Father builds special chair for paralyzed son, opens world for many since

By Bonny Cote

Tim Swenson, originally from Oklee, was faced with the challenge of helping his son Jeff, have a better life, after being injured in a car accident and becoming paralyzed. 

Swenson, who owned power-sports dealership Action Sports at that time, had spent most of his life around all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles. And his family had grown up loving the outdoors, often riding ATVs and snowmobiles. A standard wheelchair offers very little mobility when it comes to outdoor activities and Swenson started thinking about a way to let Jeff enjoy some of the freedom he had lost. 

The standard wheelchair really hasn’t changed much since it was developed about 2,500 years ago. The dimensions, wheel diameters, and materials have changed, but the basic design has stayed the same. A wheelchair provides mobility on hard flat surfaces but limits travel when inclines get steeper and surfaces get softer. 

Swenson, with his mechanic’s understanding of how machines work came up with a plan for a new type of wheelchair, a way to build a better more mobile chair. The design had two tracks rather than four wheels. And using standard wheelchair components for the propulsion and control systems, and relying on his decades of experience around sport vehicles, he got to work. 

Making the first chair took about a month, but no matter. The results were an extremely capable chair and a newly enabled—and thrilled—son. The name: ActionTracker.

His plan wasn’t to go into business of making these new chairs. He was building it to help his son, but if there was any interest, he would build a few more. Well, the first Action Trackchair™ generated quite a bit of interest, so more chairs were built. 

As Swenson learned more about his customers’ needs, he realized that just getting around wasn’t enough for most people in wheelchairs. They wanted to be able to participate in activities. Borrowing ideas from other outdoor vehicles, Swenson added a fishing-rod holder, gun mount, and a headlight. Other options followed: an umbrella holder, a headrest, gun scabbard, generator mount, utility box, and a utility tray. Swenson realized that his chairs might help people get back to work too. 

The next issue in the continuing development of the ActionTracker was to help people get closer to their work. And that was the sitting position. 

The next big development was a chair that would lift the user to a standing position, and is Swenson’s second design, the Action Trackstander. It is intended to get people back to enjoying their hobbies or jobs that are best done from a standing position. With this new chair, people have used them to play golf, do home repairs, yard work, and many other things.

Swenson’s project of making his son’s life better has led to a new career and a growing business. He started with a small shop and limited tools and has grown larger as well has his interest in helping people. It is not about selling the chairs, it about the people and their stories. The demand for the company’s chairs grew from about 125 chairs in 2011 to 300 in 2012. 

Managing the company’s growth is important to Swenson, who is more interested in helping people than merely selling chairs. Swenson displays many photos of his customers in his shop and knows quite a bit about their lives, their interests, and their hobbies. Swenson is steadfast in his belief that close customer contact is a key ingredient in developing new options and enabling more people to do as much as they can. 

Action Manufacturing is located in Marshall, MN. If you or anyone is interested in more information on the ActionTracker or Action Trackstander, call 507-532-9649 or email Tim Swenson at tim@actiontrackchair.com. The company webpage is also a great place to start exploring the wonderful possibilities of mobility at www.actiontrackchair.com