Pedal-Powered Bicycle Treehouse Elevator Takes You Up In Style

There’s just something about treehouses that makes them special. Whether it’s built to be a clubhouse for kids or an elaborate weekend getaway for adults, treehouses come in all styles, shapes and sizes. Most of the time people find their way into a treehouse by climbing a treestaircase or ladder of some sort. The treehouse I’m sharing with you today has its own unique pedal-powered elevator.

This treehouse elevator is as clever and charming as any treehouse I’ve seen. The elevator was created with an elaborate environmentally friendly pulley system and a bicycle. You just hop on the bike and start pedaling. The faster you pedal, the faster your elevator will deliver you to your treehouse. This particular treehouse elevator will take you up 30 feet.

This brilliant contraption was created by Ethan Schlussler, and you can see it in action in the video below. It looks easy, but Ethan had to learn through trial and error how to optimize his treehouse elevator for the best results. He wanted to be able to take the ride up without having to exert an unreasonable amount of pedaling. He said:

“First, I changed the gear ratio on the bicycle by swapping a large front sprocket to the rear, which was still not quite easy enough to pedal, so I added a pulley into the system to gain a bit more [mechanical] advantage. Once I had the counterweight adjusted, it worked better than I could have hoped.”

Ethan’s creative treehouse elevator adds another reason why treehouses are so special. If I were a kid with a treehouse, this would inspire me to create an elevator of my own. I hope you play the video below so you can see how it works. It’s almost magical! You can click over to Ethan’s YouTube (linked above) to read more details about how it works.