Combine Made Into Huge Playground
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Jacob Lones used his grandfather’s 1960s-era Massey-Ferguson 410 combine as the centerpiece of a massive playset for his son Forrest Ray and his friends. Lones says his grandfather had parked the combine in a shed on his Ohio farm in the mid-1990s, and it was just taking up space. “He was glad to let me have it to make more room in the shed,” Lones says.
The idea for the combine playset came to Lones when he saw pictures of a Deere 6600 combine with a large bench in place of the header. A slide was attached to another part of the machine. “I immediately thought of grandpa’s old machine and said to myself, ‘I can build something like that, or even better.’”
Lones moved the old Massey to a level spot in his yard so he and his wife could see it from their house’s deck. He jacked it up to take weight off the wheels, leveled it on four concrete footers and left the transmission in gear. He raised the four-row, 40-in. corn head 2 ft. off the ground and built a metal frame underneath to support it. Metal tubing across the top of the head created ledgers to support wooden deck stringers.
“The deck is level with the cab door, has sturdy railings and extends across the corn head,” Lones says. “I connected two race slides and a 180-degree tunnel to go out from the deck down to the ground. Forrest and his buddies can climb steps I salvaged from a 6600 combine to the deck. They can slide down a large enclosed red tube or an open red slide. They can also access the deck by navigating a wooden climbing wall using a rope and foot pegs. A wooden bridge extends to another platform with a tic-tac-toe spinner, a swirly slide, a tunnel slide and the main stairs to climb onto the deck.”
Lones acquired the equipment from a company that recycles older playground equipment. “It was just what I needed and in the right colors, too,” he says.
“The kids have access to the cab and all its controls, so they can let their imaginations go wild,” Lones says. “The steering wheel, gear shift, throttle, combine controls and brakes are disconnected so they can move levers and pretend they’re driving and harvesting. What little kid isn’t going to enjoy that?”
Lones says the project took him about a month to build, working after his regular job and on weekends.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jacob Lones, 7505 Miller Rd. NE, Thornville, Ohio 43076.
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Combine Made Into Huge Playground COMBINES Modifications acob Lones used his grandfather’s 1960s-era Massey-Ferguson 410 combine as the centerpiece of a massive playset for his son Forrest Ray and his friends Lones says his grandfather had parked the combine in a shed on his Ohio farm in the mid-1990s and it was just taking up space “He was glad to let me have it to make more room in the shed ” Lones says The idea for the combine playset came to Lones when he saw pictures of a Deere 6600 combine with a large bench in place of the header A slide was attached to another part of the machine “I immediately thought of grandpa’s old machine and said to myself ‘I can build something like that or even better ’” Lones moved the old Massey to a level spot in his yard so he and his wife could see it from their house’s deck He jacked it up to take weight off the wheels leveled it on four concrete footers and left the transmission in gear He raised the four-row 40-in corn head 2 ft off the ground and built a metal frame underneath to support it Metal tubing across the top of the head created ledgers to support wooden deck stringers “The deck is level with the cab door has sturdy railings and extends across the corn head ” Lones says “I connected two race slides and a 180-degree tunnel to go out from the deck down to the ground Forrest and his buddies can climb steps I salvaged from a 6600 combine to the deck They can slide down a large enclosed red tube or an open red slide They can also access the deck by navigating a wooden climbing wall using a rope and foot pegs A wooden bridge extends to another platform with a tic-tac-toe spinner a swirly slide a tunnel slide and the main stairs to climb onto the deck ” Lones acquired the equipment from a company that recycles older playground equipment “It was just what I needed and in the right colors too ” he says “The kids have access to the cab and all its controls so they can let their imaginations go wild ” Lones says “The steering wheel gear shift throttle combine controls and brakes are disconnected so they can move levers and pretend they’re driving and harvesting What little kid isn’t going to enjoy that?” Lones says the project took him about a month to build working after his regular job and on weekends Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jacob Lones 7505 Miller Rd NE Thornville Ohio 43076
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