Disc Golf Baskets on the Cheap
Published October 18, 2005
I've got enough land around our house to install a functional 9 hole disc golf course on with decent-length fairways and what ought to be some fun holes. The catch is how incredibly expensive disc golf baskets are. The kinds you see at municipal courses run between $300 and $450 each, plus the cost of a permanent sleeve in a concrete base to set them in. For the nine-hole course with multiple tee locations I have in mind, that would run at least $3000.
I'm not planning on getting a grant or charging admission to my mini-course, so I've been looking into lower cost options and portable baskets that might be workable. There's a nice review and comparison of major commercially available baskets at TeePad, which illuminates the shortcomings of the less expensive portable designs. Using that as a starting point I'm on a quest for the best basket option for my project.
I've been working on this for a couple of years, and have a nice layout with holes ranging from 200 to about 400 feet in length and three alternate tees for each hole so that you can play the six holes like they are 18. And in fact, I already have three baskets, though I'm not entirely satisfied with them.
The baskets I started out with were made by a fellow in Oklahoma who was selling them through ebay and his website discgolfbaskets.com. They were priced right at about $100 each for a full sized basket which was potentially portable and actually easily assembled and disassembled, but although very cool in concept they have some major shortcomings.
They combine a basket made of cut and welded sheet metal on top and bottom with a main pole which comes in two sections which are held together with pipe couplers so that they can easily be taken apart and the whole thing breaks down into a few pieces. Unlike other inexpensive baskets major components are welded, which is a big plus. The weld-work is excellent and something which 99% of consumers would never want to take on themselves. The chains that ship with the basket are the kind with figure-eight style double links that you can get at any hardware store and they hook onto the basket top and hang down and hook onto a metal ring at the bottom. On the whole they're well designed and a good value for the money, but they do have some shortcomings.
It's a promising design concept and almost works the way you'd want it to, but after trying them out I quickly realized there were problems and set about fixing them. The segmented pole is quite ingenious, but it's a bit too light weight and the joints are never quite right and it tends to bend. The cut sheet metal for the basket top and bottom are decorative and work fairly well, but using cut sheet metal for the foot was a pretty bad idea. It's just too flimsy and bends too easily with the result that unless they're on perfectly even ground the baskets tend to to become overbalanced as the main post sags a bit and then the foot isn't sturdy enough and they tip over kind of like an old man collapsing. I haven't found an easy solution to the weak central pole, but I was able to fix the foot by screwing it to two 40 inch pieces of decking board for a heavier and more stable base. The chains that ship with the basket are too short, too light-weight and the double links make them unnecessarily stiff. On throwing a large number of putts I noticed that because of the double links the basket tended to reject hits near the top of the chains, while the light weight of the chains caused angled putts that hit the middle to go through too often, and the short length of the chains makes them hang too straight, reducing target area and causing hard puts to bounce out of the basket without ever even hitting chain. I fixed the chain problems by replacing the standard 21 inch double-link chains with heavier gage 26 inch single-link chains. These are what Home Depot calls a #2 chain. The greater length is important because the heavier chain bells out more. Using these chains instead of the ones the baskets ship with the baskets go from being convenient and barely playable to being quite good, comparable with less expensive ground-mounted commercial baskets. With the new chains I could hit virtually anywhere in the target area at any speed of throw and the disc would stick beautifully. The only thing that would make it even better would be to add a second ring of chains as you see on the most high-end baskets.
Dave Nalle has been a magazine editor, freelance writer, capitol hill staffer, game designer and taught college history for many years. He is an activist for libertarianism within the Republican party. He now designs fonts for a living and lives with his family just outside Austin. You can find his writings on politics and culture at Republic of Dave, on conspiracy theories at IdiotWars and on design and fonts at The Scriptorium.
- Disc Golf Baskets on the Cheap
- Published: October 18, 2005
- Type: Review
- Section: Culture
- Part of a feature: Disc Golf Digest
- Writer: Dave Nalle
- Dave Nalle's BC Writer page
- Dave Nalle's personal site
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I live just east of Austin, and I appreciate the offer, but if I took your money I'd have to guarantee you access to the course which might be problematic. However, if you're in the area and I get enough holes that are playable I'll send you an invite when we have an inaugural play day.
I'm also having some problems finding something suitable for the basket part of the basket. None of the ready made stuff at Home Depot is the right dimensions as far as I can tell, so I may have to bite the bullet and go to Lowes - which I hate.
Dave
If you like the InStep basket & want to improve the "catchability" of the basket there is a simple modification that can be done.
The cost for supplies is around $20-$25 and is well worth the effort.
Instep Basket Mod
It's a great basket & can be found on Ebay as you suggested.
I bought mine from a seller named "abctradercompany007" who actually lists a few baskets each week "auction style" so if you're lucky you can get them super cheap...
(I only paid $68 shipped)
Sorry, my link doesn't appear to work.
When I "previewed" the post it was working....?
Anyways. If you go to the PDGA.COM forums & do a search in the Equipment section under "InStep Basket Modification" you should be able to find it.
The search function on the PDGA site really, really doesn't work well. Can't find a good link to the info on modifying the instep basket there at all. Can you maybe try getting the link again? My InStep basket is taking forever to get here, but I'd love to be able to upgrade it when it does.
Dave
here
If you did buy from the seller I listed, I found it helpful to email him after a few days to make sure he ships it. :)
Bah. I forgot to mention, the directions call for 21 S-Hooks, but if you read down the thread you really only need to buy 14 since you are using the 7 that are already there.
P.S. I liked your other article on disc golf. Good stuff. :)
Apparently the redirect function doesn't work.
We will have to leave it as a cut/paste link. It's not long enough to where it screws up the rest of the page. :)
http://www.pdga.com/msgboard/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=374271&page=14&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1
>>If you did buy from the seller I listed, I found it helpful to email him after a few days to make sure he ships it. :)<<
My basket has arrived, apparently, but he shipped it signature required, so I have to go down to FedEx to get it tomorrow.
That last link did work. The modification looks very similar to the design I've done on the homemade basket I'm working on, which has 20 chains attached to an inner and outer ring with 12 on the outside and 8 on the inside. Those S-hooks are a major element of my design
The chain design on the InStep basket must be pretty poor if it needed that much modification. The end result looks good, though.
Dave
The basket without the extra chains was "OK".
It did a good job of catching the discs & holding them in, but you'd get some that would either bounce out or just fly right through.
The extra chains makes it (in my opinion) the perfect "inexpensive" basket. Very easy to break down to move, light enough to be able to move, and still is close in design to the more expensive course baskets. (which aren't exactly perfect, I had one spit out a 100 foot throw today, disc landed in the basket & bounced right back out, DOH!)
Let us know how you like it.....
That 100 foot put is always a risk. At that distance it's going to come in at an odd angle or with so much force that more can go wrong. My typical experience is for it to come in hard and angled down and do a kind of skip through the basket and hop out the other side.
Dave
I purchased 3 inexpensive baskets 2 years ago, but have replaced them with REAL baskets as of late. The problem with the sheet metal design is the edge. They came with plastic like you can get for the edge on a car door, but never stayed on. I've had to get rid of many a disc because it got sliced or nicked on the sharp edge. I did make a basket on a dare from my brother. I drew up the plans using CAD and built it in my woodshop. Here's a link to where it can be seen:
http://discontinuum.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=2040
I'm not against a cheaper basket, just be careful that's all.
adoni
Adoni: That basket is AMAZING. Truly a work of art.
Good job.
I solved the problem with the sharp edges of the sheet metal by coating them with PlastiCoat, which works better than the little plastic trim and stays on permanently. But if you don't do that those edges are indeed a bitch to deal with.
Dave
Thanks for sharing your process on this. It is good to see other people with similar questions and aspirations. Have you considered the good old 4x4 and tire basket?
I tried a 4x4 based basket design very briefly and realized that it wouldn't hold up over the long term. Everything loosens up too fast, even if you use carriage bolts to hold it all together. It's also too damned heavy.
Look for a followup on my current design if my allergies die down enough for me to assemble it and take photos this week.
Dave
Excellent article on cheap disc golf baskets,Just wanted to let you know I am the manufacturer of the disc golf baskets you purchased on discgolfbasket.com. And would like to correct some of your information.The baskets were made in Tennessee not Oklahoma,and I have sold the domain name to the person selling the plans.I have no affiliation with him.I am currently selling a modified version of the basket on ebay as Garywelder.I know my comments may read as a little passive aggressive but I sincerely appreciate the compliments and have improved some of the problems on the baskets.Thanks
Gary
I'll check out the new model basket on ebay. I still need 1 more basket for my home course, so maybe I'll pick one up.
Dave
Good stuff!
I'm collecting stories and images of homemade disc golf baskets at chaaaching.blogspot.com
All you do-it-yourselfer's eat your heart out and send in your jpegs!
I am just getting into the sport and I have built a prototype out of plastic chain and 1/4 inch plywood and a 5 dollar garbage can at wal mart. it is smaller than an "official" basket, but it works pretty good for a practice basket. I used a 1.5" pvc pipe and pound a stake into the ground and put the pipe over the stake. Not something you can leave outside all the time, but I found the plastic chain on sale and the whole thing runs about $25 per target. If you guys figure out a cheap lightweight basket that is the part I can't quite get right. My criteria is that the parts be easily available and cheap and require a minimum of modification. Let me know if you have any ideas and I can send pix if you like
Jeff
I am planning to build myself a basket and I saw the plans you speak of on ebay. I don't or won't buy it. I myself am a machinist and find it hard to believe you can build a sturdy basket that cheap and easy. The basket you described sounds kinda crappy. I have access to a machine shop and will design and build somthing for my yard soon. I think you need to have galvanized steel or aluminium so you dont rust or corrode. I don't like the stands and prefer permanent. I think your best bet when building your own is find someone who can weld or machine or both. If you don't know what your doing your gonna waste your time,efforts, and funds. Thats why the good baskets cost so much.
hey. i'm looking to do the same as you. i really dont want to spend a whole lot either. i just got into the sport. have you played the peace park course or the one in san marcos?
Home courses.....yeah..... I curently have 5 baskets, but 9 holes. One home-made one...a friend of mine made it - check out his blog
I have 2-in-step baskets. Had to replace the chains after 2 years. Got a MachV as well as a MachII. The In-step catches really well with added chains.
I welded a basket from quarter-inch square steel tubing. I build it to the exact dimensions of the full size innova disc catcher basket. The steel only cost around 20 dollars, but the chain cost over 50 dollars because I used a heavy galvanized chain. I used an aluminium cyclone fence post for the pole. I actually prefer my homemake basket's quality over the Innova discatcher, perhaps because of the heavier chain. And all together the cost was only around 100 dollars. So if you can weld, or have a friend that can weld, I would consider going this route.
Thanks for the article, good read. I just bought the Instep basket at Sam's for $65. Seems like a good deal to me.
If baskets are now selling at Sams that may be a sign that DG has become pretty mainstream.
Dave
I recently purchased the advertised plans, on sale for $9.99. To date I have built four baskets and they seem to work fairly well. The plans call for 6 inner chains, but I have decided to go without them so that I can use that extra chain for an additional basket. I have just ordered 3 of the InStep baskets so as to have enough goals for my own 9 hole course. While I think that the home built baskets look and work really well, I was able to buy the InSteps for around what it was costing me to build my own. I'll report back on how it all works out.
Bill
I forgot on my last blog to note how I was getting around my stand up base. The ones in the plans didn't really light my fire so instead I have taken a standard masonry building block and cemented a regular chain link fence rail sleeve haft way into the block. This fits the post used in the plans and allows for easy removal for transport. It provides a nice stable base for practice, and also allows me to simply dig a hole and bury the block with the sleeve sticking out for easy target removal if I desire something a little more permanent
I, too, had been looking for a "cheap" basket or plans to build one. Like everyone else, I searched the interwebs and the big-box home improvement stores without find much inspiration. After getting a 55 gal. plastic drum and having a broken market umbrella turn up, the epiphany happened. I'm very pleased with the result - incredibly sturdy, grabs discs well and is very near regulation. I'm happy to share my method with those who are interested.
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Where do you live? If I'm nearby I'll chip in for costs.