thunderbolt85:
I think this is the trailer you are talking about (?)...

https://i.ebayimg.com/im...AOSwmPFcXHJo/s-l1600.jpg 

No, that trailer does not look familiar to me.

---

I had heard that two wheels were ordered from that company in 1986, one by Strates and the other by Bob Moegerle. Story as I heard it was that Strates made arrangements to get their first and the company went out of business before they finished Moegerle's wheel.

That could well be, but I seem to recall the currency exchange rate movement played a part in it. I remember Raul Hoffman (RIP) laughing about how cheap they got it.

Boy, that crew that came with it could drink some beer...

---

thunderbolt85:
I think this is the trailer you are talking about (?)...

https://i.ebayimg.com/im...AOSwmPFcXHJo/s-l1600.jpg 

Yep that is the one, boy my memory is getting bad, it was red, not black. Maybe it was just a shop load, can't tell what that is at the back door, so maybe it never did have what I though. Oh well, the mind is just not what it used to be getting old.

That could well be, but I seem to recall the currency exchange rate movement played a part in it. I remember Raul Hoffman (RIP) laughing about how cheap they got it.

Boy, that crew that came with it could drink some beer...

Remember a story in AB with Don Deggeller talking about he spent a million on his wheel, Strates spent a million (at least according to the story) and he was discussing the sky rocketing price of rides and talking about shows buying the big stuff together and ride sharing.

Only thing I know of that came of that talk was the deal between Strates, Murphy, Coleman, and Reithoffer buying that Log Flume.

Wow, didn't know that Raul Hoffman had died, sorry I missed that last year. Meet him one year in Augusta GA, real nice guy.

Yeah Deggeller' s was the first one I saw and that was in 88, had that awful looking "pinkel" color on the towers. Wasn't it green and white or something when they first got it?

Strates wheel was sharp when I first saw it in 88, once Deggeller set his up at the Upper SC State Fair, then Reithoffer put theirs up at the Piedmont Interstate fair, and Strates in Anderson.

Strates had at one time some nice decorative lights around the outside of the platform but I think they have dropped those now and all the lights were very coordinated and all of them lit. In Anderson that first year they tore it down on Friday night leaving only the towers and base (without the platforms) on the last Saturday.

Yes i remember the those decorative lights that were around the perimeter of the platform. Made the ride look that much better and I never saw them on another wheel. Wonder what happened to them?

I think the Talley wheel is the best looking of them ALL...

integrated Dog House/Control Station on the front of the platform

integrated back wall scenery on the back of the platform

light up the 2 front tower legs (like a Mulligan wheel would have)

integrated lights on the bonnets of the gondolas and also on the gondolas them selfs

Remember a story in AB with Don Deggeller talking about he spent a million on his wheel, Strates spent a million (at least according to the story) and he was discussing the sky rocketing price of rides and talking about shows buying the big stuff together and ride sharing.

Only thing I know of that came of that talk was the deal between Strates, Murphy, Coleman, and Reithoffer buying that Log Flume.

Wow, didn't know that Raul Hoffman had died, sorry I missed that last year. Meet him one year in Augusta GA, real nice guy.

Yeah, he was a great guy. Saw him a couple of years ago at a winter spot in FL. Sat in the office complex with him and another old friend and we cut it up for a couple of hours. He was smart, fair and not to be f*cked with. RIP old friend.

---

Yep that is the one, boy my memory is getting bad, it was red, not black. Maybe it was just a shop load, can't tell what that is at the back door, so maybe it never did have what I though. Oh well, the mind is just not what it used to be getting old.

Unless I'm mistaken, I'm thinking I remember it being painted blue (maybe it was repainted?).

In the Strates documentary Carnival Train, at about 1:36:50, could this be the inside of the Giant Wheel trailer?


https://www.folkstreams.net/film-detail.php?id=200 

---

That could well be, but I seem to recall the currency exchange rate movement played a part in it. I remember Raul Hoffman (RIP) laughing about how cheap they got it.

Sorry to hear about Raul Hoffman. He was a really nice guy. I didn't know him personally, but I'll never forget the first time I met him was in Delaware, I want to say it was maybe 1984 (Strates used to play a still date every year in Delaware, not far from my home). On an afternoon that the show was being set-up I was walking around the lot and came across Raul (I didn't know who he was) and we got to talking about the show and rides in general. He was very knowledgeable. We ended up talking for quite a while. near the end of our conversation, I asked him if there was any way to get an official Strates Shows t-shirt. Raul walked me to the office compound and took me into the office and introduced me to Tom Nimea (the manager at the time) and left me in the office to chat for a few minutes. He went somewhere and came back with not one, but two Strates shirts and gave them to me.

In memory of Raul Hoffman, here are links to two videos in which he is interviewed...

In the documentary Carnival Train...

https://www.folkstreams.net/film-detail.php?id=200 


at 1:20:06... Raul Hoffann talks about how he got his start in the business with Strates Shows and talks about show folk and the business.

At 1:32:38... Raul Hoffman talks about the character of show people and how caring they are.

At 1:38:24,
and at 1:39:08... Raul Hoffman talks briefly about some of the people who they take in to work for the show.



In the following video Raul Hoffman is interviewed exclusively in 2008 while he was Train Master and he tells all about the train...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KIAlMABN-o&t=1442s 

---

Some bits and pieces of information on Dutch wheels in general...


While reading the replies to the topic of "Large Wheels", I remembered something I posted on MCW back in 2005 on the history of Dutch wheels. I did a search to see if it might still be in the MCW archive... It is.

I copied and pasted it here, for anyone who may be interested in seeing it...

Background/history on Dutch wheels, some may find interesting...

The following is some background information on "Dutch" wheels (A sort of drawn-out, roundabout history tracing Helmut Hauser, Jan Bakker and Kroon's involvement with manufacturing wheels).....

The Kalenkoot Brothers (Louis, Rinke and Gijsbert) were Dutch Showmen who owned a early Dutch Gondoa wheel after the second World War.
In 1959, the Kalenkoot's had their first steel wheel built and began taking it into germany along with games they also owned. They called the wheel "Jupiter". With success in Germany, they decided that it was time to build something bigger amd more modern.
In 1964, the Kalenkoot's contracted with Vekoma to build a 26 meter high wheel, with 20 gondolas.
The wheel was designed by Carel Ruijsink, a construction engineer from Nimwegen.
This wheel was the very first construction Vekoma did for the amusement industry and thus was the ride that gave them their start in the ride manufacturing business.
The Kalenkoot's also called this wheel "Jupiter".
In 1968, the kalenkoots had another "Jupiter" wheel built by Vekoma, with over 24 gondolas.
(The Kalenkoot's had a total of 4 "Jupiter" wheels built, the largest a 44 meter wheel was built in 1972. Vekoma was also involved with the construction of this wheel with a couple other manufacturers).

Jan Bakker, a Showman from Apeldoorn, operated his first 24 meter high wheel in 1963. (Later, Bakker would also become a successful manufacturer building not only wheels, but other rides as well).

From the experience he gained from operating his own wheel. Jan Bakker wanted to become involved with manufacturing wheels.
In 1976, Bakker teamed up with Engineer Carel Ruijsink to do the design and drawings for a 33 meter wheel. That year, Bakker built his first 33 meter-high wheel for the Dutch Showman company Kroon from Overschild. the first wheel had 24 Gondolas that Bakker had manufactured in Spain. Instead of a cable drive, the wheel had a more modern friction drive. Because Ruijsink did the design drawings, he is acknowledged as being the inventor of the 33 meter, which became a popular standard size.
A few years after the 33 meter wheel was built for Kroon, it was sold to a Showman in Switzerland and kroon and Bakker began planning a larger wheel, in excess of 40 meters. In order for the venture to be profitable, Bakker would have to secure several orders for the wheel before he began production. At first, Kroon, Conklin and an amusement park in Holland were interested. The amusement park cancelled their order and Conklin was favoring a smaller 33 meter wheel. Bakker shelved the 40+ meter wheel (temporairly) and instead built another 33 meter wheel for kroon and one for Conklin. Conklin's wheel gained notariety for being the first transportable wheel in the USA in excess of 30 meters in height.
A few years later, Bakker built a huge 53 meter wheel for Maple Leaf Village , Niagara Falls, Canada. He also built a 44 meter wheel with enclosed gondolas for French showman Verstighel.
Bakker passed away in 1981.
The successor to Bakker's company was Carrousel Holland (CAH), also of Apeldoorn.
Carrousel Holland designed and built several large-diamater wheels. One of their most famous wheels was the "Colossus" wheel built in 1984 for the Louisiana Worlds Fair, later sold to the Six Flags Group. This wheel was built mainly with the technology from the Canadian wheel built by Bakker a few years prior.

After Bakker's company ceased to exist, the Showman company Kroon decided in 1985 to begin manufacturing wheels.
Technically, the kroon wheel was based on the 1976 Bakker construction, which had been designed by Ruijsink.
10 wheels were produced in the Kroon factories in Sappermeer and Overschild. 5 were sold to the US, including Reithoffer Shows and Seaside Park, NJ (wheel with enclosed cabins).

Helmut Hauser, son-In-Law of Jan Bakker also became a manufacturer. His company Hauser/Interfair built wheels as well as other amusement constructions. Hauser's company built the wheel for strates Shows.
Hauser also became known for another innovation in the 1980's for a relatively light weight wheel of approximately 30 meters in height, mounted on a center trailer.
Hauser reportedly sold two of these trailer mounted wheels in the US (Note: One of these Hauser trailer-mounted wheels is the wheel that is now located at Fun Spot in Orlando, FL).

(Source of above History of Dutch wheels: Kirmes & Park Revue- March/April 2002 issue).

The wheel at fun Spot was engineered by Helmut Hauser and manufactured by International Constructions, bv, Apeldoorn, Holland.
(source: documentation on file at Fun Spot)
Note: Helmut Hauser was Son-In-Law of Dutch Showman and ride manufacturer Jan Bakker.

Here is a link to a misc. photo of a dutch wheel with an elaborate front/boarding area, taken in 1965. It is labeled as being a "26m" wheel and as being owned by J. Bakker - Denies of Apeldoorn, Holland...
https://beeldbank.kortrijk.be/in...38b903f2e2567?s=&c=2 


Update on the Dutch trailer-mounted wheel that was at Fun Spot in Orlando...

The wheel that was at Fun spot in Orlando was sold, dismantled and removed. It either already has been or is going to be replaced with a brand new Technical Park wheel. According to the press release, the wheel was at the park since 1997 and was the first ride purchased for the park...

Press Release:
https://fun-spot.com/new-ferris-wheel/  

An article in the Orlando Sentinel stated, "it was manufactured in 1987, Fun Spot records show."...
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/...gone-20190423-story.html 


Due to its positioning, it was difficult to see the trailer under the wheel unless you were right up next to the loading area.
Here are links to a few (of numerous) pictures of the (former) Fun Spot wheel that I found online...

https://www.themeparkarchive.com/Archive/Medium/10564.jpg 
https://www.themeparkarchive.com/Archive/Medium/10560.jpg 
https://photos.orlandowe...13/06/8-Ferris-Wheel.jpg 



Maybe everyone has already seen this video of the Kroon wheel that was on Funtown Pier in seaside Park, NJ that was destroyed by Hurricane (aka Super Storm Sandy) back in Oct., 2012. In case anyone missed it, this is the video of it being torn down in April, 2013...

https://943thepoint.com/video-of...-wheel-being-demolished/ 

---

that was interesting reading JW, thanks for sharing that. In today's fair market, as competitive as it is, I wonder why NAME has not purchased a large wheel such as the above mentioned shows did. Especially since most of those showman say it is their top producing ride.

I can only speak to the 33m Houser wheel, but at a busy spot, it could not consistently beat a Reverchon Himalaya and it takes twice as many trailers and a crane.

---

Unless I'm mistaken, I'm thinking I remember it being painted blue (maybe it was repainted?).

In the Strates documentary Carnival Train, at about 1:36:50, could this be the inside of the Giant Wheel trailer?


https://www.folkstreams.net/film-detail.php?id=200 

sure looks like it, looking out the window seems like the base of the G. Wheel.

Some great memories in that video of the show and what they had back then.

Some bits and pieces of information on Dutch wheels in general...


While reading the replies to the topic of "Large Wheels", I remembered something I posted on MCW back in 2005 on the history of Dutch wheels. I did a search to see if it might still be in the MCW archive... It is.

I copied and pasted it here, for anyone who may be interested in seeing it...

Background/history on Dutch wheels, some may find interesting...

The following is some background information on "Dutch" wheels (A sort of drawn-out, roundabout history tracing Helmut Hauser, Jan Bakker and Kroon's involvement with manufacturing wheels).....

The Kalenkoot Brothers (Louis, Rinke and Gijsbert) were Dutch Showmen who owned a early Dutch Gondoa wheel after the second World War.
In 1959, the Kalenkoot's had their first steel wheel built and began taking it into germany along with games they also owned. They called the wheel "Jupiter". With success in Germany, they decided that it was time to build something bigger amd more modern.
In 1964, the Kalenkoot's contracted with Vekoma to build a 26 meter high wheel, with 20 gondolas.
The wheel was designed by Carel Ruijsink, a construction engineer from Nimwegen.
This wheel was the very first construction Vekoma did for the amusement industry and thus was the ride that gave them their start in the ride manufacturing business.
The Kalenkoot's also called this wheel "Jupiter".
In 1968, the kalenkoots had another "Jupiter" wheel built by Vekoma, with over 24 gondolas.
(The Kalenkoot's had a total of 4 "Jupiter" wheels built, the largest a 44 meter wheel was built in 1972. Vekoma was also involved with the construction of this wheel with a couple other manufacturers).

Jan Bakker, a Showman from Apeldoorn, operated his first 24 meter high wheel in 1963. (Later, Bakker would also become a successful manufacturer building not only wheels, but other rides as well).

From the experience he gained from operating his own wheel. Jan Bakker wanted to become involved with manufacturing wheels.
In 1976, Bakker teamed up with Engineer Carel Ruijsink to do the design and drawings for a 33 meter wheel. That year, Bakker built his first 33 meter-high wheel for the Dutch Showman company Kroon from Overschild. the first wheel had 24 Gondolas that Bakker had manufactured in Spain. Instead of a cable drive, the wheel had a more modern friction drive. Because Ruijsink did the design drawings, he is acknowledged as being the inventor of the 33 meter, which became a popular standard size.
A few years after the 33 meter wheel was built for Kroon, it was sold to a Showman in Switzerland and kroon and Bakker began planning a larger wheel, in excess of 40 meters. In order for the venture to be profitable, Bakker would have to secure several orders for the wheel before he began production. At first, Kroon, Conklin and an amusement park in Holland were interested. The amusement park cancelled their order and Conklin was favoring a smaller 33 meter wheel. Bakker shelved the 40+ meter wheel (temporairly) and instead built another 33 meter wheel for kroon and one for Conklin. Conklin's wheel gained notariety for being the first transportable wheel in the USA in excess of 30 meters in height.
A few years later, Bakker built a huge 53 meter wheel for Maple Leaf Village , Niagara Falls, Canada. He also built a 44 meter wheel with enclosed gondolas for French showman Verstighel.
Bakker passed away in 1981.
The successor to Bakker's company was Carrousel Holland (CAH), also of Apeldoorn.
Carrousel Holland designed and built several large-diamater wheels. One of their most famous wheels was the "Colossus" wheel built in 1984 for the Louisiana Worlds Fair, later sold to the Six Flags Group. This wheel was built mainly with the technology from the Canadian wheel built by Bakker a few years prior.

After Bakker's company ceased to exist, the Showman company Kroon decided in 1985 to begin manufacturing wheels.
Technically, the kroon wheel was based on the 1976 Bakker construction, which had been designed by Ruijsink.
10 wheels were produced in the Kroon factories in Sappermeer and Overschild. 5 were sold to the US, including Reithoffer Shows and Seaside Park, NJ (wheel with enclosed cabins).

Helmut Hauser, son-In-Law of Jan Bakker also became a manufacturer. His company Hauser/Interfair built wheels as well as other amusement constructions. Hauser's company built the wheel for strates Shows.
Hauser also became known for another innovation in the 1980's for a relatively light weight wheel of approximately 30 meters in height, mounted on a center trailer.
Hauser reportedly sold two of these trailer mounted wheels in the US (Note: One of these Hauser trailer-mounted wheels is the wheel that is now located at Fun Spot in Orlando, FL).

(Source of above History of Dutch wheels: Kirmes & Park Revue- March/April 2002 issue).

The wheel at fun Spot was engineered by Helmut Hauser and manufactured by International Constructions, bv, Apeldoorn, Holland.
(source: documentation on file at Fun Spot)
Note: Helmut Hauser was Son-In-Law of Dutch Showman and ride manufacturer Jan Bakker.

Here is a link to a misc. photo of a dutch wheel with an elaborate front/boarding area, taken in 1965. It is labeled as being a "26m" wheel and as being owned by J. Bakker - Denies of Apeldoorn, Holland...
https://beeldbank.kortrijk.be/in...38b903f2e2567?s=&c=2 


Update on the Dutch trailer-mounted wheel that was at Fun Spot in Orlando...

The wheel that was at Fun spot in Orlando was sold, dismantled and removed. It either already has been or is going to be replaced with a brand new Technical Park wheel. According to the press release, the wheel was at the park since 1997 and was the first ride purchased for the park...

Press Release:
https://fun-spot.com/new-ferris-wheel/  

An article in the Orlando Sentinel stated, "it was manufactured in 1987, Fun Spot records show."...
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/...gone-20190423-story.html 


Due to its positioning, it was difficult to see the trailer under the wheel unless you were right up next to the loading area.
Here are links to a few (of numerous) pictures of the (former) Fun Spot wheel that I found online...

https://www.themeparkarchive.com/Archive/Medium/10564.jpg 
https://www.themeparkarchive.com/Archive/Medium/10560.jpg 
https://photos.orlandowe...13/06/8-Ferris-Wheel.jpg 



Maybe everyone has already seen this video of the Kroon wheel that was on Funtown Pier in seaside Park, NJ that was destroyed by Hurricane (aka Super Storm Sandy) back in Oct., 2012. In case anyone missed it, this is the video of it being torn down in April, 2013...

https://943thepoint.com/video-of...-wheel-being-demolished/ 

That was a great history lesson, thanks for posting.

I can only speak to the 33m Houser wheel, but at a busy spot, it could not consistently beat a Reverchon Himalaya and it takes twice as many trailers and a crane.

Interesting, question though (if you were still with them when they had it), how did the Super Sizzler match up to the Scrambler since Strates had both on the midway for a while, but he got rid of the S. Sizzler first.

Also, few other questions if you remember:

What year did he drop the Rock O Plane (loved the green/yellow and green/white colors).

Did Strates own a Paratrooper, or did he just book one (never saw one in Anderson).