One of our favorite things to do up on top of our ridge line in Arkansas was create yard critters from scrap metal. We originally went to scrap yards, but insurance liability issues caused them all to close access to their yards. We ended up using used 20 gallon propane tanks and scrap tools and things we found at yard sales, plus things we had in the shop.
Our “Welcome Robot” doffed his hat at visitors, while giving the house number. We used a larger propane tank for him. He weighed about 200 lbs. A huge gust of wind would blow him over, or down the hill to the side of the driveway. We ended up putting a large chain around his neck, then attaching one end to a tree down the driveway farther and the other to the pole behind him – the stand for the owl and a driveway bar we put down when we were gone for any length of time. The wind would still make him LEAN, but we could pull him up and put something under a foot or two to stabilize him.
Our “Flying Pig” hung from a tree over the driveway, attached by a strong line to a branch. He ‘flew’ down the driveway, informing visitors that the time had come for pigs to, indeed, fly…
Our “Farmer Robot” stood to one side of our garage door. We had fun attaching tubing for arms and legs to the propane tank body, then finding the box for his head, flattening tubing for his feet, installing cat’s eyes marbles, and then adding the work gloves and his bandana.
Our “Mallard Duck” was attached to a pole in the middle of a brick planter in the back/side yard. He was up in the air, taking off. His head and beak were some kind of cutting ax type tool we got at a garage sale. Wings and tail were cut from sheet metal and attached to the propane tank. Rods were bent into shape, welding shorter parts for his feet.
Our “Patchwork Popadoo” Bird is shown here in our shop at my painting table before we put him out in the yard. He had fan parts as wings, various tool parts as his head, beak, and head ‘feathers’. He had bended metal for his legs and feet.
Our “Penguin Cleaning Robot” was made with a propane tank, oil funnel for his hat, farm disk of some type for his head, metal cone for his nose and other welded parts for his feet. We put fireplace tools in his gloved hands and spruced him up with his bright red bowtie. bowtie.
Our “Thanksgiving Turkey” received a permanent reprieve from becoming someone’s dinner. He’s made of a propane tank body, cut out feathers from sheet metal, a farm tool part for his head and beak, rolled up metal for his headpiece and wattle and ‘wings,’ and rods for his feet. He lived at the base of a tree at the top of the driveway.
And, finally, we didn’t create anything with this one – I just painted it. We had a 1,000 gallon propane tank between the house and the shop. It was white and really stood out. I tried to make it look like a watermelon. The propane fill-up guy laughed his head off when he came up to fill it, took a picture, and left laughing. It made my day. :0)
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