Heavy-Duty Toboggan Seats 7 Adults

Heavy-Duty Toboggan Seats 7 Adults AG WORLD 30-6-23 This home-built toboggan seats 7 adults comfortably, but has provided thrills for as many as 9 at one time. Bill Vogel Jr. of Bowmanville, Ontario says the 10-ft. long plastic toboggan took only one short afternoon to build, yet its performance has exceeded their expectations. "We belong to a fair-sized youth group and also have a pretty big toboggan hill, so we wanted something that would be suitable for teenagers and adults," Vogel explains. "My dad works at a welding fabrication plant and they install plastic dump truck box liners. My dad brought home some 24-in. wide scraps." The black plastic was 3/4 in. thick, so a carpenter friend used a router to make 10 grooves (each 1/2-in. deep and wide) in the bottom, from front to back. The grooves make the toboggan travel straight down the hill. "Then we took a torch and heated up the plastic to curve up the front edge. We held the 1 1/2-ft. curved section in place until it hardened, and then took some light-duty chain and bolted it from the curved edge to the bottom of the toboggan," says Vogel, who put a wood strip on the front and back edge. "Lastly, we used 1/2-in. wide nylon strapping to make hand holds by bolting down a series of loops on each side." Upon testing, the toboggan worked far better than they thought it would. Because there was room for more people, the added weight made it go much faster than other toboggans they had used. "The only problem was, when we would hit bumps, people were hurting themselves with sore backs and bums," he says. "So we took it to an upholstery place down the road and they made a nice thick foam pad with a soft vinyl cover on it." Vogel says his family and the youth group have been using the toboggan for about six years now, and it's "been a hit with everybody." It has also proved to be extremely durable. "The only drawback is that it's a big heavy thing û it weighs 50 to 60 pounds," he says. "One person can pull it up on foot, but it's a big chore. Instead, we use a snowmobile to pull it up the hill. There's an eyebolt on the front for clipping a nylon rope to." To add to the winter fun at their toboggan/ski hill, the family has an old school bus parked at the bottom of the hill for shelter. They took the bench seats out and installed a wood stove. "We have a bunch of armchairs in there that we got cheap from auction sales, and a couple of tables," he says. "That's our ski chalet where we can watch the others while we warm up." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bill Vogel Jr., 3090 Conc. 8, R.R. 5, Stn. Main, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada L1C 3K6 (ph 905 263-4417).

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