What can you do with a 41-foot-tall pitchfork?

Well, it’s fun to look at.

After six months of work, Clarence Martin, 218 7th St., erected a 41-foot tall stainless steel pitchfork near his business at 217 High Ave.

The pitchfork measures 41 feet from the ground to the top of the handle and has a seven by seven-foot base. An eight-inch hollow pan filled with gravel supports the structure.

Each of the tines are nine feet tall and have been polished and chromed. The remainder of the pitchfork was painted blue and international orange (the color of construction cones).

Clarence said he bought a pitchfork from a local hardware store, which he used as a scale for the structure. It is proportioned to within one inch of the real thing, he said.

So why a pitchfork?

“Why not?” Clarence said. “I just decided it would be a good project.”

Clarence’s wife, Sharon, wasn’t crazy about the idea, he said. “She’s more proud of it than I am, now that it’s completed,” Clarence said.

For the past 43 years, Clarence has owned Industrial Plating Company and Custom Steel Service. However, Clarence said he likes to always have ongoing projects on the side.

Clarence completed the work on evenings, weekends and in spare time he found during the day.

Most of the work was done by Clarence, although he did have some help with a few of the tasks such as polishing the metal.

The hardest part of the construction was the handle because it is tapered, Clarence said. It is not made of solid metal; rather, stainless steel rods to form an outline of the handle. This feature allows more wind resistance and contributes to maintaining a lighter-weight structure. The pitchfork weighs in at about 2,000 pounds.

Costly special machinery would have been needed to make the pitchfork solid steel, Clarence said.

“We just didn’t have the resources,” Clarence said. “We couldn’t make [the handle] solid metal and make the configuration the same as the one we were modeling from.”

Although he hasn’t thought much about entering the giant pitchfork in the Guinness Book of World Records, Clarence said he would most likely hold the title to the category.

“I assume it’s the largest one built,” he said. “I don’t think too many other people have built pitchforks this large.”

Clarence would rather leave the matter of records to his four children, he said.

“One of my children will probably do it. They’re more interested in that aspect,” Clarence said.

Paula Martin, Clarence’s youngest daughter, said she visited the Guinness Book of World Records’ Web site to find out the process of creating the world record title. She plans to enter the pitchfork as soon as she has the time, she said.

“I couldn’t believe it until I saw it,” Paula said. “Once I saw it, I couldn’t believe how huge it was.”

As for the future of the pitchfork, Clarence said he has thought about eventually moving it to his small hometown of Tellico Plains, Tenn.

“I have it in my mind to take it there and mount it,” Clarence said.

His reasoning is that in three to six months, everyone in Ames will have seen it, and no one will be excited about it anymore. Tellico Plains is in a tourist area, so new people will constantly be coming to see it, he said.

Clarence hasn’t talked to the town yet, but he may once he makes up his mind to move it.

Overall, Clarence is happy with his latest project.

“It was something I wanted to do, so I did it,” Clarence said.