The “Pumpkinator” History
In 2011, owner Jim Peterson had a conversation with his good friend and former college roommate, Robb Peebles, who is an engineer. Jim mentioned that it would be great to have a way to encourage the entire family to visit and spend time at the orchard, and Robb replied, “you need a pumpkin cannon.”
In early 2012, Robb designed the cannon, and Columbus Discovery Orchard began the quest to build Wisconsin’s largest pumpkin cannon. The original design was changed slightly every time new equipment and parts were located, many of which were found through Craigslist.
The cannon started with two 1,000-gallon tanks which were previously used to apply fertilizer to farm fields. To fire the pumpkins into the sky, the tanks are pressurized to 25-30 P.S.I., and then the compressed air is released. If you visit the Orchard while we are pressurizing the tanks, you will hear a distinct snowmobile sound caused by the 1970’s Yamaha snowmobile engine used to power the cannon.
More than one dozen friends and family members volunteered their weekends, muscle, and expertise to complete the project!
After 2 and a half years of searching for parts and assembling the cannon, we introduced the Pumpkinator in September 2014. We hope you come out to see the cannon! Assuming favorable weather conditions, the cannon is fired Saturday and Sunday afternoons during our fall season at 2:00pm, 3:00pm, and 4:00pm.
We’re happy to have been featured in the Columbus Journal!
Robb began dating his now wife, Jackie, about the same time we started building the cannon.
For their wedding cake, they had a mini-replica cake made to resemble the cannon!