ferris wheel variants

( I would suggest you read the carnival terminology page before you read this as there might be a few confusing terms. Click on the pages tab at the top of the page, you might have to scroll up, and then click on it and click on carnival terminology) Today I want to talk about something a bit off topic. Its still in the realm of carnivals, but doesn't have to do much with the knex rides. Lets call it a fun fact. Hey new article variant, fun ride facts. ( and ride variants article)
Anyways I wanted to say how many different Ferris wheels there are. That is portable, I don't do much on park models. ( the difference being portables tear down, and park models stay up most of the time) Ok, this list will be in declining size of the wheel.

GIANT WHEEL.
The giant wheel is, to my knowledge, the largest portable wheel available. It splits into not 1, not 2, but 4 different trailers. One is the right tower, one is the left tower, one houses the wheel, and the last houses the seats, rims and other parts. It is often owned by large amusement company's, like Deggeller Attractions, and sometimes has color changing lights. It is said to take around 2 days to setup. It has 20 seats.

MULLIGAN WHEEL
The mulligan wheel isn't as common, but can be seen at powers great American midways shows. The mulligan wheel is around the same size as the century wheel, but does rack different. The mulligan wheel has 2 trailers, 1 for the wheel, and the towers, and 1 for the seats, rim irons etc. One odd thing, is that the mulligan wheel often has flags on the seats, and is the only large scale wheel to have a star light in the middle, But the pictured one does not.

GRAND WHEEL
The Grand wheel I only know of by research, and I have never seen it in person. I've read that it is the largest 1 trailer wheel available, and that the seats come apart for racking. That's all I know.

GONDOLA WHEEL
Also known as the fabbri wheel, it is a rather unique and rare wheel. It has oddly shaped tubs, has 16 sweeps, and only has a rim iron on 1 side of the wheel instead of both. Also all of the sweeps detach for racking. (thanks to http://carnivalchasing.blogspot.com/  for the first pic of the gondola wheel)

The above pic is the park version of the ride. I know I said I dont do park models. but this is the closest thing I could find to a setup pic. Why there are no lights on it I dont know.

CENTURY WHEEL
The century wheel is the largest 1 trailer wheel I have seen, but that doesn't mean its the largest in existence. It is a rather large wheel, and takes around 1 day to setup. Even to this day, I have never seen it fold, but I know, like the giant, and mulligan wheel, it unfolds side to side, instead of all the way around. Meaning, instead of unfolding it all from the right, they pull out a sweep on the right, then the left, then the right, etc etc.

EXPO WHEEL
The expo wheel isn't as common ad the century or giant wheels. But I know a bit about it. Its is the only gondola wheel (meaning the seats have tops and tubs) that has straight towers instead of arch towers. (arch towers are like ^ and straight towers are | ) It is also to my knowledge the only gondola wheel that unfolds around instead of left to right. In recent years it has new colors and color changing lights.

ELI EAGLE 16 WHEEL
The eagle 16 wheel is I believe the largest Eli wheel. It is often seen with rim drive, but sometimes cable. It also has an extra large A frame, with 8 sweeps instead of 6. It has 16 seats, and a double star light. I have personally never seen it, but I have seen many pictures. The sweeps fold like other eli wheels.

ELI HY 5
This is the most common sized eli wheel. It has 12 seats, but racks different, as the out ring, instead of detaching, has hinges, which fold in towards the A frame, which makes it easier to fold. It has a double star, and comes in rim or cable drive.

ELI HY 5 2
This wheel is the same size as the HY 5. It has 12 seats, but usually has no outer ring. This wheel is usually rim drive, so it has a metal inner ring but no outer. It has a double star, usually multi colored, as well as lights on the ends of the sweeps. It also folds different. Instead of stopping to fold in the ring, they fold all of the inner ring first, then fold the sweeps, so they don't have to stop.

WISDOM WHEEL
The wisdom wheel is a Ferris wheel that looks almost exactly like the eli wheels, but racks a lot different. The outer ring comes off, making the fold time around 20 minutes, instead of like 10 for the eli wheels. The towers have hinges in the middle instead of the base, and the wisdom wheels don't have an A frame. They often have signs in the front, instead of cluster lights. The name Wisdom wheel is my best guess.

ELI LITTLE WHEEL
The last one is the eli little wheel. It often has only like 5 or 6 seats, sometimes has like 12 sweeps. It usually only folds about 40% and is no taller then 17 1/2 tall. It, like most kiddie rides, doesn't take much to tear down.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Of these wheels I have made the Fabbri Gondola wheel, the mulligan wheel, which was turned into the gondola wheel because of issue in racking, Century wheel, Expo, Eli hy 5, Eli hy 5 2, wisdom wheel, eli little wheel. I also made the giant wheel, but it only lasted like 2 days, and I barely remember it. More knex rides and ride variants articles to come.