2020 - Volume #44, Issue #1, Page #20
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Mobile Mini Ferris Wheel
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“The spool was used for underground cable and made from 1 1/4-in. steel tubing,” says Peterson. “I put a 1 1/2-in. shaft through it for an axle and welded it solid. It rides in bearings mounted to a framework of 2 by 4-in., rectangular steel tubing with a large sprocket at one end of the axle.”
The triangular framework raised the spool about 3 ft. off the ground. This allowed him to mount the 4 seats to the spool.
“I bent pipe in the shape I wanted and formed 16-ga., galvanized steel into the shape of the seat,” says Peterson. “The seats mount to the outside rim of the spool with 1-in. shafts on bearings.
They are about 40 in. wide and can fit 3 kids.”
A hydraulic motor connected to a set of 3 speed reducing sprockets turns the Ferris wheel. A hydraulic pump mounted to a nearby 1970 Allis Chalmers lawn mower provides power.
“I built the framework with a skid base, but once I put it on its trailer, I’ve never taken it off,” says Peterson.
He built the 6 by 8-ft. trailer using steel from an old trailer house tongue for the main frame. The interior frame was fabricated from angle iron and steel tubing finished off by a board floor. The wheels and spindles were salvaged from an old car he scrapped out. Four large turnbuckles secure the Ferris wheel to the floor.
“I take the Ferris wheel to family reunions and local events,” says Peterson.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Don Peterson, 827 W 400 S, Heyburn, Idaho 83336 (ph 208 431-7363).
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