Radio Controls Bring Toys To Life

Radio Controls Bring Toys To Life FARM HOME recreation Robert Denson stops crowds in their tracks at farm toy shows when his 1/16 scale models start moving Equipped with electric motors miniature gears hydraulics and radio receivers they work like real equipment raising and lowering implements augers and more “Inevitably someone at a show will try to pick the models apart ” says Denson “They’ll ask ‘Can it do this or can it do that?’ Then I show them it can ” Denson’s first car and truck models were carved from 2 by 4 lumber when he was growing up on an Arkansas farm His first motorized model was a plastic Bigfoot Monster model truck his dad put together “I thought it would be cool if it moved so I took motors out of a couple old hair dryers and some small gears and attached them to the wheels ” he recalls “It ran on D cell batteries ” After Denson joined the Army his first duty station was in Germany where he discovered radio-controlled RC toys When he returned to the U S he renewed his hobby at first buying 1/16-scale toys “I realized they weren’t accurate ” he says “They lacked detail ” Having operated farm equipment for a neighbor as a teenager Denson knew the detail that was missing In 1991 he built his first from-scratch Deere 9610 combine out of wood with all the exterior features of a real combine “I took it to a toy show in 1992 and I could have sold it 10 times over ” says Denson Over the next few months he motorized it with a gear head from a battery-powered screwdriver and a toggle switch for going backward and forward The response at a second toy show in early 1993 encouraged him to keep going By that fall he had it fully radio-controlled with a rotating reel rotating auger and a header that could be raised or lowered It had a better drive system a swing-out auger cab lights and other details built into the cab and engine Since then Denson has continued refining and expanding his list of RC models some scratch-built and others modified from commercial 1/16-scale toys He gets help from local equipment dealers who appreciate his skills “They’ll call me to let me know a new model has come in and I might want to take a look ” he says “I’ll take detailed pictures down to how many bolts are holding the axles together ” That information comes in handy when he is building “If I can’t make a model look like the real thing I won’t ” says Denson His favorite model is a radio-controlled AGCO Terra-Gator 8103 he built from scratch He still recalls the first day he saw one in a field and realized he was hooked While on guard duty at an airport after 9/11 he saw a man with an AGCO jacket Denson carrying an automatic rifle stopped him “He told me he would give me anything I wanted ” laughs Denson “I told him what I wanted to do He was an engineer and later supplied me with 3D drawings which I sized to match some truck tires I already had ” As with his other models this one required a lot of patience as he tried to find parts He gets about 75 percent of parts from Europe often fabricating what he can’t find “There are no suppliers of miniature hydraulic parts pistons motors or pumps in the U S ” says Denson “You have to figure out where to get things and how to modify them When I was building the Terra-Gator I needed some leather strips for the steps One day I walked through the ladies shoe section at Wal-Mart and saw a pair with leather straps that were perfect so I bought them just for the straps ” For the Terra-Gator he found a source for a miniature liquid hydraulic system It controls the booms wrapping and unwrapping them as well as lifting and lowering them He also equipped the Terra-Gator with lights a truck sound system and a detailed driver’s cab with the letters and markings of the full-size spreader “It took nearly a year to complete ” recalls Denson “It still pleases crowds at shows ” Over the years Denson has assembled a collection of more than 30 RC models including a Caterpillar 140H motor grader with full motion blade and a 4-WD Deere tractor with a planter that lifts and lowers A semi trailer pulls up to combines that extend their augers and other tractors pull a plow and a disk that lift and lower Occasionally he will put one of his models on the market He has sold non RC combine models for $1 200 each He recently put his cotton module truck on the market “One of the hardest things is how to price these models ” says Denson “It could go anywhere from $1 500 on up ” While Denson has built RC models to order he prefers doing them for himself and entertaining others at toy shows “I enjoy doing this as a hobby and encouraging others to build their own ” he says “If someone calls I can spend hours talking about how to do things There are a lot of guys with this hobby and we share ideas on what to use and how to do it ” Check out the video at farmshow com Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Robert Denson 1015 S Mcauley Dr West Memphis Ark 72301 ph 901 240-6141 rtdjr45@gmail com

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