This is great!! 👍 My grandkids would totally love this and would have an absolute blast playing on it, but they’d have to get the grownups off of it first!!.. LoL
Thank you for the kind words. I am not selling them yet but maybe in a year or two I will have my fab shop set up and then would be able to. It would be hard for me to say a price at this time. If and when I get to the point that I can manufacture them, I will reach back out to you and the others that have expressed interest, and check in to report cost and check if still interested.
Hi Justin, I've searched the internet and your teeter totter design is the best I've seen. Nice job! My daughter asked for a teeter totter for her birthday so I'm going to try to build one like yours but I'm no where near as advanced as you with working with metal and know nothing about welding. I'm getting help from friend who welds but was hoping you might also be able to help with some recommendations on a parts/materials list? I got the basics for the pivot/tilt mechanism but wanted to know if you had recommendations for the square tube, t-handle, any other hardware as well? I'll be heading to a local metal shop to see what I can pull together so anything you could help prepare me with would be hugely appreciated. Best regards, Jim
Hello Jim. Thanks for the comment. To answer some of your questions; I used a 2”x2”x 1/4” thick steel tube as the main beam. I got it from a local steel supplier. I would say that in hind sight, it was probably a little too thick. 3/16” or I dare say 1/8” would have probably been fine especially since the board helps support the load as well. The vertical tubes I found at work, but I don’t see why you couldn’t find some cutoffs at your local steel supplier as well that would be close to the size needed for the weld in spindle. I would recommend you get as heavy of wall as possible for this piece. The sleeve that goes into the ground, again check the local supplier and try to get it to fit as close to your main vertical as possible so it isn’t sloppy and wiggly while the teetering is going on. When I put the sleeve in the ground, I welded a couple of tabs on it so when I poured the concrete around it, it wouldn’t slide up or down in the concrete. (Probably unnecessary, but I over do everything). The pivot pin, I used a 5/8” or 7/8” hitch pin from tractor supply of enough length to pass through all of my parts and bushings. Again, figuring a hitch pin is good enough to drag a farm implement through a field for years, it ought to be good enough for a teeter totter. The piece that bolts to the hub is a piece of channel large enough to get the hole pattern in for the hub and weld my end pieces on. I want to say it was a six inch wide piece probably six inches long too. The handles are just basic solid round stock 1” in diameter. The special part of these is I didn’t just weld the point they came together at to form the T. I cut a 1/2” wide strip of steel, heated it and bent it in half around the 1” bar at the top extending down the vertical part of the handle about 3” on each side and 100% welded it out to strap down the handle to the vert. I didn’t trust that one joint that the T made so I reinforced it with the strap, ground it down really smooth and Bobs your uncle. When I mounted the handles to the main beam, I put a bushing in the main beam all the way through the beam and made the handles go all the way through the bushing and out the bottom. I made the bushings long enough with enough material below the bottom of the main beam that I could pin the handles below the main beam. I used grade 8 bolts for these pins. Hopefully I’ve given you a few more insights into how I made mine. If you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
Justin Marcotte Hey Justin, this is extremely helpful info. I got my trailer hub the other day so now I can go steel hunting. Appreciate your help and can’t wait to get started!
I would like to but right now isn’t the best time. Maybe someday in the future. Are you interested or just curious in general? What do you think the kit would be worth?
@@justinmarcotte5272 That's a great question - certainly, you could put a price on the parts, but to value your time/labor? I'd have to leave that up to you! I don't know how long it would take you to build - your design and welding expertise are far beyond my pay grade! I've been looking for a spinning teeter totter for my kids for a long time and nothing comes close to the quality/appearance like yours: its perfect. Please do let me know if you find yourself with the time to make one in the future. Thanks!
I'm actually looking at putting kits together to sell. If and when I do, I will list it on eBay and let you know where to look once its up. Out of curiosity, are you looking for just the piece to drill and weld together yourself or are you looking for a more finished product that you just have to bolt together?
I love it!
This is great!! 👍 My grandkids would totally love this and would have an absolute blast playing on it, but they’d have to get the grownups off of it first!!.. LoL
I really love this. You are very creative and talented. Are you selling these on EBay yet. Would love to know the price…
Thank you for the kind words. I am not selling them yet but maybe in a year or two I will have my fab shop set up and then would be able to. It would be hard for me to say a price at this time. If and when I get to the point that I can manufacture them, I will reach back out to you and the others that have expressed interest, and check in to report cost and check if still interested.
Hi Justin, I've searched the internet and your teeter totter design is the best I've seen. Nice job! My daughter asked for a teeter totter for her birthday so I'm going to try to build one like yours but I'm no where near as advanced as you with working with metal and know nothing about welding. I'm getting help from friend who welds but was hoping you might also be able to help with some recommendations on a parts/materials list? I got the basics for the pivot/tilt mechanism but wanted to know if you had recommendations for the square tube, t-handle, any other hardware as well? I'll be heading to a local metal shop to see what I can pull together so anything you could help prepare me with would be hugely appreciated. Best regards, Jim
Hello Jim. Thanks for the comment. To answer some of your questions; I used a 2”x2”x 1/4” thick steel tube as the main beam. I got it from a local steel supplier. I would say that in hind sight, it was probably a little too thick. 3/16” or I dare say 1/8” would have probably been fine especially since the board helps support the load as well. The vertical tubes I found at work, but I don’t see why you couldn’t find some cutoffs at your local steel supplier as well that would be close to the size needed for the weld in spindle. I would recommend you get as heavy of wall as possible for this piece. The sleeve that goes into the ground, again check the local supplier and try to get it to fit as close to your main vertical as possible so it isn’t sloppy and wiggly while the teetering is going on. When I put the sleeve in the ground, I welded a couple of tabs on it so when I poured the concrete around it, it wouldn’t slide up or down in the concrete. (Probably unnecessary, but I over do everything). The pivot pin, I used a 5/8” or 7/8” hitch pin from tractor supply of enough length to pass through all of my parts and bushings. Again, figuring a hitch pin is good enough to drag a farm implement through a field for years, it ought to be good enough for a teeter totter. The piece that bolts to the hub is a piece of channel large enough to get the hole pattern in for the hub and weld my end pieces on. I want to say it was a six inch wide piece probably six inches long too. The handles are just basic solid round stock 1” in diameter. The special part of these is I didn’t just weld the point they came together at to form the T. I cut a 1/2” wide strip of steel, heated it and bent it in half around the 1” bar at the top extending down the vertical part of the handle about 3” on each side and 100% welded it out to strap down the handle to the vert. I didn’t trust that one joint that the T made so I reinforced it with the strap, ground it down really smooth and Bobs your uncle. When I mounted the handles to the main beam, I put a bushing in the main beam all the way through the beam and made the handles go all the way through the bushing and out the bottom. I made the bushings long enough with enough material below the bottom of the main beam that I could pin the handles below the main beam. I used grade 8 bolts for these pins.
Hopefully I’ve given you a few more insights into how I made mine. If you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
Justin Marcotte Hey Justin, this is extremely helpful info. I got my trailer hub the other day so now I can go steel hunting. Appreciate your help and can’t wait to get started!
Justin, this is incredible - would you ever make such a spinning teeter totter to sell?
I would like to but right now isn’t the best time. Maybe someday in the future. Are you interested or just curious in general? What do you think the kit would be worth?
@@justinmarcotte5272 That's a great question - certainly, you could put a price on the parts, but to value your time/labor? I'd have to leave that up to you! I don't know how long it would take you to build - your design and welding expertise are far beyond my pay grade! I've been looking for a spinning teeter totter for my kids for a long time and nothing comes close to the quality/appearance like yours: its perfect. Please do let me know if you find yourself with the time to make one in the future. Thanks!
I want to buy it as well
Do you sale a kit is love to buy one. Thanks Sonya
I'm actually looking at putting kits together to sell. If and when I do, I will list it on eBay and let you know where to look once its up. Out of curiosity, are you looking for just the piece to drill and weld together yourself or are you looking for a more finished product that you just have to bolt together?
Have you started selling them yet?