Fast Water Slide Made From Old Elevator

Fast Water Slide Made From Old Elevator AG WORLD Instead of junking an old 60-ft Case grain elevator Gene Gatewood and his family turned it into a giant water slide that provided a lot of family fun last summer on their Willmar Minn dairy farm Like the barn dance and Halloween haunted trail they host every year the Gatewoods brainstormed the idea while milking cows “We took the flights chain and hopper off the elevator and redid the ends to make them smoother ” Gatewood explains The finished slide is about 150 ft long thanks to the addition of another 40 ft of trough built out of plywood They built a 12-ft tall platform out of wood and attached the elevator with carriage bolts that also secure the 3-ft wide poly silo liner fitted into the elevator A hose with a nozzle at the top of the slide provides plenty of water to make it fast and slippery Gatewood says “The biggest problem is you end up going further than you thought you would We set up an 80-ft long water-filled pond at the end with bales and more plastic The more water in the pond the better Ideally a person could set up a pump to circulate the water ” To keep the pond clean the Gatewoods pull away the end bales of their “pond” to drain the water and scrub the plastic clean and rinse it off The Gatewoods and their three adult children invited friends and church members to use the slide several times this summer The slide was solid enough for a 375-lb person to enjoy “It’s just fun to get family neighbors and friends together ” Gatewood says He adds that like the dance and haunted trail it appears the slide will be an annual attraction and one more way to have fun on the farm Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Gene Gatewood 7130 90th Ave SE Willmar Minn 56201 ph 320 995-6247; gsgatewood@hotmail com

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