My 2-cents:- Use flowing water(fast flowing stream etc)to pump water up to a given height-- several ways to do it - big waterwheel, even hydraulic ram (lots of "how it works" potential in one of those) weight of water in the receiving containers could set off flares/raise flag to show winner (even put both containers on a balance beam to get a race)

or :- fruit picking machine - ever seen a real one at work? they're totally Heath Robinson(that's Rube Goldberg in Am-speak) Bodge-o-tastic things in the flesh so a junker one would be bodge squared. problem is finding fruit to pick at the right time tho' I guess you could cheat and hang fake/real fruit from fake/real trees (I'd hate to be the gopher whose job that was!)

-- Bez (bez@bezz.removedeletethis.demon.co.uk), January 15, 2001

Answers

On The Fruit Picking Machine: That would be bodgetastic, not to mention an interesting build. As far as fruit to pick, since both productions are supposedly going to be in S. California, it should be simple enough for them to find some Orange groves or they could bring the machines up to Eastern Washington and they could have a go at some of the apples.

On the Water-powered water pump: That would be interesting also, though probably not as interesting a build.

-- Karl Olson (aka The Stereo Logic) (karl@thestereologic.com), January 16, 2001.