Andrew Cooper

To follow-up on the garage door issue. I have seen building science youtubers repeat this consistently as a weak point in high winds. There are reinforcement kits intended to strengthen standard  hinged garage doors (and upgraded wind load rated replacements). Seems like a definite place to start. The upgrades are relatively simple, and minus engineering stamps, could be DIY. Do not take my amateur advice of course, but angle iron across each section of the door to prevent folding/collapse in the middle, and upgraded anchors on the attachment points specific to the underlying materials. From there, better hinges, but at that point you're probably better off with a new door entirely.

The upgrade process I have seen mirrors others for security hardening entry doors (which are generally junk due to their week framing and attachments points). Similar principles seem to apply.

As already mentioned, the spokes/legs/etc... i.e. anything that needs tensile strength is going to be the tricky part. Could you substitute candy canes, or some similar hard sugar based stuff for those pieces, leaving the gingerbread for the flat parts? Along thonse lines, I imaine the wheel may be best done with a number of short flat segments that aproximate round, but are not really curved.

I have been researching earthships lately and wondered the same about using powered machinery. I wonder how a jackhammer with a tamper attachment would work to pound a tire. It seems so straightforward I can't imagine no one has tried it, yet I haven't seen any mention in a dozen builds I have read/watched/reviewed.