Truck Cannon Shoots Pumpkins

Truck Cannon Shoots Pumpkins AG WORLD Nowadays you can’t have a pumpkin patch business without having some kind of pumpkin chucker In Burns Kan at the Walters’ Pumpkin Patch the theory seems to be “go big or go home ”     With 500 gal of air at 40 psi propelling 8-lb pumpkins more than half a mile Carroll Walter’s Pumpgun Cannon attracts a crowd

    “The dads love it There’s nothing more fun than watching a pumpkin flying through the air ” says Carroll’s wife Becky who planted the seed for the pumpkin business when she started growing and selling mini pumpkins in 1986     To promote the business in area parades her husband Carroll mounted the cannon on a 1954 Chevy grain truck with a 14-ft bed and a hoist He painted the truck orange and black and mounted an empty 500-gal propane tank on back     Becky dubbed it the Pumpgun Cannon and it’s a big draw every weekend from the third weekend in September through October On the hour an air horn is blown A large air compressor fills the tank with air The hoist raises the “cannon” to about a 30-degree angle After a countdown the large valve releases a blast of air to shoot the pumpkin out of a 20-ft long 8-in dia oil field pipe     It’s just one of the many attractions the Walters offer but it’s the loudest “It makes a big boom when the air is released ” Carroll says “Ninety percent of our customers live in the city The men say ‘I’ve got to have one of those ’ It’s comical to hear people’s reactions They ask questions and are interested and fascinated ”     See it in action on YouTube at Pumpkin Cannon     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Carroll and Becky Walters Walters’ Pumpkin Patch 10001 NW U S Highway 77 Burns Kan 66840 ph 316 320-4150; www thewaltersfarm com

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