Do You Recommend Winfield Collection?

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CJ6

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I like the looks of the Winfield Collection Ferris Wheel & Carousel (from online pictures & videos). I have a small front yard. I think I can accommodate both features, but the wife will only allow me to build one (at the moment). I classify myself as a novice at building things. I have a few questions.

1) Do you recommend one or the other (ferris wheel or carousel)? I plan on buying the plan & small parts kit from Winfield.
2) Are they hard to build?
3) Is it expensive to build with the wood & supplies?
4) I live in Colorado and we can get some strong winds. Would they survive 50mph gusts and snow buildup?

I appreciate any info you can offer. I have two young kids that I think would enjoy seeing something more than the standard store bought Christmas features.
 
I cannot speak to their motorized pieces, however I have used several of their other templates and they are top notch in my opinion. The big monster walk through mouth pictured below is one of their designs. I used a drill and simple jigsaw to cut everything out and assemble it. The tracing, cutting out, and assembly was the easy part for me, the detailed painting is the part that gets me so I dont choose anything that is too detailed. Their templates have all the painting lines as well though.
 
I have used a lot of their designs and find them very easy to build from. My only problem here "downunder" is having to make adjustments for the conversion from imperial to metric, Wish you guys up there would move into the new century LOL.
Last year I did the ferris wheel and took me about 4 months to build but it was a great hit with kids and adults alike. I lit it with a strobe which gave it more effect.
No snow or wind here but b----y hot.
 
Thanks for your inputs! I really appreciate them

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Unfortunately not without a lot of messing about with it. Undoing the numerous screws each year would, I believe, lead to holes becoming bigger over time.
I guess I am lucky because I have a large shed where I keep all my cut outs.
 
That was a great question. Thanks & thanks for the answer

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I built the carousel couple of years back now. The plans for that item were well worth the money. Project was a bit time consuming, but I started in February so made for a great winter project. I made mine so that it was somewhat collapsible since I store all my props in my basement. I have also ordered many other plans from them. I do have to say, I'm not a fan of their motors. Never had any good luck with them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed0nvu4U2IY
 
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Thanks for the info! I'm going to order the plans soon. Did anyone get their motor and small parts kit from Winfield? Is the motor good? Is the small parts kit needed?

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I've had good success with their motors and small parts. The motors are a bit on the expensive side; but having all the parts, the parts fit the motor, etc. saves tons of finding the right size bolts, nuts, linkage.... I think I've used 4 of their motors; one crapped out on me, but I didn't weather-proof it very well, so I suspect that was the issue.
 
I'm in the middle of my build of the ferris wheel. I finally have nearly all of my pieces cut out. Thanks for everyone's advice and input.
While spending the hours cutting, I was wondering, are there any decent light options? Has anyone put lights ON THE ferris wheel to add color and more interest? Can the motor handle adding the weight of battery powered led lights from the store to each arm & seat?
Thanks, again

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CJ6 said:
I like the looks of the Winfield Collection Ferris Wheel & Carousel (from online pictures & videos). I have a small front yard. I think I can accommodate both features, but the wife will only allow me to build one (at the moment). I classify myself as a novice at building things. I have a few questions.

1) Do you recommend one or the other (ferris wheel or carousel)? I plan on buying the plan & small parts kit from Winfield.
2) Are they hard to build?
3) Is it expensive to build with the wood & supplies?
4) I live in Colorado and we can get some strong winds. Would they survive 50mph gusts and snow buildup?

I appreciate any info you can offer. I have two young kids that I think would enjoy seeing something more than the standard store bought Christmas features.
Click to expand...

I have both, but due to the fact a neighbor around the corner also has them, I have not used them in my display yet.

1. Go for either, or both.. they both work very well.
2. Not hard to build, follow the instructions and you really cant go wrong.
3. Carousel is a bit more expensive than the Ferris wheel, I build my Carousel for about 150Cdn, Ferris Wheel was about 80Cdn.
4. Strong Winds and Snow.. both have pro's and con's
 
Thanks for your input, Aurbo99. I'm in the middle of the ferris wheel build. I just ordered the carousel plans, although I'm not sure I will build it due to storage needs. (I need to see of I can break it down a little to store it...maybe several large parts.. the top, bottom, middle, poles, & characters.) But, that may be next summer's project. I also ordered the plans for a teeter totter. I need to learn how to use wiper motors because I have ideas that I'd like to see happen. (I think I'm driving my wife crazy, though.)

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CJ6 said:
I'm in the middle of my build of the ferris wheel. I finally have nearly all of my pieces cut out. Thanks for everyone's advice and input.
While spending the hours cutting, I was wondering, are there any decent light options? Has anyone put lights ON THE ferris wheel to add color and more interest? Can the motor handle adding the weight of battery powered led lights from the store to each arm & seat?
Thanks, again

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Click to expand...
Most people that put on lights don't use batteries. They use slip rings. Do a search here and you find a few threads that includes links to parts.
 
I have heard from those who built the Ferris wheel that the most difficult part is getting the gears to work correctly requires a lot of adjustments. However, someone said that you can actually BUY the gears with the motor kit for another $10.00. It's in their printed catalog, but not online. I think it's the same product number, with a "D" added at the end.

I have also heard--but don't know from personal experience--that their motors are "iffy," but Buckeyelights above said he had had good experiences with most of them.

Also, I have heard the Rotozip tool highly recommended by may people for this kind of work.
 
mattyw said:
I have heard from those who built the Ferris wheel that the most difficult part is getting the gears to work correctly requires a lot of adjustments. However, someone said that you can actually BUY the gears with the motor kit for another $10.00. It's in their printed catalog, but not online. I think it's the same product number, with a "D" added at the end.

I have also heard--but don't know from personal experience--that their motors are "iffy," but Buckeyelights above said he had had good experiences with most of them.

Also, I have heard the Rotozip tool highly recommended by may people for this kind of work.
Click to expand...

When I built the dancing Santa I used a windshield wiper motor, haven't tried their motors


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I wish I knew about the gears. They need to put it online. Oh well.
I have already cut out the small gear. Still need to cut the big gear. I scanned the gears part of the plans and printed out at 100% so there was no scaling. That way I can print as many copies and try to cut as many gears until I get it right.

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OK, I just looked it up. It was from a person named Andy Anderson, and it was on the Christmas Fan Club forum. It is in the Winfield catalog #132 on page 13 as Deluxe Motor Kit MOT3-D. According to him, it costs $10 more than the regular motor kit. I'm like you--wish I had known this. However, notice that you have to buy the motor, too, and I had not planned to buy that one, in favor of a windshield wiper motor. I am in the process of building the Ferris wheel right now, but I had planned to try to find a company offering CNC services, since the drawing is full-size. If anyone has done something like that, I would appreciate feedback.
 
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