Backyard Carnival Rides Provide Fun For All

Backyard Carnival Rides Provide Fun For All FARM HOME recreation 29-1-17 Tim Gearn loves to make 70-year old ladies and little kids scream with joy, and that's exactly what they do when they ride on his backyard Ferris wheel and merry-go-round. The Hereford, Texas man bought the used Ferris wheel and built the merry-go-round himself. Now he offers rides to just about anyone who wants one - civic groups, clubs, church groups, and kids of every age. "I always enjoyed carnival rides and thought it would be fun to have my own," he says. "I was particularly curious about old Eli Bridge Ferris wheels." Eli Bridge Ferris Wheels had a monopoly on mechanical Ferris wheels for years until new hydraulic units began to be introduced in the 1970's. Gearn, a retired mechanical engineer, found an old one that had been torn down and set aside. It was a park model, which meant it had been stationary, not moving from town to town. "It had about ten coats of paint on it that had to be sandblasted off. I repainted and put it back together and affixed new decals from the still-operating company," recalls Gearn. "It had a bunch of lights on it, but we put about 1,000 more on. The project was fun for the whole family." The seats needed to be repaired and new canvas covers sewn for each one. Gearn bought an industrial sewing machine, and his wife taught him to use it. His sons helped with metal and electrical work. Watching folks enjoy the 46-ft. tall, 36-passenger ride started Gearn thinking about other rides. Intrigued by carousels, he soon found out that most old wooden carousels were either in bad shape or the horses and other creatures had been sold off to collectors. "Even junk was bringing $30,000 to 40,000," recalls Gearn. He found out that before some of the carousel owners sold their hand carved horses to collectors, they had molds made in Juarez, Mexico. The foundries there cast aluminum replicas to mount back on carousels, keeping the patterns as part of the deal. "I was able to go there and buy a whole group of animals, a giraffe, a monkey, and different horses," says Gearn. "I brought them back, sanded them down and powder coated them white. Then I painted them with a special paint for their colors and powder coated them clear to protect them. They look like old porcelain." To make the carousel, Gearn mounted a 12-in. dia. pipe in concrete with a height of 16 ft. One bearing mounts at the top of the pipe and a second one is about 5 ft. lower. Similar to an umbrella, 3/4-in. rods extend out at 45 degree angles from the top bearing to a 21-ft. dia. hoop. Rods descending down from the hoop support the outside of the carousel platform. A second set of angled rods extends down from the lower bearing to support the inside edge of the platform. As the platform circulates, all but two of the 16 animals move up and down. Gearn installed a 5 hp geared motor hooked to an AC inverter. The inverter allows him infinite speeds with the AC motor. He and his wife designed a tent top and sewed it themselves. They also installed 2,200 lights and a sound system. "We had a 4-year-old birthday party out here the other day, and they all had fun," says Gearn. "That's what a carousel is for." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tim Gearn, 3532 Cr 7, Hereford, Texas 79045 (ph 806 364-4945).

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