The Ferris Wheel

My dad built a Ferris wheel out of mainly scrap metal for his grand kids.  It’s about 12 feet tall and painted to match other playground equipment that his father made.  It looks awesome and Samantha and Ellie will tell you it’s the highlight of the trip home to visit Nana and Papa.

One of the tricks was finding an oven large enough to hold it.  He disassembled it and after three or four trips to the powder coating shop, it was done.  The wheel only had about half an inch of space on each side of the oven.

For now, he’s using a Milwaukee Drill with a 50:1 gear box to turn the wheel.  Dad’s thinking about changing it to a hydraulic motor for smoother and quieter operation.

My kids have got it so good.

Front of the Ferris Wheel Side of the Ferris Wheel with Dad

Here’s a video of it running.  Sorry it’s a bit loud.

Oh, and here’s a video of it before it was painted.  We had to test with live grand kids.

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