-bits are dragging in the dirt
Just look at that sharp gravel. That’s really got to hurt.
And so a wheel was fitted, pneumatic like the best
with a tiny shock absorber, all screwed onto Tina’s chest.
She never feels the gravel now – her butt is never sore
She’s booked in for a retread in two thousand ninety four.
Mike Ktori
Tasmania
April 2nd, 2007 at 10:28 pm
You guys are insane, arguing over the tire and whatnot.
It’s an effing TURTLE with an EFFING TIRE attached to it, hahahaha!!!
February 22nd, 2009 at 11:55 am
That’s just crazy! It’s not about “free-lunch” and you know it!