Our Ferris wheel build

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1983ss454

New member
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I had plans of making a Ferris wheel after last year because my gemmy one just didn’t fit the bill In my display. I was driving my son to school past some construction and seen one of these spools on the side of the road. I thought that would be perfect. After asking around one of my dads neighbors knew someone at the construction company and they dropped one off in my dads yard. The base is built out of 2 by 4’s and angle iron from an old bed frame I had laying around. There a 1” whole shaft running through the middle with pillow bearing in both ends, you can spin the wheel with your pinky finger. There is a 12 volt wheel chair motor drive the belt with a 1” to 10” pulley set up
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toozie21 said:
Very nice, how you plan on storing that beast?!

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Easy, I have a very large lot. The red shed in the pictures is my Christmas shed. It’s 12 feet off the property line. Originally I was going to disassemble the wheel and store it in there. But decided that was too much work. So I built a room in the back of the shed that only I know is there. 2 minutes with a screw guy and the wall comes down, lay out the Ramps and the wheel assembly rolls in. Base goes in the shed


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I have a 6 wire slip ring for the wheel, allowing me to install pixels on all the spokes. So the effect should be a turning pixel spinner when its compete


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That is some mighty fine work you have done.
Did you use a projector for your dwarf cutouts?
1983ss454 said:
I have a 6 wire slip ring for the wheel, allowing me to install pixels on all the spokes. So the effect should be a turning pixel spinner when its compete


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Just put it back together after painting this morning, now to wire and install the pixels


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This is some great work. I have been wanting to do a wheel for years. I would be interesting to see your power/motor configuration to get the bad boy moving.

edit: just read above how you power and move it. great job.
 
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That is the same reel I used for the bottom ring of my megatree. I just cut out all the struts and welded in 1/2 conduit with a metal flange in the middle to center it on my pole.
 
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Looking awesome! That build came together really nice both mechanically and the artwork. I plan to do one some year, but I don't have the room for one of your size. I'll have to make it lighter and have the ability to take it apart for storage.... Which is why it hasn't been done yet :).
 
Dkelly0802 said:
Just goes to show everyone you don't have to spend a fortune if you use your imagination and abilities. Very nice job.
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I’d say less then $300, not sure exactly . wheel chair motors and power supply a little pricey. But we recycled all the wood for boarding up the house windows during hurricane Irma to make the seats and characters


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WOW that is awesome looking, man you have put some hours into that thing i know and the characters wow they look great.
How is he going to store it someone asked.. i wanna know how do you move it i know its got to be heavy.
 
Pcguy17 said:
WOW that is awesome looking, man you have put some hours into that thing i know and the characters wow they look great.
How is he going to store it someone asked.. i wanna know how do you move it i know its got to be heavy.
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For storage that pretty easy, now getting it all the back to storage can be complicated. It’s heavy but not too bad. Luckily for me I have good help, my dad and I have done displays for 25 years together, so I always have help on jobs that need more then one hand. The key to making these big things is to plan them to function but also think about disassembly and storage as you go. I have a large carousel as well that breaks down into 4-5 pieces and is assembled in the yard, would never work as a single unit. This Ferris wheel the base is made of 2 by 4’s and angle iron, pretty easy to move around and store I just drive my truck into the backyard and fill it and drive to the front, assemble and go back for more. The wheel is a little heavy, but a big advantage of living in Florida is no snow, i can roll it all the way to its storage spot if need be. It bolts on each upright with pillow bearings. Then we have 2 little 2 by 4 ramps that allow us to roll the wheel up and down during assembly and disassembly. My plan right now after I get it out of the garage is to bolt lawn mower wheels to one end and have a bolt on hitch on the other. Assemble in the back yard the week before it goes into the yard, test and then tow it to its place in the display. Hand tools and 5 minutes and the wheels and hitch are removed and ready for display.
I was worried we wouldn’t complete it in time for this years display. I first saw the wheels in January, but I didn’t end up getting one to work on until August 20th


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