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Stakes


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Looking for an inexpensive supply of stakes used to keep target stands and shooting boxes in place. The ones we use at our club look like giant nails. Noone seems to recall where they were purchased. Ideas?

Thanks, JZ

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The ones I've seen are around 1/2" thick and 10-12" long.

That's what you are looking for yes? Seriously, hit the local real hardware store, like Handy Man. They'll either have them or be able to get them. Mine is great for "odd" stuff like that. The chain stores, not so much. Oh, and my Handy Man is almost always cheaper than the chain stores on stuff like screws and nails. A one pound box of drywall screws runs ~5.00 +tax at the local chain store where they are less than $2.00 after tax at HM.

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The ones I've seen are around 1/2" thick and 10-12" long.

I think the 8" ones are closer to 8 inches long. ;) We need the diameter because we're all rock. We bend the crap out of thin stakes like tent pegs.

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The ones I've seen are around 1/2" thick and 10-12" long.

Home Depot has them --- usually in open boxes on the floor, under the shelves, in the nail/screw/fastener aisle....

We tend to stock the 8 inch length for winter --- easier to pull out of frozen ground --- and the 10-12 inch length for summer --- makes for better anchors on windy days....

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Lowes or Home Depot, 8" or 10" galvanized nails. Also try the local lumber yard, might be cheaper.

They are really proud of them if you buy just a few----buy a box (50 lbs). Still not cheap, but at

least affordable.

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Check the hole size in your stands & props, doesn't help to buy 3/8" landscape timber nails and have 5/16" holes in your props. In fact for wood the holes should be at least 1/16" larger than the spikes unless it never rains where you are.

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We use 3/8 solid rod bent into a j shape so you don't have to have holes in everthing you want to stake down.

Does it come that way? Or do you have to bend it? (Which might make drilling holes more attractive.)

I have found myself using Rebar sections that I bought at HomeDpt. They don't have a bend, and are a little larger than some of the 10" nails, but are quite cheap and very durable - CT does not have much soil - just lots of granite and tree roots.

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We use the 8" and 10" nails on our gravel, fill and bay silt ranges. We've tried rebar to make plate stands. One problem is the tendency of the stake to drift and tilt to one side if you make the mistake we did and just cut a chisel point on the end. The rod drives in straighter with a symmetric point.

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QUOTE (jmorris @ Oct 20 2009, 10:27 AM)

We use 3/8 solid rod bent into a j shape so you don't have to have holes in everthing you want to stake down.

Does it come that way? Or do you have to bend it? (Which might make drilling holes more attractive.)

No you have to bend it but it’s much faster than drilling holes.

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This would be them. I already drilled the stock before I welded them, and they are drilled 9/16" so 1/2" will fit no problem. I didn't even know what to call 'em til now. Thanks guys. I actually have tomorrow off so I will go see if I can find them.

Muchas gracias homies! :huh::P

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....They are really proud of them if you buy just a few----buy a box (50 lbs). Still not cheap, but at

least affordable.

I agree. We bought a box because the prices were so high for the individual nails/spikes. Most of them come with a slight oil coating but if you keep them dry, they will store for a long, long time

fwiw

dj

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QUOTE (jmorris @ Oct 20 2009, 10:27 AM)

We use 3/8 solid rod bent into a j shape so you don't have to have holes in everthing you want to stake down.

Does it come that way? Or do you have to bend it? (Which might make drilling holes more attractive.)

No you have to bend it but it’s much faster than drilling holes.

We played with bent rebar --- but in frozen ground, it bends some more when trying to hammer it in.....

So, 8" spikes work in cold climates.....

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I use the 12" spikes available from Home Depot or similar... I add a little tweak to them though.

About 1" below the spike head, I weld on a large washer... makes the spike look like a huge concrete form nail. Then you can drive the spike in to the washer level and still have the head fully available to extract the spike...

Galvanized nails obviously resist corrosion better, but are more trouble to weld the washer on...

With a little ingenuity, you can fabricate a really cool spike extractor that takes ALL the effort out of removing spikes, and eliminates the damage caused to stands/props by using them to wrench the spikes from the ground...

Oh... and spiking tip... spikes driven into the ground at an angle will generally anchor better than those driven straight down...

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We started with 3/8" rebar sections 18-24" long with a 7/16 nut welded on one end and the other ground down to a four sided point...boy, that was a lot of tedious work, but our stands are made out of 2X2 street sign square tubing and our ground is loose in places so we needed the length. Now we mostly use the timber spikes (12") unless it's really blowing. The 8" ones are better for fault lines if you use 2X2's. I'd probably go with 1/2" rebar or even forming stakes for heavier props.

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