Trading tips for gutting, transferring, and carving the real thing.
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By Donna Destruction
#56421
Has anyone carved a GIANT pumpkin? My friends have asked me to carve the giant pumpkin from their farm (think 300-400 pounds)! :shock: Wondering if anyone has had this experiene and if you have any advice. Thanks!
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By Raven
#56427
Carve it as in a cut through design? I would think a pumpkin that large would be extremely thick. I would be cool to see a giant ZP pattern or a whole lot on one pumpkin. You could get the whole lot of Harry Potter patterns on one pumpkin. :)
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By Chewy
#56452
I grew a couple of giants that didnt turn out much larger than any of my other kins. I did notice that they were obscenely heavy - i cut one that had a big soft spot in half - it was almost entirely solid.

Parents neighbours carved up a 300 pounder last year. With a chainsaw. I kid you not. The walls were 7" thick.

good luck!
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By mesmark
#56461
I've never carved giant pumpkins but I have carved some really big ones 70-90lbs. The walls are supper thick. I used a proper saw. It was rather thin and about 10 inches long.

The other problems is they are generally rather bumpy and squat.

You can certainly do it. Here are a few I did on large pumpkins. Check out how thick the inside walls are.
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By amandap80
#56524
I carved a 150+ pounder. I thinned it with the Pumpkin Gutter. I have lit them with stake spot lights for sculpture pumpkins,but this cut-thru I light with 2 candles.
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By Donna Destruction
#56612
Thanks guys. I managed pretty well with the monster pumpkin. I took the Pumpkin Gutter to it to thin it out some and luckily had a flat surface to carve on. (The pumpkin had some frost on the top side, which was cut off, so I carved the side that had been on the ground.)

Here's what I ended up with:

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And just for a better idea of the size (that's my 14 year old and my 6 1/2 month old)....

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I wasn't able to stick around until dark but once I have a photo of it lit, I will post it.
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By Donna Destruction
#56630
I had a really great time. There were a lot of kids there that were fascinated with the size of the pumpkin alone. The fact that it was different from a regular jack-o-lantern was just the icing on the cake.

I think if I were to do it again, I would hope for no frost, so that the top could come off for easier gutting and thinning of the walls. Because the backside was cut off, I found it hard to get the drill inside to thin out the side I was carving. All in all, I would do it again if asked. Besides, the payment was pretty sweet... I got a trunk full of pumpkins AND about 4 litres of homemade Peanut Fully Loaded ice cream. :D :D :D :D
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By CombichristGirl
#56633
now i need more pumpkins and some ice cream! sweet glad you liked it. i hope one day to may be dive and carve one myself :)
By Ajax
#56661
Holy c**p that's a big pumpkin. Looks great I got a 44 pounder that I fit two patterns on from 2011 but nothing that a baby could sit on.
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By Donna Destruction
#56680
Ajax wrote:Holy c**p that's a big pumpkin. Looks great I got a 44 pounder that I fit two patterns on from 2011 but nothing that a baby could sit on.
A 6 and a half month old, 23 pound baby to be exact. :shock: