Kids Love These Big Wheel Buses

Kids Love These Big Wheel Buses SCHOOLBUS CONVERSIONS Schoolbus Conversions 30-6-18 Both kids and adults like riding in these two monster buses built by Kelly Batsch and Justin Finser. Passengers sit more than 7 ft. off the ground as they tour Amazing Exotics, a 100-acre nonprofit facility for unwanted exotic animals. Batsch says kids especially love climbing into the tiger-striped orange and black bus with its four-wheel steering and open-sided design. "Kids love it when we crab-walk to the side with that big bus.". A second big bus remains school bus yellow. Though it doesn't crab walk, the big 4-WD with its 429 Cobra Jet engine does have its original roof and windows. They protect visitors as the bus races through a giant mud hole on the edge of a marsh. Creating the giant buses was an adventure for Batsch as he helped Finser rip the original vehicles apart and rebuild them. The safari bus was the first effort. "We cut the roof off and stripped the chassis down to nothing. We remounted it on two steel I-beams," recalls Batsch. "We took two front axles, a transfer case and front suspension systems from 5-ton military trucks." They modified the suspension systems to fit the school bus frame, but replaced the original bus engine with a same-size 350 cu. in. motor. They then connected the original bus transmission to the military differential to get front wheel drive. While the two were able to utilize the bus steering for the front axle, they jury-rigged a system to steer the back axle. They mounted an electric starter motor to power a hydraulic pump above the rear axle. It was connected to the original hydraulic steering mechanism of the axle. A switch labeled left and right was installed on the driver's console to activate the motor and direct the wheels. The second bus was also stripped down, set on I-beams and outfitted with front and back axles, transfer case and suspension systems, also from 5-ton military trucks. Instead of staying with just the original automatic transmission, they added a standard transmission between it and the transfer case to provide the equivalent of more than 20 gears. The low end of the gears offers plenty of torque for grinding through the mud hole. What really gets the attention of kids and adults alike are the 66-in. tall, 44-in. wide tires built for use on heavy industrial equipment or fertilizer spreaders. The men had to custom fabricate wheels to match up to the military axles. Mounting them was the biggest part of the adventure, recalls Batsch. Batsch and Finser fabricated a folding ladder to get up into the safari bus. For the big yellow bus, they welded ramps from two moving vans together and mounted one end on 4 by 4 posts. The bus backs up to the ramp and people get on or off. The buses have served the facility well as entertainment for guests and to promote Amazing Exotics at local parades. Batsch says operational changes at the facility have resulted in the decision to sell the buses. Although appraised at more than $50,000 each, they are being offered for sale at $30,000 apiece or $50,000 for the two of them. "They'll be a steal for the right person or persons," says Batsch. "The tires alone ran $25,000 for the two sets of four, and then there were the custom made wheels. The buses themselves were the least expensive part of the entire project." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Amazing Exotics, SR 452, Umatilla, Fla. 32784 (ph 352 821-1234; fax 352 821-4225; yrf45@aol.com; www.amazingexotics.com).

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