Author Topic: Making myself some hurdles - steel ones - have questions (Read 4780 times)

m3joeEm · « **on:** July 12, 2015, 10:57:38 pm »

Hi guys, So i have a good mig welder, chop saw and pillar drill and all the rest and have decided instead of buying galvanised hurdles I can make them better and pay to have them galvanised a lot cheaper. I was just wondering should i make the vertical bars on the ends out of round tube or box section? Box section would make it easier to weld the horizontal round tubes to but would the round tube work better for interlocking and opening and closing? also what would be the best sizes ? I was thinking 25mm box or round tube for verticals and either 25 or 22mm round tube for the vertical bars. the gauge/wall thickness would be 2mm or less if i can manage it. I sourced 22 mm round tube for 75p a metre but it is 3 mm thick, this leaves each hurdle well over 20kg and costing around 11 pound per hurdle (materials alone) which, although would be super heavy duty, is way too expensive and heavy. What would be an ideal weight for them for good maneuverability Any thoughts? the lighter they are obviously the cheaper they cost to make also. However i noticed thin wall metal is harder to get a hold of around here.

Buttermilk · « **Reply #1 on:** July 13, 2015, 08:27:14 am »

If you add in your time it would be cheaper to buy ready made hurdles.

Deere · « **Reply #2 on:** July 13, 2015, 08:40:44 am »

It really all comes down to weight, if your moving them about often then you need to use a smaller guage tubing.

Have you got a good IAE hurdle that you can use as a template to measure up etc?

If I were making some I would make some longer ones to act as a race and leave them in situ at different locations then make quite a few lighter mobile ones to switch between locations.

Square or round, as long as you get the right sized joining loop made they all seem to swing well, personally id go for the square as they will be easier to join up as well as looking more uniformed!

Good luck with the project!

verdifish · « **Reply #3 on:** July 13, 2015, 09:53:26 am »

If you take the time and effort to make a jig you can get the time down to just over an hour to make one complete hurdle ,but without a jig the time spent outweighs the cost saved ! Try and source 2mm rounds and 4 mm box as this is the Sam as IAE and they are proberbly the best on the market ! And yes definitely make some either double or 1.5x the normal lenght as the will be invaluable ! As for the welding I ark weld mine on a low setting as i found mig welds to be weaker ! I've never had mine galvenised as the Mrs loves to paint with hamerite !

Womble · « **Reply #4 on:** July 13, 2015, 09:55:32 am »

I'm afraid I'm with Buttermilk on this one, so unless it's a labour of love for you, I'd buy them and be done with it.

If I was making my own though, I'd make a metal frame and then tack-weld 2" weldmesh onto it. This isn't the easiest stuff to weld as it burns through really easily. However, I get the feeling that your welding kit and skill level is probably a tad better than mine, so you may fare better than me!

Verdifish's suggestion of making some at different lengths (and maybe even heights?) is also a good one.

Out of interest, how much would it cost to have homemade hurdles galvanised?

verdifish · « **Reply #5 on:** July 13, 2015, 11:41:27 am »

I got some priced up @ £2.90 eah but I had to have at least 30 to get them galvanized at that price ,the company was in Elgin .

m3joeEm · « **Reply #6 on:** July 16, 2015, 01:05:56 pm »

Thanks for the replies folks, Deere I was thinking of making a jig so all I had to do was cut the metal for a few , drill the holes for galvanising in the drill then place them in the jig and weld up, I would hope to make a few in the hour this way. I will probably buy a good one at local agricultural store to work of. good idea about the longer ones too, probably 8 ft

m3joeEm · « **Reply #7 on:** July 16, 2015, 01:06:58 pm »

Hi wobble interesting idea with the mesh, what's the benefit in using mesh?

Womble · « **Reply #8 on:** July 16, 2015, 02:25:48 pm »

No gaps for lambies to get stuck in, fewer bars needed as the mesh gives inherent strength. You can also use them for poultry if you wish.

We have this type,and find them ideal for all sorts of things:

That might not float your boat of course, but I thought I'd mention it.