Backyard Rides (NonCoasters)

I am currently Working on my second ride for my bcakyard. It will be called The Whip and Is a ride that will stand 12 feet. The rider is strapped in at one end of a boom and at the other end is a 200lb counter weight once the rider is safetly strapped a cable attaching the riders carraige to the ground the weight will begin to fall and send the rider upside down to the top of the boom then the operator will pull on a series of cables allowing the ride to do several flips.

Ok well my question have you ever made or heard of someone making a backyard thrill ride. What was it? Pics?

I tried making a backyard drop tower and the only reason it wasn't successful was my own stupidity I had 3 years ago at the age of 13.

Take a garage door opener, create a track for a car, tie and screw it into a swingset, tree, or other structure. Then create a car which has a wheel assembly which wraps itself around the track. Put the connector piece for the garage door opener on the car and position it perfectly so that it connects with the car and lifts it up. Attach 2 long bungee cords onto the top of the tower with a rope backup to stop the car on the way back down. Also connect a rope at the bottom of the tower which is just long enough where it pulls the release on the connector between the car and the chain itself that runs along the tower itself.

I know this really isn't a clear picture but i can send you a pic or diagram if i find anything.

That is so weird i had the EXACT same idea. that is crazy why didn't it work?

It didn't work because i was dumb in my construction of how the car attached to the tower. I didn't make it too strong and it it would sorta 'fall off' the tower. Other than that it worked fine! ;) But I'm sure it could be done, might be a good idea for you to do. The garage door opener idea works perfect for the most part, it has to be chain drive though from what I remember.

any pics?

I looked and I can't find any pics but tomorrow after school I can make you a diagram and send it to your email address.

What's the Red Racer?

Over-engineer anything you build and it won't fall apart. :) Go the extra mile with it. If you're putting your body in it, why would you risk it falling apart?

Why does this remind me of that backyard "carnival" from _Married with Children_?

Or a Vonage commercial.

haha...vonage commercial :)

The Red Racer is a Roller Coaster. It is Eight Feet tall and goes 7 mph, it is under construction as well but is nearing completion. there is station platform w/ a roof and has a heating system to melt the snow off in the winter (it gets wicked cold here in the winter)

Oooh.. I soo want to see pics. If I knowed a few acres of land I'd build somthing, maybe a small woodie at first, like, 5 feet high... haha. Sweet, and eh... PICS!

Elf, you run your coaster during the WINTER?

It gets WELL below 0 degrees fahrenheight (sp.?) where I live. How cold is it where you live?

I really would suggest finishing the coaster first and thten doing the drop tower. The drop tower is very possible and I may try it again.

well my coaster is made of PVC so if i were to run it in the winter (here in columbus it gets to single digits)the PVC would crack immedately so i devised a system that consists of a hair dryer at one end of the track and on the other a very high power vac. the Track gets very very hot and somimes warps and begins to melt. Anyway the system can also be reversed to cool the track in cols. hot summers 90-100 degrees. I have not taken any recent pics of it so i will get some and post them tomorrow. Any thoughts on "THE WHIP" idea i had? will it work(any Engineers out there)?

Well... I want to draw some diagrams for the hell of it. But eh... I'd suggeust a 300 pound counterweight... but yet again, that may be too much. But some rather large (tall, or 'big-boned' [like myself]) can be over 200 pounds, and then there would be an enqual balance not in your favor. Yet again what I learned in Physics is that if you move the weights, they exert different forces. Maybe you could make moveable weights using a pully system. I'll try to see if I can make a diagram (again for the hell of it).

Also, for the coaster. Wouldn't be easier to run warm/cold water thru the PVC? *** Edited 10/26/2005 6:36:35 AM UTC by Keith2005***

You have to love "backyard" thrills. My brother and I never built anything "mechanical" but we had a killer ramp that we constructed ourselves.

There was nothing more fun than playing Evil Knievel on our bikes. Talk about airtime! :-)

The neighbor's hill was also fun for tubing in the winter....weeeee!

-Tina

Pics?

Every winter when we'd get a good snow, my brother and I were not content just to tamp down a path to ride sleds. No, we were going to build a "bobsled course." None of this straight down the hill crap. Seeing the winter olympics for the first time will do that to you.

We'd go out and take snow from the path and pile it up and make banked turns. We even added a ramp. Sometimes we sprinkled water on it to make it icy. A few times we actually created a cool course that lasted a few days with our ultra-cool aluminum saucers and plastic rocket sleds. But then it would either get really warm or rain and turn the course to slush. Then the first time a sled would hit the bank it would plow right through it.

I think this could qualify me as a technological expert for Knoebels when they build the Flying Turns.

Damn I miss the snow... last time it snowed here in Austin was Valentine's Day 2004 I believe. When I go up to Ohio this winter I will have to do that!

And I want pics! haha *** Edited 10/28/2005 5:13:47 AM UTC by Keith2005***

^You were hardcore, RGB! Sweet!

I think we created snow ramps for our tubes a few times.

-Tina