Landracing Forum
Bonneville Salt Flats Discussion => Bonneville General Chat => Topic started by: sofadriver on July 05, 2014, 06:27:46 AM
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My daughter took me out to a vintage car/bike show on father's day and I saw a shade canopy get blown about 60 feet and smash into a brand new Corvette. OUCH!
What's the best way to stake down my 12x12' canopy? I don't trust jugs of water or concrete blocks. Do stakes hold well in the salt? Do the corkscrew pet stakes even work in salt?
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I used large nails about 10" long and about 1/4" in diameter. We unrolled the canvas top every evening so the whole thing didn't get blown away. The wind can come blowing really quick out there.
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the wind doesn't wiggle the nails loose?
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We use large screws. And we make sure there is always someone to tear the fabric off at a hint of wind. If not, we take it off when we leave the pits.
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We take the awning/sunshade/whatever you call it down when we leave the pit for more than a few minutes. Leaving someone to tear things down in case of wind works - usually, but then there are the times that the winds blows up when you're not paying attention -- and you try un-rigging during a big blow. Nah - easier to take it down. We do it like this: We don't try to secure the legs to the surface, and when we want to take the thing down we just fold the structure down and back into the 12"x12" by 4' bundle - with the top cover still in place. Yes, we do now and then damage the fabric, but we still get three or four years out of one of 'em.
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We have used 5 gallon buckets partially filled with concrete. In the middle of the concrete we used eye bolts to attach ratchet straps to the upper corners of the canopy. Never had a problem. YMMV
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12 inch gutter nails, on all 9 posts of my 20' X20' never had a problem other than getting them out at the end of the week. They rust in pretty quickly.
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3/8" x 6" lag bolts put In with the impact driver
Never moves, we do take off the cover if we are not there to watch it
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The Claw is the best thing I have found; http://www.theclaw.com/the-claw/rv-awning-claw-c200.php (http://www.theclaw.com/the-claw/rv-awning-claw-c200.php)
It folds up and is easy to store and doesn't weigh as much as a bucket of concrete. The only thing I say would be a negative is that it can be something to trip over until you get used to stepping around it.
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I like the claw idea. Looks easy to make too. I will put that on my project list.
BR
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At Hersey a couple of years ago on a windy day I saw a 20X20 tent picking up 55 gal drums filled with water 2-3 inches.
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A vent at the top of the canopy saves it in mild wind..........now standard on COLEMAN products
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I like the claw idea. Looks easy to make too. I will put that on my project list.
BR
me too!
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Don't forget to stop by... we're just laying low this year.
Dirty Duc
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If it rains overnight it doesn't matter what you secure it with, the salt will get wet & they will come loose. I just leave the ground tarp and even its iffy. Also tie your chairs to the canopy legs, the wind can come up fast if youre down in the pits and your chairs might be on the way to Salt Lake, learned that one the hard way
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Maybe Slim will tell us about chasing staked-down potties.
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I've never had the occasion to chase one while in motion, although I've found them way out of place and - sometimes - tipped over. I won't bother you with those stories.
As for chasing 'em, ask Monte Warnock. He seems to have the best stories about moving toilets, such as seeing a handicap unit (much bigger cross section), door wide open (bigger still), sitting on the water on the surface during a storm. The water made the surface really slick, and with the door open -- Monte said he chased it in his truck and the toilet was moving about 7 mph. As for having one of them go through the traps - well, i take those stories with a grain of salt, because by the time the weather is bad enough to send toilets flying - the timing light equipment is shut down. Makes for a good story, though.
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Tie one side to your trailer. 12" spike at 90* angles on each of the corners. Flag your ropes to help folks from tripping on them. Roll up the cover over night. If you leave you vehicle under the cover frame, tie it to the vehicle over night front and rear.....
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At the end of Speed Week the dumpsters are full of skeletons of mangled sun shades. If the canopy is up when a wind storm hits, it's gone.
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
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4"X 1/4" lag screws and a electric impact wrench will hold really well. Salt is so hard nails are very hard to drive.
Jim
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When we put the shade tarps up in tech/sales at Speed Week we pound foot long stakes that have washers welded to them into the ground at an angle. Then we tie off the shade frames to the stakes using rope. The rope pulls on the stakes at roughly a right angle which won't pull the stakes out of the ground. We've rarely ever had to take the tarps down as they're well secured using this method. Only downside is that people trip over the stakes/ropes all week long. It's kinda funny until someone get's hurt - then not so much.