Best wide wheelchair??

[BoyFallDown]

Hi, I'm a pretty big guy (6'4" 250lbs), but unfortunately I was measured for my first chair after spending nearly 3 months on a feeding tube and having lost over 50 lbs. A year later and I'm back to about my normal size.

My current chair cushion is 18" wide, and my jeans are constantly making whirring noises as the wheels scrape past, it's very annoying. So I'm looking to upgrade to a new chair, but it seems the maximum normal width is 20".

Does anyone have any recommendations for chairs that are rated for 250-300lbs and maybe 22" seat width?

On a related note, how wide can a chair get before it starts to get difficult to maneuver in public?

[~Lin]

Side guards will help reduce the wheels scraping your jeans, though they may slightly decrease usable space so if the seat size is too small for you it may be too tight with side guards. But if its just a little amount of squeeze it can help.

It also depends on what kind of chair you have and how you mount the side guards. For example I know there was a post here by SCI_OTR showing how to slightly increase usable seat space with side guards on a tilite chair.

I don't know anything about widths of chairs and the effects.

[wtf]

Do you have side guards on your chair now? If you don't, then you need to get some so your pants don't scape against the wheel. I think it's better to be in a narrower chair for manueverability. I probably should be in a 17 inch but I squeeze my booty in a 16.

[chasmengr]

First, some terminology so we can talk.

All wheelchairs sold in the US are coded for insurance-reimbursement reasons. These codes are called HCPCS (commonly pronounced 'hickpicks'). Manual chairs have the codes K0001-K0007 and K0009 (abbreviated K1-K7 and K9):


Second, to my amateur knowledge K1-K5 and K9 chairs have maximum weight capacities of 250# including clothes and carry ons. For example, here is TiLite's disclaimer:


K6 and K7 chairs are specifically manufactured with higher weight capacities:


Most posts on CCC are about K5 and K9 chairs. While researching for my first chair, I came across only one Manufacturer of K6-K7 chairs (Wheelchairs of Kansas), but I wasn't looking for them, so there may be many more.

That's all I can offer specifically about 250#+ chairs. But, in general, when I shopped for my chair, I looked for rigidity (non folding with continuous axle) for pushing efficiency, minimum quantity of frame holes for durability, and (because it was my first chair) adjustability of Rear Seat Height, Center of Gravity, Backrest Height, and Backrest Angle.

Correction - after a quick internet search for 'bariatric wheelchair,' I found a K4 available with up to a 25" wide seat and rated up to 300# made by Karman Healthcare.

[t8burst]

A couple inches can make a big difference. I was measured for my first chair in rehab with a TLSO brace on (for you non-SCI people, this is an instrument of torture placed on people with mid-thoracic injuries). Because of the brace they put me in a 18 inch wide chair (and also one with way too high a back, but I digress). A year later I got a 16 inch wide chair that fit and that two inches makes a lot of difference. Like WTF said, get some side guards and wedge your captian's quarters in. I am kinda wishing I had gone down to 15 inches and done that.

[wtf]

Originally Posted by t8burst

I am kinda wishing I had gone down to 15 inches and done that.

You could probably do that, aren't you kind of a slim guy? The guy who told me to go smaller worked for a dme and was in a chair himself. If I remember right, he was in a 14 and he could whip around alot faster, not to mention fit thru tighter spaces.

[t8burst]

Originally Posted by wtf

You could probably do that, aren't you kind of a slim guy? The guy who told me to go smaller worked for a dme and was in a chair himself. If I remember right, he was in a 14 and he could whip around alot faster, not to mention fit thru tighter spaces.

Yeah, I could definitely fit in a 15 I can sit in the 16 without sideguards and not hit the wheels, I got talked out of it by a PT. I got my TLSO off and was swimming in the 18inch chair I had, and the PT said it was crazy to go down 3 inches. I have my ZRA pretty dialed in so I may buy myself a ZR as a present this year or even go with one of those magnesium lashers. I'm 5'11 and about 165 so I don't think I will ever get into a 14inch chair, don't have any more muscle mass to lose in my butt or legs

[Patton57]

I have two heavy duty Quickie 2HPs. One is 16" wide and the other is 17. They have different frames (the 16 has a heavy duty crossbar and heavy duty frame and the other has two heavy duty cross bars and heavy duty frame). I'm around 200ish pounds and use the heavy duty frame because I'm very rough on the chair (outdoors kind of stuff) and it's the only thing that holds up.

I've broken a regular Quickie 2HP frame and a Quickie Ti frame during my years and I hate not having confidence in my chair. I'd rather deal with 10 extra pounds of chair than something where the hardware is breaking every few days and the frame always makes you wonder.

[stephen212]

Originally Posted by t8burst

Yeah, I could definitely fit in a 15 I can sit in the 16 without sideguards and not hit the wheels, I got talked out of it by a PT. I got my TLSO off and was swimming in the 18inch chair I had, and the PT said it was crazy to go down 3 inches. I have my ZRA pretty dialed in so I may buy myself a ZR as a present this year or even go with one of those magnesium lashers. I'm 5'11 and about 165 so I don't think I will ever get into a 14inch chair, don't have any more muscle mass to lose in my butt or legs

You're now ready to start selling Icons.

[t8burst]

Originally Posted by stephen212

You're now ready to start selling Icons.

Heh, no offense to Jeff and those guys but I have no interest in an icon. Too many moving parts and I don't like the way the front end looks. That being said it would have been great when I got out of rehab, but now that I know what I want spec wise I would rather go welded and ultra-light.