Everyone knows bikes are a great way to exercise, enjoy the outdoors, or even commute. But did you know bikes can be converted into useful agricultural tools and machines? From weeding, harvesting, planting, threshing, shelling, winnowing—bikes can do it all. And without greenhouse emissions and expensive repair bills. The following are a few ways that show the awesome power of pedals!

Hauling, as every farmer knows, is essential to agriculture. This pedal powered winch does the work of a tractor or horse. ( A winch is a hauling or lifting device consisting of a cable that winds around a horizontal drum, turned by a crank.) Harrowing, seeding, raking, and cultivating are just a few of the jobs that a pedal-powered winch can perform.

Planting, transplanting, and weeding can also be facilitated by cycle power, as demonstrated by this ingenuous pedal-powered machine developed by Rob Rock and Andrew Crawford of the Arethusa Collective Farm. Farmers using this device saw a 28% decrease in hand weeding, and a 9% decrease in transplanting.

Pedal-powered devices can even be used for threshing, winnowing, and shelling. Threshing is the process by which the grain is removed from the plant, and winnowing is the process of removing the grain from the chaff. This particular design can even be quickly reconfigured to function as a traditional bike!

Doubtless the future holds many more such sustainable pedal-power inventions as these!