Thread: Flying Ghost over yard

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I'm overthinking my project and could use some experinced Yard Haunters advice. I'm going to run a cable from a telephone pole to a tree and fly a grim reaper back and forth over my graveyard. The reaper will be store bought weighing 5 pounds. I was going to use a rotisserie motor and small bike wheels to create a "amusment park cable car" type of thing. Any thoughts on a better way?

Google "axeworthy ghost" and you will get many links to similar projects!

Eric

Axeworthy is what you are describing. One thing to keep in mind. Most of us that have developed axeworthies, have learned the critical aspect of weight. I run a small pulley axeworthy, with 5 small ghoulies flying around my front yard. But my ghouls only weigh about 6 ozs each. 5 lbs is a lot to suspend horizontally on a cable. So in your design make sure you use deep enough pulleys and a line that will not stretch. You will need a very taut line. I use 150 lb nylon fishing line for my axworthy.

Yea, that's a lot of weight. Like trying to fly a 5 lb. bag of sugar across your yard.
Might think about making your own lightweight reaper.

I remember an old member using a ceiling fan motor to power his because he said it has alot of torque. He even rigged up a plastic bowl to protect it from the rain.

I run a fairly heavy ghost (about 2 lbs) in my haunt. Here is a photo from a tutorial I made on what I came up with to fly my ghost.



It runs at a slow drift and the line is TIGHT. 5 pounds might be too much unless your distance between wheels is really short.

Originally Posted by Deadna

I remember an old member using a ceiling fan motor to power his because he said it has alot of torque. He even rigged up a plastic bowl to protect it from the rain.

I wasted a whole bunch of time trying to slow down a ceiling fan for an Axeworthy ghost. Couldn't make it happen and it was way too fast. A ceiling fan does not have lot of torque, but it might work with a light ghost.