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"Monster" Wagon Flyer Wagon
"It's a real monster and gets a lot of attention wherever I take it," says Doug Schiller of Belvidere, Ill., about his customized Radio Flyer wagon.
  The wagon rides on big garden tractor tires and has articulated steering, a battery-operated horn, backup beeper, flashing strobe lights on front and back, 3 mufflers, and an antenna-mounted flag and rollbar on back. The lights, horn and backup beeper are all battery-operated.
  The horn mounts on front of the wagon and automatically goes on whenever someone pulls the handle back toward the wagon. There's also a white ball shifter knob on front, as well as gas and brake pedals and a fake speedometer gauge.
  "I came up with the idea because I own a business selling aftermarket Corvette parts and often go to Corvette shows. I take the wagon along to draw attention to my booth," says Schiller. "Over the years a lot of people have seen it. In fact, I've made several different wagons on request."
  The wagon rides on 17-in. tall by 7-in. wide tires. "Both the front and rear wheels steer so it really turns short. When I turn right, the front wheels turn to the right and the rear wheels turn to the left. It's the same kind of steering system you find on big monster trucks at shows," says Schiller. "I built an entire chassis to keep from twisting the wagon box. At shows people sometimes crawl under the wagon to see how the steering system works."
  The wagon has 3 exhaust pipes - one on the side and two on back. Schiller made them by cutting the top off the back end of three different Corvette mufflers.
  A switch on front of the wagon is used to activate the strobe lights. Another switch on back is used to operate the backup beeper, which is mounted in the rear exhaust.
  "A lot of people have seen it. It gets a lot of oohs and aahs; in fact, sometimes I think it hurts my business because people spend more time looking at the wagon than looking at my products for sale.
  "I came up with the idea for the horn because at shows everyone wants to pull the handle toward the back of the wagon to move it a little, and that can cause paint to chip off. Now whenever someone pulls back on the handle, the horn blows which comes as a complete surprise. It's fun to see people jump."
  He uses a drycell battery designed for house security systems to operate the strobe lights, horn and backup beeper. "It's amazing how long the battery lasts û I only have to charge it about once a year," notes Schiller.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Doug Schiller, 345 Beister Drive, Belvidere, Ill. 61008 (ph 815 979-4591; flagcaddie@gmail.com).


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2011 - Volume #35, Issue #4