It’s kinda sketchy! Building & Riding the Teeter Cannon

Welcome back to Burn Peak last week we built this twisty and steep swing. Your reaction was a bit mixed. Some people said it's really cool and some people said it's the dumbest thing I've ever seen. Now you can't train. the trail with other people and it interrupts your flow and you are right at some point we will have to build some kind of loop and that will be another fun project now other people really loved the seesaw and actually made an interesting observation it looks like a jump penis just looks like a

cannon

that you can shoot out of it.

I'm very interested in exploring that possibility and that's what we're doing this week, so before we start I have to do some revisions. The rocker arm when this thing hits with the full force of a bike the posts tend to come out of the ground a little bit and it doesn't seem to affect the way the rocker arm works but over time they will loosen up. up, so we're going to dig in, I'm going to put some reinforcements in there, we're going to put it back together and then once the rocker is marked, we're going to start figuring out how we can turn this into a canon.

Some commenters noticed the posts moving and suggested I google fence post, dead man, it looked like exactly what we needed, so we're covering scrap wood perpendicular to the posts and even running some pieces across once So we buried all this and packed it up. Lowering the same ground that the seesaw is sitting on will prevent the pole from rising out of the ground if we are going to hit this seesaw hard enough to throw it, I want to make extra sure it stays in place, these don't come out of the ground anymore , although you can even hit it, it just wobbles, so when the swing gets here, I want it to sit on top of a platform or you can just launch yourself from the swing, clear the platform and use it as a step. down, no, how are you going to get the momentum to make the jump?

I guess once you've built it, it might be quiet, you know what I mean, yeah, it's going to be super quiet, yeah, I want to see your

cannon

firing at this thing. Kevin was very discouraged by my swinging. canyon idea and I guess I can't really blame him, there's no guarantee this is going to work and if it does it will be a test of the heart but that's what Burn Peak is all about. I can go for a nice gentle jump. lines any time I want, so what I build here is experimental, it's meant to challenge people, and because it will move when you throw it, even the most experienced rider will have to learn something to be able to ride it.

I'm excited, I'm trying to center these posts with the seesaw so we can build our structure in the right place. This part is crucial since we won't have much wiggle room to adjust it later and it doesn't help that I'm just making educated guesses about how a rocker gun would behave once the posts are aligned. I can start to frame out what the platform and landing of the rocker gun will be. Oscar. I can't operate this saw with you here. Here you see the glove, hey, give me the glove, okay, run out with it, I'm just going to double check this, so I'm going to cut this pattern here that will allow it to sit on the support that we placed here and will allow a board to go here as a transition, so I'm going to make three pieces exactly like this so we can use it to frame our landing, so we're going to delay this support and then these guys are going to sit down. on top, like this, Kevin taught me with a rebel hoe, instead of digging and pulling everything back, you skim through the top and remove layer by layer and it's much easier and much faster.

I can remove this in just After a few minutes using that technique with the platform and landing framed, we're past the point of adjusting anything, so this better work, but there's still a lot we can mess up. I'm piling the stone and dirt on the bottom. of the landing so that the wood makes a good transition to the path, then we will put planks on top of the platform, so now that the platform is boarded, I have to make this fit a little better right now, there is like a little drop down menu I have to make a notch in this area right here that way it will be a little bit smoother transition now it's sitting flat you could come down from this bump to here and just roll down the ramp or Like this, like this, I have this for when It's time to ship the cannon, but for now we can try this normal.

I think it's going to be super smooth, so get on the bike and see how it goes. It's fun, I'm going to do it again, okay. I just experimented with taking the front wheel off and retaining it and it doesn't feel that complicated so last night this morning I was really nervous about having to hit this thing because you know. I had the idea about a week and a half ago and now I'm looking down the barrel of this thing and wondering what I was thinking, but after

riding

it a couple of times I'm not that afraid of it.

I think I'm going to climb really fast and when I get to the top I'll figure it out. I think everything will be fine. I feel like I could get more speed through the rock garden with my full suspension, but on my hardtail I think I'll feel more confident on the jump. I think I have to try a little less hard and try to float on it because I know I drifted a little bit and that scared me because the seesaw goes down. Tendency to throw yourself backwards and when you're going crazy you have to compensate for it.

That felt a little better. I'm not afraid of him anymore. I'm going to go to the session and try to perfect it, so that's the swing cannon. The first thing I thought when I built this is, man, wouldn't it be fun if it blew up and a bunch of you did too? So I'm glad we were able to build it and I'm glad it actually works. I don't feel as incomplete as I probably really do. The sketchiest part is speeding it up and I'll probably want to work on that process a bit before inviting any of my friends to try it, but either way I hope this video entertained you.

I hope it gave you a little 10 minute escape from this crazy world. Thank you for traveling with me today. I'll see you next time.