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Minis with Heart |
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Our obstacle course is getting on the old side and about once a year we do a walk through of all the obstacles to check the condition and safety. The Teeter Totter had some weak boards and we did not feel it was safe for the horses to cross anymore. So we decided to rebuild it. |
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Tanglewood Farms Lois Anderson or Lora Bozarth 10930 1/2 Rosedale Hwy Bakersfield, California 93312 Phone: 661 319-3519 |
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First we had to get it to the shop to work on it. We got heavy ropes and tied it to the bucket of the tractor. Chris picked it up carefully and away we went to the shop for the make over. |
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We checked the stand that the Teeter Totter sits on and leveled the dirt on both sides of the center bar. Then we turned our attention to the main body of the Teeter Totter. We removed all of the old boards and welded up some cracks. After all it gets slammed against the ground every time a horse goes across. We did add some addition bracing to make the frame stronger. |
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And we decided on using 2x6 boards instead of 2x4 boards again for added strength. We cut the boards and placed them in the channel iron, being careful to get a tight fit between boards. We also replaced the board side rails with flat steel plates, then we drilled the plates and bolted them to the frame, sandwiching the boards in place. To keep the boards water proof we coated them in linseed oil and then 2 coats of varnish. I must say they looked beautiful next to the black frame. |
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We got the tractor and reset the new teeter totter back on the center rail. I must say it looked great. Chris got busy and washed the dirt off. And we drew straws to see who would drive across it first. That is when we found out we had a problem. The surface was to slick from the varnish and the horses wanted to slip. Not a good thing. |
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We needed to make the surface slip proof. So out came the can of varnish and we put a heavy coat of varnish on the board and sprinkled sand in the wet varnish. Well this helped a lot but it still was not good enough. Next we went on the hunt to the local hardware store to find something to keep the horses from slipping. |
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What we found was good old indoor outdoor carpet. We cut a 3 foot wide strip of carpet and screwed it to the center of the teeter totter and it worked perfect. An added benefit is that it helps keep the horses centered when crossing. We learned a lot rebuilding this obstacle and we thought it would be helpful to all the people who would like to try something like the teeter totter. |
