Barnyard Art Made From Plastic Barrels

Barnyard Art Made From Plastic Barrels AG WORLD Ag World 19-2-22 Plastic barrels and pails can be recycled into "barrel cows", says Marcel Tarte, Highgate, Vt., who has a "herd" of the critters grazing in his front yard. "I call it barnyard art," says Tarte. "I made my first barrel cow 1 1/2 years ago and our kids loved it so much I started building more of them. Before I knew it, we had an entire herd, complete with heifers and calves." Tarte drives truck for a company that sells soap in 55-gal. white plastic barrels to dairy farmers. He uses empty barrels to make the body of the cow and plastic 5-gal. pails to make the head. The legs and neck are made from 7-ft. long cedar posts cut diagonally in half. He uses a jigsaw to cut four holes in the barrel, then wedges a post into each one until one end contacts the opposite side of the barrel, then screws the post to the barrel. Udders are made from four quart oil containers painted white and screwed together, then screwed onto the barrel. The tail is a 30-in. long, 7/ 8-in. dia. manila rope screwed onto the end of the barrel and frayed at the end. "A lot of people stop or slow down to get a better look at them. Some stop and take photos," says Tarte. "We live only about 5 miles from the Canadian border so we get a lot of Canadian visitors, too. My wife and I were both born and raised on farms and live in a big dairy county so it was a natural idea for us. Last year we put the cows on roller skates so that our two children could pull them in a local kiddie parade. It drew a lot of chuckles. "I use 35-gal. barrels and 3-gal. pails to make heifers and 15-gal. barrels and 1-gal. ice cream pails to make calves and use smaller fence posts for the legs. The cows can also be made to lay down by simply lying posts on the ground on each side of the barrel. Marte sells plans for making his "barrel cows". Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Marcel G. Tarte, R.F.D. 1, Box 93-5, Gore Road, Highgate, Vt. 05459

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