# My boy built his 1st box for summer sessions in the yard



## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

Well the boy and I whipped up a box. It just needs a top board and lexan now


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## eddiethebus (Mar 16, 2011)

looks good  Wont he have trouble sliding on grass though:dunno:


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

*set up progress...*

Not done yet but we just staged the set-up. This is our snow in the Mid-West :laugh:




























I'm a little concerned with the angle of the drop in ramp-to-ground. I think I may have to add a slight leveling out transition section. Any thoughts as to if that is to steep where ramp meets ground.










Cost to date: *FREE* 
We scrounged the wood plus some I had. I got the pallet rack system cross members from a customer for free. We had the beautiful "rummage sale sign green" paint in the basement. I have a buddy looking into turf scrap from his warehouse, that would be sweet. Still trying to do a top sheet, I heard from a glass company that Lexan will break.

Looking good so far :thumbsup:


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## eddiethebus (Mar 16, 2011)

in the second photo it does look steep yeah, but in the last one it looks ok. 

it really depends on the speed required to get onto the box, you'd normally work the drop in by the speed needed as you cant really put a speed check in on the way down!


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## artemis (Feb 1, 2011)

How would you get on the drop in? Playhouse thing has a wooden bar blocking it, and theres no way to stand on it and drop in?


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## AWNOW (Sep 12, 2009)

Yeah, the ramp as it stands is going to be to steep. A lot of energy is going to be absorbed by the nose of the board on hitting the ground and take away a lot of momentum. It can still be done, of course, but a transition piece would be the best.


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## rgrwilco (Oct 15, 2007)

The ramp is fine. Mine is actually steeper. I had it mellower, but when its steeper you actually pick up more speed. Jut throw some dirt under the turf at the bottom so the level out is not real abrupt.


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## AWNOW (Sep 12, 2009)

rgrwilco said:


> *The ramp is fine.* Mine is actually steeper. I had it mellower, but when its steeper you actually pick up more speed. *Jut throw some dirt under the turf at the bottom so the level out is not real abrupt.*


Contradictory statements are contradictory.


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## rgrwilco (Oct 15, 2007)

no its not contradictory at all. You want a steep drop in, the dirt just at the bottom takes some of the edge off. And since its a curved transition, you can pump through it and get even more speed.


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

artemis said:


> How would you get on the drop in? Playhouse thing has a wooden bar blocking it, and theres no way to stand on it and drop in?


This was just placed together to see if everything seemed to work together.
I will be removing the braces on the play set to allow for easy access up the stairs and to the down ramp.

I will probably do a transition piece and some testing to see what all needs to be done. Sounds like this will work out though and that is good.


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

*Update:*

Well we got it up and running. Still need to add the box. It is much slower than I expected though, we are not carrying much speed to hit the small jump let alone a box.



















Click the pic to view video, me acting as a guide don't need a broken bone during testing.


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## MistahTaki (Apr 24, 2010)

have you tried putting soap and water on the turf?


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## andreas (Mar 20, 2011)

Use HDPE as a top sheet. Lexan is very brittle and WILL crack after the first hit.


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

yep we did use soap and water you can see the pitcher in the lower left corner.
I am buying HDPE for the top sheet just haven't gotten that far yet.

still good times !!!


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

Some practice today. Even with soap & water still need some more speed. We put the box out but we barely carry speed to get on to it. Hoping the HDPE will help greatly. Buying that on Friday.


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

So you think the material (astroturf?) just isn't slippy enough? Is that the rubbery astroturf or the fake-grass stuff?


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

It's the fake grass stuff. Maybe once we get the box done it might be ok. We did soap and water it and it helps but I can't keep soaking it, as it will mess up the yard pretty good and we can't have that either.
So we'll see how she goes. He's having fun for now so that is what counts...


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## xxfinnellxx (Aug 30, 2009)

Highly recommend putting half a dozen things of PVC Piping over that thing so it actually slides. Way cheaper than HDPE. I'd love to make a long PVC/2x4 rail thingy for my back yard, but it doesnt snow down here, nor do I want to use astro turf.


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## john doe (Nov 6, 2009)

http://home.earthlink.net/~zymurgyjwt/snowboard-ramp.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~zymurgyjwt/snowboard-box.jpg

That is what my friend and I built in his backyard. We found the same thing about the astroturf being slow. The sharp tips of the blades of "grass" make alot of friction. We had to add a few feet of height to get the ramp to work good. Final height is 6ft. We also use soilmoist Amazon.com: Soil Moist SMN10 10 oz Natural Absorbing Granules: Patio, Lawn & Garden We put it in an old blender to make it a powder and it makes a slimy gel once water is added. Close to snowgel. We want to get some powderpak to replace the astroturf.

Unless you can find HDPE for really cheap save the cash and get some PVC boards from Lowe's. The PVC top on our box is 8ft long and cost less then $35.


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

I got a piece of HDPE 1' x 10' for $30 I think that is a good price.
I wish I could afford Snowpak....
I may have to try to find the soilmoist stuff.

-Slyder


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## uh oh a virus (Jan 19, 2011)

Nice post! Haha, lucky for me, I have a swing-set that is similar to yours, so I'm going to have to steal your design =P One question, whenever I see astro-turf it always comes in like the pre-grass form. That just looks like a green-carpet type of astro-turf. Please clarify the type, because I don't want to be the idiot buying the wrong type of turf :laugh:


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

The stuff we got was like 40 cents a yard. It is very sparse and you will see the matting in between the grass/carpet blades. 
The blades are more of a plastic rather than a fabric if that makes sense.

Here are some pics of the different types I found: we choose the one in the middle










-Slyder


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## uh oh a virus (Jan 19, 2011)

slyder said:


> The stuff we got was like 40 cents a yard. It is very sparse and you will see the matting in between the grass/carpet blades.
> The blades are more of a plastic rather than a fabric if that makes sense.
> 
> Here are some pics of the different types I found: we choose the one in the middle
> ...


Does it have a specific name though? Because when I went to home Depot, their is like 6,000 different types of it, and I don't know which kind will work, and which kind wont.


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

I got it at Menards and it is just called indoor/outdoor carpet.
Some of the forum members said just get the cheapest stuff and the one that was the least dense.
As you can see in the pics the blue is most dense, then the dark green, and least dense was the lighter color green. I hope that helps you out.

-Slyder


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## uh oh a virus (Jan 19, 2011)

slyder said:


> I got it at Menards and it is just called indoor/outdoor carpet.
> Some of the forum members said just get the cheapest stuff and the one that was the least dense.
> As you can see in the pics the blue is most dense, then the dark green, and least dense was the lighter color green. I hope that helps you out.
> 
> -Slyder


That helps a bunch, thanks!


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## uh oh a virus (Jan 19, 2011)

So would this work? 
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

I'm thinking more like this:

Beaulieu Mainstream Ivy Green Outdoor 12 ft. Carpet Store SKU # 273076

As it is 12 foot wide and I just cut mine into 3 4 foot wide strips IE 3 pieces of 12X4 strips

-Slyder


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