Post by Aussienot on May 23, 2004 1:55:43 GMT -5
My side project for the last few weeks has been building a dog walk. I needed something that could be put up and taken down by one not so buff female person.
The big breakthrough in my plans was when I found discarded 8 canvas covered panels used in workstations. The panels are nicely colored to indicate contact points.
For the top of the walk, I used steel straping to attach two sets of two panels, and I used bolt gate latches to join the two sets. For each of the ramps, I joined two panels with steel straping, and used hooks and eye bolts to attach the ramps to the top. I figured the canvas provides enough foothold that I don't need strips on the ramps.
For the base, I assembled two large cubes in 50 mm (2")PCV pipe. Each cube measures 1900 mm (6'2") long by 1 meter (3'2") by 230 mm (9.5").
The weight of the panels holds the cubes down. I may also get some sandbags for greater stability. I joined the two cubes with bungee cords, and also strapped the top to the base with bungee cords.
Finished dog walk looks like this:
Wouldn't you know it, I finish the dog walk on the day Finn has a sore foot. Didn't stop him. He couldn't wait to charge up the ramp, even as I was assembling it- - revealing that the steel strapping on the ramps was not strong enough to hold the weight of a fully charging Finn at the joint.
To his extreme disappointment, I lifted him off for his safety as I didn't want him charging down the other side and falling off. You can see the slight bend in the middle of the ramp, as well as the slightly guilty look on his face in this picture.
Finn kept going up to the walk and trying to jump up, even after I took the ramps down. My project for next weekend will be to bolt boards to the bottom of the ramps to stabilise the join in the panels. I may well hinge the ramps to the top for even better stability, as Finn tends to be rough on equipment.
The big breakthrough in my plans was when I found discarded 8 canvas covered panels used in workstations. The panels are nicely colored to indicate contact points.
For the top of the walk, I used steel straping to attach two sets of two panels, and I used bolt gate latches to join the two sets. For each of the ramps, I joined two panels with steel straping, and used hooks and eye bolts to attach the ramps to the top. I figured the canvas provides enough foothold that I don't need strips on the ramps.
For the base, I assembled two large cubes in 50 mm (2")PCV pipe. Each cube measures 1900 mm (6'2") long by 1 meter (3'2") by 230 mm (9.5").
The weight of the panels holds the cubes down. I may also get some sandbags for greater stability. I joined the two cubes with bungee cords, and also strapped the top to the base with bungee cords.
Finished dog walk looks like this:
Wouldn't you know it, I finish the dog walk on the day Finn has a sore foot. Didn't stop him. He couldn't wait to charge up the ramp, even as I was assembling it- - revealing that the steel strapping on the ramps was not strong enough to hold the weight of a fully charging Finn at the joint.
To his extreme disappointment, I lifted him off for his safety as I didn't want him charging down the other side and falling off. You can see the slight bend in the middle of the ramp, as well as the slightly guilty look on his face in this picture.
Finn kept going up to the walk and trying to jump up, even after I took the ramps down. My project for next weekend will be to bolt boards to the bottom of the ramps to stabilise the join in the panels. I may well hinge the ramps to the top for even better stability, as Finn tends to be rough on equipment.