What do you anchor your canopy with at the track?

[JonT]

Ok-I purshased a 12 x 12 canopy at Dicks sporting goods and now need some ideas for anchoring the legs. I've considered using 25 lb concrete blocks, OR 5 gallon jugs that I'll fill with water once I get to the track. Any other creative ideas out there that have been tried and tested? TIA

[Jim Smolka]

Sometimes we use wheels/tires and ropes.

[coloradoporsche]

I saw some guys use a busted tranny from a 914 once.

Grady Clay and company use their tow vehicles...which are very unlikely to blow away.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Okay, this has got to be one of the smartest, easiest, cheapest ideas ever. I didn't invent it but wish I could claim it.

Saw a guy at the Colorado River with a stack of children's sand buckets -think Big Lots or The 99 Cent Store. He would use a fairly long bungee cord and one or two big red sand buckets at each corner. When done, empty the buckets and they stack one inside the other. The bungees go in there too.

Okay, you're at the track, I don't know what to tell you to do about the lack of sand. Maybe bring along one bag of kiddy sand from HomeDepot and dump it before you return or use soil froma flower bed? But it works and takes up almost no space. Good luck, Dan

[rusnak]

Use some nylon stretchy rope and some weights from a dumbell set. You can keep adding weights at the corners if it gets windy.

[David in VA]

I'm assuming you're talking about the ez-up kind or something like that. The ones I've seen have a flat part on the bottom of the legs with holes in them. I've seen people drive stakes through them into the gravel in the paddock. Very sturdy and not much hardware to carry around.

[Quicksilver]

I weight it down with the bodies of dead competitors!


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or

On asphalt I have used concrete nails.
On loose surfaces I have used the big screw in stakes, strapped it to tires, or strapped it to fences or support vehicles. It is a real problem.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Another idea - bungee it to 4 of those big screw-in things for tethering your dog in the yard! Cheap & lightweight.

[}{arlequin]

spare set of mounted rains/slicks/streets does the job just fine

[rusnak]

don't the owners of the racing venue wig out when you make holes in the asphalt?

[Grady Clay]

Tent/canopy tie down is critical for safety. A few summers
ago we were at an event and the morning was nice and
calm. Someone had a 10x10, possibly smaller, Ez-Up
anchored to buckets of wet sand – probably 20-30# each.
A slight mid-morning gust came along and flipped it onto
a gray haired grandmother. She went down like a sack of
potatoes. She was rushed to the hospital in a Flight-for-Life
helicopter.

Vehicles are also at risk. I was at an SCCA race about five
years ago and an afternoon big gust came along and flipped
a 10x12 awning off the side of an enclosed trailer. It had
three polls, each with two 6-gallon full plastic fuel bottles
(~50# each). The gust flipped the bottled up and then
down onto the fender & bed of the guy’s new dualy crew
cab. It bent the fender and side of the bed down and
around the dual rear tires. I can only imagine what it would
have done to a 911 – the roof would have been flush with
the seat cushions.

There is a lot of sail to even a small canopy. Any sailor will
confirm that.

First, be prepared to take down the tent/canopy if the wind
picks up. This is particularly true with afternoon thunderstorms.
Devise a way to get it down fast.

Tie the frame to very substantial vehicles. Big heavy trucks
are best. Passenger cars and trailers will do. Even better
are substantial telephone polls, fence posts and the like.
Tie to them near the ground. Tie down at least three sides
and be prepared to tie the fourth side to some vehicle.

Bungee cords with hook ends are not suitable to tie down
a canopy unless you use a LOT of them. Even then they
can come loose when overstressed and snap back and
injure someone.

I use 1”x16’ ratchet cargo straps. I try and use at least
two at every poll and they are looped around the canopy
corner pieces. Each end has a hook and D-ring that allows
you to wrap around a frame member, spring shackle,
bumper support, telephone poll, etc. and not have it come
loose accidentally. These straps are rated at 835# working
load, good to 2500# and not fail. With 16+ straps per
20x20’ canopy, strap strength isn’t an issue. In case quantity
(25) they are under $10 each. They are Kinedyne part
number: 711681/45PK, trade name: ”Strap-All”, proper
description: “Ratchet Strap with hooks and D rings.”


At La Junta, CO we are lucky. There are still aircraft anchors
in the concrete paddock. If a B-17 wouldn’t blow away 60
years ago, our “little” tents are pretty secure. I am going to
see what it will take to buy some old elevator ¾” steel cable
and tension it through all the aircraft anchors.







Best,
Grady

[Dueller]

Rumor has it you guys in the southwest just handcuff an illegal alien to each corner

[motion]

These are pretty cool:

http://carmansgarage.zoovy.com/product/EZINAWB199B?META=froogle-EZINAWB199B

[rusnak]

Dang hurricanes always ruin racing anyways