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Need ideas for canopy weights
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Posted by morgan_5 z8OR (My Page) on Tue, Jun 21, 05 at 18:46
| What do you use to weigh down the legs of your canopies when you are on concrete and can't use stakes? I need something I can manage alone, when my hubby isn't with me. Thanks!! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Need ideas for canopy weights
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| E-Z Up sells bags that you can fill with sand and that have a kind of clip that slides through a pair of holes at the bottom of their tent legs. We use them, but as I recall they're a little pricy for just a nice nylon bag with a clip. The plus side is that they're pretty compact and easy to fit in the truck if space is tight recause they aren't rigid. The homemade solutions we've used and seen others use all involve tying weights that at the tops of the legs, with the weights hanging there or down on the ground. Some people take lengths of 4" pvc pipe and attach end pieces, others use 2-gallon plastic jugs and in either case fill them with sand or concrete. I've also seen weights from a weight set and plain concrete block used. |
RE: Need ideas for canopy weights
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Well, I use five gallon water jugs...one in the middle if the wind is not that strong....but most days I'll have two on the back side.
The sand bags were just to light for my conditions.. I have to have water to wash up for sampling and I have a PVC pipe flower holder so I pack twenty gallons and at some markets I share the jugs so other vendor can tie down with me... |
RE: Need ideas for canopy weights
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| We tie ours to our vehicle or, if no van, tie the EZ-Up to heavy coolers and/or the table itself with bungi cords. If the wind can flip the tables it is probably time to take thing down and go home. A few years ago Growing For Market had an article on ways to hold down an EZ-Up. on was 4' long PVC pipes filled with sand or concrete, capped and hung off the EZ-Up |
RE: Need ideas for canopy weights
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| Thank you all for the great ideas! |
RE: Need ideas for canopy weights
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At farmers markets in NYC, where wind is vicious in the urban canyons, the farmers use different weights. Sandbags get wet and dirty and dogs pee on them. Bunjee cords break under wind stress.
Most of the farmers make their own weights using a 5 gallon pail that they fill with cement, they anchor a pvc pipe in the wet cement and put some eyebolts through the pipes.
A lighter-weight but similar solution is to take a 3 foot segment of pvc pipe and fill it with cement, then anchor a long eyebolt in the top of the cement.
If the wind starts to lift your canopy resist the urge to grab it. It can lift you several feet off the ground.
Good luck. |
RE: Need ideas for canopy weights
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| In the camping section of the sporting goods store we found weights that look like a barbell weight but with a slit large enough that the weight fits over the base of the leg. I can't find a picture of ours, but this site shows a couple of other types: http://www.dorsetcanopyhire.co.uk/accessories.shtml We don't normally get a lot of wind so these have worked for us, and they are only 5 pounds each. But we probably need to get another set and stack them. A set of 4 was almost $30. But they are very easy to handle. |
RE: Need ideas for canopy weights
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| I use the 4" PVC pipe filled with mixed cement. There is an S-hook attached to one of the capped ends. I use bungee cords to attach them to the top and two around the pipe per leg. My husband made them a bit "too heavy and long" - 4' - so, is going to make them shorter for me this year. We have found in our very, very windy market site that weights lower to the ground are more effective. My canopy actually moved one foot last year when I had one sidewall attached! Other vendors actually have made their own cement blocks that the legs of the canopy can screw into and have also added drawer pulls to them so they can carry them. Two weeks ago the wind was so strong we had three or four vendors "lose their canopies" so I suggest at least 35 - 50 pounds depending upon where you are!
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