Retirement didn’t suit Australian Ralph Affleck. So the sawmiller with no formal education but a 30 centimetre ruler designed and built his own mill which could be operated by one man – himself.

He also built the machines – including a truck to move heavy logs. It has 12 forward gears and eight reverses. And in eight gear reverse, he can go 40 miles an hour – backwards!

This story by the ABCs Landline was broadcast in 2014 https://www.abc.net.au/landline/

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