My wife, father-in-law and I just finished building a “Merry-Go-Totter” (my wife rejected - “Danger-Totter”). It’s basically a teeter-totter that can spin.
The key is in the plumbing hardware that acts as the teeter-totter fulcrum and merry-go-round bearing. A ˝ inch hardened steel rod passes horizontally through the long board and a centered ˝ inch cast iron plumbing tee (with one inch of threaded pipe bushings on each side of the tee). Another 18 inch long, ˝ inch diameter hardened steel rod is vertically imbedded into a partially buried 8” by 8” by 6’ post. This top of this vertical rod is inside a six inch long, half inch diameter pipe, which is threaded into the bottom of the plumbing tee. The weight loads are transferred through the hardened steel rods since the horizontal rod rests on the vertical rod (inside the tee). All moving parts are greased. For additional support, this Merry-Go-Totter has a six inch long pipe that just fits over the bottom ˝ inch vertical pipe bearing. This outer-most pipe is fit into the post and contacts the tee. It is probably overkill.
The long board is a 12 foot 2’ by 10’. A six foot 2’ by 10’ is screwed on top of the long board. The top board acts as a leaf spring and reinforces the weakened center of the long board (since it has a ˝ inch rod running perpendicularly through it). The handles are made with cast plumbing 3/8 inch: flange, tee, pipes and caps.
Note the “landing gear” wheel casters to prevent sudden stops when a side contacts the ground during rotation.
My Merry-Go-Totter was partially built with scrap hardware, but could probably be built with all new materials for around $60.
eskimo
