My name is Gary Hendrix; I live in Abilene, Texas.
I am an inventor, butcher, carpenter, and a builder; this abbreviated story has to do with me being an inventor. I have invented and received a U.S. Patent for an:” APPARATUS FOR HOLDING, SUPPORTING, AND MANEUVERING AN ANIMAL CARCASS WHILE HOLDING OPEN THE RIB CAGE OF THE CARCASS." That is the technical term for it; I call it the "Wild Thing". This apparatus can and will revolutionize the method of butchering and cutting an animal carcass, already proved to reduce the time and labor of butchering and deboning an animal by as much as 50%. This apparatus is faster, safer, easier, and more stable.
 
This is the story on how this apparatus was invented and developed:

During my last two years of high school I participated in Industrial Cooperative Training, whereas I would attend classes for half a day and work the remainder of the day. I went to work for a large food store as an apprentice in their meat market. This is where I learned the meat cutting/ butchering trade.
 
In the late 1980's, I was offered a job as a butcher/ meat cutter in Wyoming to process wild game. By the time the hunting season was over, I knew that I wanted to own my own game plant. I also knew that after butchering and processing 1,500 head that season, there had to be a "better way" to process these animals.
 
I opened my own game plant the next season. My processing plant was one of the first to do away with "bone-in cuts", and began exclusively processing boneless meat. The process of removing meat from the bone is labor intensive because of all the lifting, bending and instability, in addition to the swinging and turning of the carcass because it is hanging by one hind leg on a standard type trolley hook. Due to several hundred back breaking hours of experience, I knew what the "Problem" was, and set about to find a solution. I had to start thinking "outside of the box"; this was the beginning of my inventions. I had no idea, that inventing, researching, and developing development would take nearly a decade in order to solve this problem. M first success was a Gamble type hook I designed (patent Pending) and manufactured to hang on a meat rail used in packing houses. By transferring the carcass to this new hook, it did stabilize the carcass, however, it did nothing to relieve the bending, stooping, and squatting required when processing carcass. From the start, my overall idea was to design a complete machine that would stabilize a carcass, securely hold the carcass, rotate the carcass to a horizontal position, turn the carcass in a full 180 degree radius without having any obstruction in the way of the meat, when being removed by a cutter, at the same time, being able to raise and lower the carcass (much like a barber's chair), to accommodate any height of a cutter/ processor/ butcher.
 
By the fall of 2000, I had designed a machine that I thought would do all the steps necessary for the successfully processing an animal carcass.
 
From the enclosed picture, you can see where I have incorporated pneumatic cylinders, a scissor-type action device with custom plates for holding different types of animal carcasses, which fit inside the rib cage cavity for holding the carcass, and a heavy duty stabilizing base support cylinder. The "Wild Thing" is a complete, hands free machine, with smooth foot controls operated by the butcher/ operator. Operating the "Wild Thing" through a couple of game seasons, with a few minor adjustments and changes has helped us to perfect it as it is today.
 
One other small problem I encountered was due to the way a carcass had always been hung by a single back leg when stored in a cooler while waiting to be processed. The carcass would cool and stiffen and could not easily load into the machine. I specifically designed and manufactured a Gamble type hook (Patent Pending) that can easily be inserted through the eye of a common trolley hook, and works for hanging different types of animal carcasses from both hind legs.
 
We have used the "Wild Thing" since the 2002 game season, it has worked great. More recently, we have shown it to work just as well on hogs, elk, and beef. After all these years of hard work, I now have the machine that I have always wanted and envisioned.
 
U.S. Patent # 6,682,412.
 We are in production of the "Wild Thing" and hooks, with a 4 to 6 week delivery and factory setup time. These machines are totally maintenance free. Manufactured from stainless steel for easy cleaning, they are simple and easy to operate and guaranteed.
 
Any processing plant owner or operator will be able to readily see where, the installation and use of the "Wild Thing", can increase their bottom line.

To see this machine in action, please watch the short (16 minute) clips that you can by clicking on this link FEED.OHDEERCO.COM or you may access it from the Homepage of this site. The clips are broken up into 4 parts; once you are finished watching the first clip just click on the next clip and so on to watch the video in its full content.

Sincerely, 

Gary Hendrix
P.O. Box 7726
Abilene, Texas 79608
Phone: 325-518-5038
E-mail: hendrix_gary@yahoo.com