Most of the pallets I've put in my course have either broken or flex
like crazy... pallets are generally only good for stacking to make a
taller object. What you need to get are some good 2x4's, 2x6's, 4x4's,
etc. if you want to make something permanent and reconfigurable. If
you do end up using pallets, make sure to put some braces (small blocks
of wood inbetween the slats) to strengthen them a bit. Put a piece of
plywood on top of your pallet stack if you want it to really last.
If you can score some wooden cable reels or shipping crates, those make
good bases for skinnies and ramps. Bend a piece of rebar into a
little L and drive it into the ground, through a reel or crate, to
stabilize the obstacle. Nothing sucks quite like your obstacle
toppling underneath you after landing a gap onto it!
I've also picked up some tree rounds (1 - 3 foot sections of tree
trunk) and they make very stable bases... no rebar needed in most
cases... unless you put them on their side. It's interesting to have
some round and off-camber obstacles on your course... gapping from flat
to flat isn't quite as challenging.
As for connecting your obstacles, head to the hardware store and pick
up some nails and deck screws. Get nails around 2 1/2" long (to
connect 2x4's together) and others that are 4-4 1/2" long to connect
fatter stuff. Make sure and get nails with fatty heads on 'em so they
don't poke into your tire. Use the nails to connect things that you'll
want to reconfigure. Get some nice 3" - 4" deck screws to make more
permanent connections... the heads tend to get ground to [censored] when
screwing things together. Keep a hammer handy near the course as nails
tend to work their way out of "wobbly" obstacles.
What I find works best is making one long trials line that's kinda
circular in nature so that I can hop into and out of it at any point...
when I get good enough to do the whole loop, it's time to reconfigure.
I also put some posts / gapping bars inside and outside the loop to
give me entry / exit obstacles.
Let us know how your course shapes up!
--
maestro8
Those are my principles. If you don't like those, I have others. --
Groucho Marx
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