Hello I am new to the forum and I am looking on information on how to do the spikes that go at the bottom of the weave poles. I cut pvc pipes into 6 weave poles they are about 3' 1/2". I want to have this weave poles outside but I have no clue how to put stakes at the bottom. I am doing a DIY set so any information will be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Well what I would do is get yourself some re-bar and push that into the ground and then slip your pcv piping over the top. I realize that the pcv will most likly spin when the dog goes around the piping but that really shouldn't matter to much. I bought garden stakes for my poles.

Buy PVC caps for the poles and drilled a hole dead center of the cap. Put a long bolt thru it with a nut on the outside. Tighten the nut place the cap on the bottom of the pole and wahla you have a spike to stick in the ground

Originally Posted by Sowilu

Hello I am new to the forum and I am looking on information on how to do the spikes that go at the bottom of the weave poles. I cut pvc pipes into 6 weave poles they are about 3' 1/2". I want to have this weave poles outside but I have no clue how to put stakes at the bottom. I am doing a DIY set so any information will be helpful. Thanks in advance.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by spikes.

There are several different types of bases you can create for weave poles though, and if you're going with the idea i THINK you might be going with (spikes on the bottom so it sticks into the ground? Like this: EBAY Weave Spikes) there are several different bases that I find work a lot better.

I think a base made out of PVC pipe works a lot better... there's not trying to measure and space them propperly like there is with the spikes. You can build it so that either the pieces are all glued solid together, or so that they snap firmly together and can be taken apart for easy storage and moving around. I have the latter type, but the only problem with them is the poles don't snap to the base FIRM enough so when my dog goes through them they tend to fall over! Gluing them together was suppose to be my winter project but I've yet to get to it lol

Example of what I'm talking about:


OR, if you can weld or know anyone who can weld, you can always build a metal base that the poles slide into... I'm not sure where I could find a picture of something like this, as I've only seen this method used a couple of times. My friend had a set like this... it was a flat metal strip with circular pieces welded to the top spaced out so that the poles could slide into these pieces and stay firmly in place. There were two pieces like this with three poles that had a hing holding them together, thus creating 6 poles but it could fold up to store easier. It was nice for storage, but HEAVY and a PAIN to move around the course.

Also, I'd suggest creating two sets of 6 (no matter which plans you go with) so that you can train with either 6 or 12 poles... quite often in trials they'll have 12 poles and it's nice to train your dog for 12 so s/he doesn't pop out after 6 at a trial! It's also nice for training... I'm not a fan of using guide wires or to splay the poles outwards for training... instead I set up 6 poles side by side with them staggering slightly, and then gradually move them closer together until the dog gains the ability to weave!

Good luck! And I hope this helps you some... if I find any instruction plans for weave poles I'll let you know.

[mightymite]

The simplist way to do it is to drill holes in the middle of PVC caps and then place extra long screws through each hole, using a bolt to secure the screws to the cap. The spikes do not have to be sharp to do the job of securing the poles to the ground - they just need to be long enough to securely ankor the poles.