# Kids Teeter Totter



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

New Project. Our daughter wants a teeter totter for her grandson...in John Deere Green. :surprise: Should fit right in on their 70 Acre farm. :grin:


----------



## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

To bad they couldn't implement a shock system that doesn't allow it to plow into the ground when the other kid jumps off . 
I think they outlawed them here , as I've never seen them for years ?


----------



## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

Good grief man, get the nomenclature correct for heavens sake. Thats a SEE SAW.
As in "see saw marjorie door."

You colonials.....


----------



## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

RainMan 2.0 said:


> To bad they couldn't implement a shock system that doesn't allow it to plow into the ground when the other kid jumps off .
> I think they outlawed them here , as I've never seen them for years ?


Rember when your 'friends' would pile on the other end so you were stuck way up in the air and couldn't get off?
No?! You mean it was just _my_ friends that did it to me? :surprise:


----------



## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

Wait! what!
you had FRIENDS????


----------



## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

*I Mispoke*



sunnybob said:


> Wait! what!
> you had FRIENDS????


Yeh, OK, 'acquaintances'... :wink:


----------



## Everend (Mar 15, 2013)

I built this design for my boys a few years ago. It works well. I used treared Lumber without painting or stain. The arms have twisted pretty bad so one boy leans left the other leans right.


----------



## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

add a friction brake...


----------



## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

a see saw for a kid with no friends like Dan had

https://www.google.com.cy/search?q=...NAhVFAsAKHRPlBDUQsAQIGg#imgrc=xVw54w-dts9E7M:


----------



## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

We called that a "see saw". I think I am right.


----------



## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Y'mean like this?


----------



## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

My dad put ours on a log. We had a lot of fun with it.


----------



## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

hawkeye10 said:


> We called that a "see saw". I think I am right.


you are...


----------



## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

...not.

(We called them both, up here)
Apparently the word 'see-saw' is from French and the word 'teeter-totter' is Nordic.
Just be glad they didn't find a Welsh word!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seesaw


----------



## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

and I bet you never played in the streets...


----------



## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

I did! 
Had many one sided conversations with the cops about playing baseball on the street.
Fortunately for me, the one time my 'acquaintances' put a ball through a car's windshield I was elsewhere.


----------



## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

sure you were...
w/ acquaintances like yours who needs enemies.....


----------



## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

In California, we used both names, but See Saw is most familiar to me.


----------



## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

grew up w/ seesaw...
no changing the game plan now...


----------



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

I don't know why I didn't call it a see saw. I knew that. Brain freeze I guess.


----------



## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

With Stick's Nordic heritage you'd think he'd know better.


----------



## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

my family came over on the land bridge...


----------



## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

*Family Resemblance?*



Stick486 said:


> my family came over on the land bridge...


Aha!...


----------



## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

little slooow on the uptake but your catching on....


----------



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Update: The See Saw (formerly known as a Teeter Totter!) is finished! :surprise:

Actually, it was easy to build. I worried too much about how the parts were going to fit together. Turns out, no problem at all.

The wood consists of 2 2x4's and 2 2x6's 8 foot long.
One box of three inch deck screws...and a few 1 1/2 inchers.
One quart of John Deere Green and a quart of John Deere Yellow.
One 1 inch dowel rod, one piece of 1/2 inch galvanized pipe and a 1/2 inch bolt 10 inches long (that I had to cut down).

Part of my dilema is I needed a spacer for each side so the moving parts wouldn't rub. That is where my wife's cutting board came into play. As it turns out, it was 1/4 inch thick and made a perfect spacer. After machining (sic!) the spacer, i mounted each one with countersunk screws. That made it so easy to assemble the frame to the totter! 

Here are a few pics. We even did a trial run and it is a keeper. Our grandson-in-law is here attending some training classes at a local school so he will be toting it back to Oklahoma this weekend.

Oh, I forgot, I had a little help with the touch-up painting! :grin:

Finally, the work bench is clear and ready for the next project. :grin:


----------



## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

very nice Mike...

can I make a couple of suggestion...

acorn finish nuts...
thick fender washers where metal (tube/bolt heads) contact wood...
gussets from the base/stand to the vertical...

kids in high gear can tear up anvils...


----------



## kklowell (Dec 26, 2014)

Very nice! 
How big is your shop??


----------



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

kklowell said:


> Very nice!
> How big is your shop??


It's a one car garage! :surprise::grin:


----------



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Stick486 said:


> very nice Mike...
> 
> can I make a couple of suggestion...
> 
> ...


I couldn't find my picture last night of the plastic spacer so here it is. To get a 9 inch finished length, I had to buy a 10 inch bolt and cut it. The fender washer and the thicker washer were necessary because the bolt wasn't threaded enough after cutting it to length. The 1/2 inch pipe is cut flush with the outside of the assembled see saw. The fender washers keep it in place.

With the double nuts, I am able to adjust the friction between the supports and the totter. After finding the right adjustment, we then locked it in place with the second nut. There aren't any threads protruding that could cause harm to the little ones.

The see saw works great. We gave it a trial run/break in yesterday evening. Unfortunately, I can't get the video to play in Photobucket. :frown:


----------



## vindaloo (May 30, 2009)

When you said you were building this I think I might have over-thought what you were going to end up with. This is great yet a fairly simply build. I have no idea what I was thinking but it was definately more difficult to build than what you have done. Good job Mike. Sure the kids will enjoy for years to come, and the little painter has bragging rrights on the paint job to boot.


----------



## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

"The fender washer and the thicker washer were necessary because the bolt wasn't threaded enough after cutting it to length."
-Mike

Doesn't that make you crazy?! Fortunately we have a well stocked fastener emporium up here; they can usually supply me with a work-around._ Fully_ threaded bolts are available.


----------



## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Wait...what? You don't want 300 of them?


----------



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Yeah, the big box store had 1/2 x 6,7,8...&10!


----------



## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Nice work Mike , that turned out really well . Looks like your helper was having a good time too


----------

