Grandpa's Midway Keeps Grandkids Entertained

Grandpa's Midway Keeps Grandkids Entertained FARM HOME Novelty Items 27-5-22 Entertaining 38 grandchildren takes some doing, but when they come to visit John Plett, he's ready for them. His on-farm Midway features a two-way cable ride, a merry-go-round, and a Ferris wheel. He credits a past FARM SHOW article for the idea of building a cable-trolley ride, although he made some important changes in the original design. "I wanted one that would go in both directions so I started looking for a way to do it," says Plett. His solution was to build a 28-ft. tall pole from 3 1/2-in. pipe at one end of the trolley. A 1/2-in. dia. cable runs from there to the top of a second pole 225 ft. away that is 9 ft. lower. At the 28-ft. tower, the cable is fastened to a roller that Plett made out of bearings and 6-in. pipe with flat plates to hold it in place against the pole. A single bolt holds the roller together. The rider gets on the trolley car at ground level at the 28-ft. pole. The car and cable are lifted to the top of the pole by a 1/4-in. cable powered by an electric winch. A brake on the trolley holds it in place until it reaches the top of the pole. At that point, the passenger releases the brake, and the trolley runs down the cable to the 9-ft. pole. When the trolley reaches the other end, the operator at the 28-ft. pole releases a brake on the winch, dropping the end of the cable down to about 9 ft. off the ground. Then the trolley runs "downhill" back to its starting point. Aside from the roller, the toughest aspect to designing the trolley cable ride was getting the right speed on the winch lift mechanism. He had to try several combinations of pulleys and brakes to get the right speed. "The winch motor was too slow by itself," explains Plett. His solution was to add a second shaft and a couple of pulleys. The winch's 1 hp motor runs a 1 1/2-in. pulley with a belt to a 12-in. pulley on an intermediate shaft. A 3-in. pulley on the other end of the shaft drives a 12-in. pulley on the winch. "A tightener on the second belt engages the winch and lifts the car and cable to the top of the pole," says Plett. "When the tightener is released, the roller comes down fast." Plett's 2-seat Ferris wheel was built from parts off an Owatonna swather. His merry-go-round is a platform mounted on a truck wheel hub. Safety comes first for this grandfather. Both the Ferris wheel and the trolley seats have a safety bar to keep kids of all ages from falling off. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Plett, Rt. 1, Box 53-J, Boley, Okla. 74829 (ph 918-667-3605).

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