Loading day is always exciting! We’ve done it many times over the years and this experience has allowed us the opportunity to have systems to make the job easy, quick and safe. Lifting points are designed and built into every feature. We believe there should be no drama or frantic running around on moving day for that is when things can go badly. To be safe, the space under an active lift is absolutely off limits. One of our favourite tricks to speed things up and keep our crew away from the danger zone are the swivel wheels that allow us to easily roll the projects around our shop during fabrication and position them for loading. When we hook the piece to the crane, the wheels drop off like magic, as the feature clears the ground. We gather them up after the load to reuse on the next project.
Highland cow
The last of the welding was completed on the armature for the highland cow. A matching horse armature will be finished tomorrow. Next week, the crew will tie on the lath and get ready for the sculpting, which will happen the following week. The two sculpted animals will form part of a roping attraction at Kraay’s Family Farm in Lacombe, Alberta. Stay tuned to watch them come to life…
Mine carts
We built a giant waterwheel for Kraay’s Family Farm two years ago, which they use to bring water to the gem mine flumes. Guests use screen boxes in water in the flumes to separate the gems from the sand. This sand currently washes down and into a pond. The owners have asked us to design and fabricate three mine cars, which will be located at the bottom of the flumes to catch and separate the sand from the water. These would make it easy to dispose of the sand by transporting it with a forklift rather than digging it out of the pond by hand. The mining carts are built extra sturdy to withstand rough handling and have two forklift holes built into the carts to allow for safe and quick transport.
