Tunnel, why is it so expensive?! - Page 2

Just as an FYI while your equipment looks lovely. The dog walk should have a brace/bracket under each up/down ramp. Wood is extremely heavy to move and will rot in the weather after a time. so check your equipment frequently for rot. That is why most have moved away from using wood. Too short of a life span. Unless of course you plan on keeping them covered from the elements. I would be careful with your panel jumps as well. In agility the jumps are designed so the bars fall when the dogs knock them for a reason so that the dog does not become injured. Your panel jumps appear to have the panel sliding into place which does not allow for displacement if the dogs knock them. This can cause injury in the dog. I have nothing against home made equipment but safety of the dog should be considered. You can find specs of how to make equipment all over the internet. Sorry if I offend I do not mean to I am a long time agility competitor and have seen some pretty awful injuries during that time. Best of luck and have fun!

Lyn

Yes tunnels are expensive however Tunnels can also be dangerous to the dog. Be sure to proper research when you do get a good tunnel about proper tunnel bag placement etc... 2 years ago a dog died at the european open because he hit and tunnel bag entering a tunnel and broke his neck horrible!! Sports are fun but we owe to our dogs to do our homework and keep them safe! Worth spending the money on a good tunnel!

Lyn

Hi Lyn, was not offended ;) the panel jumps are not for agility, just exercise, didn't quite understood what you mean by having brace/bracket can you put some pics please?

The wood was treated 3 times with appropriate chemicals so it will stand the rain, the sun and wood bugs and was painted 3 times also with appropriate paint for the same effect, so hopefully they will stand a lot of time, but of course maintenance is essential and the are not eternal, but we will be looking after rot and the wood bugs also.

The tunnel is one of my main concerns, in ACO have have a “kind" homemade of tunnel, it is basically a wood box with openings at the end… It's pretty bad… the panel laying in the grown is all rotten and splinters sticking out, so obviously is out of the question to make the same mistake, will wait until we can buy a proper thing…

The obstacle I’m most fearfully safety wise is the tire… We are planning to build something like the picture below, but I’ve seen some pretty bad injuries in tires so we will wait and built it last with a lot of time to plan…

Thanks for caring ;)

Try to contact these people: http://www.affordableagility.com/

You can asked for an international quote for shipping, they look affordable enough if you want to go this route.

They make a breakaway tire now. Much safer.

www.max200.com. You can see pictures of ramp supports and break away tire

If your ramps are sturdy and don't wobble or shimmy you may not need them

For tire safety, you want a break away tire, they are the standard now.

Also the dog walk needs some sort of support under each of the angled/ramp sections. Some dogs slam them so hard going up and down, I can't imagine a plank of wood that long being stable enough!

I would also make sure the surfaces of your contact obstacles aren't slippery. The agility equipment I use is covered with some sort of textured rubbery material.

There is both rubber material you can apply to the contacts or the old fashion and cheap version, Course builders sand and paint.
I have equipment at my club with both. but to be honest the rubber stuff, chips off and is hard for the novice to apply. And expensive.

The cheap way is to paint the base coat of you contacts. Yellow, and while the paint is still wet, sprinkle an even coat of sand on the surface. Apply another coat of paint when dry and another coat of sand. Then apply a final coat of paint to seal in the sand. This way should last for years. And when needed you just apply more paint and some more sand.

Not a bad idea to apply sand on the upper portions either. As it make the while contact feel safer and easier for fast dogs to maintain their footing.
I wish i had a cheap way to make the tunnels, but i'm fresh out of ideas.
Fry