I am looking for directions on how to make teh flower pot awning stands for our new to us pop up.. I know I need 2 flower pots, pvc- not sure of the size or length and some cement..is that pretty much the extint of it???Thanks again!!
Yup, that's about it
Awning base (http://www.popupcamping.info/AwningBase.htm)
Just to be completely informative, there is another mod that is similar, but it's not as attractive or as charming. It involves attaching a 5 or 10 lb weight to the bottom of the awning pole to weight it down. Here are the instructions, and I have tried to attach pictures as well. Just clickon the attachment to view the pictures.
HTH! :)
1 5 or 10 lb cast iron weight (barbell weight)
1 3/4 PVC pipe to 3/4 female thread adapter
1 3/4 galvanized closed nipple
1 3/4 conduit nut
1 aluminum pin ( I don't the name of these things)
The pin is about 1 1/4 long. It has a flat head on each end, one half is male threaded, the other is female. When screwed together it looks like a nail with heads on both ends.
Place the awning pole into the PVC adapter until it bottoms out. Drill through the adapter and pole about midway and insert the aluminum pin through the hole, screwing both halves together. Now the PVC adapter is attached to the pole. Screw the nipple into the PVC adapter, then slip the nipple through the hole of the weight. Screw the nut onto the nipple a couple of turns, that holds the weight to the pole.
Simple, but should do the trick. Should not cause any stubbed toes because of its low profile. I would have preferred not using the galvanized nipple and instead just used a male PVC adapter, but the male threads on the PVC adapter were too short to pass through the weight.
Why carry all that extra weight along just to hold the awning down? What I use is two of the screw into the ground type dog tie out anchors and put one in next to each awning pole. Then I have a length of nylon cord with a small s hook tied on one end which I hook into a hole on the awning front rail and tie off tightly to the dog tie out anchor. This way the anchor is tight to the awning pole so we don't trip on it and it is also fairly light weight to carry along.
Quote from: rccsWhy carry all that extra weight along just to hold the awning down?
Cuz putting stuff in the ground is too much work. :) What I did was overkill. I actually used carwash buckets filled with cement and a PVC pipe and eye hook in the middle. It works, and they are heavy, but it is much easier than screwing or banging something into the ground in most places we camp.
We rarely use our awning anymore anyway. Was think of taking it off the camper, but no place to put it anyway. We use our Quik-Shade instead.
Larry
One suggestion about the flower pots. If you can, make sure the PVC pipe is in line with the hole in the bottom of the flower pot and that the hole in the flower pot remains open as you fill it with cement. I made three of these for our awning and one of them, the hole is blocked. It is amazing the amount of rain water that will collect in the PVC pipe. Naturally I always forget about which one it is, so it always pours out onto me when we are packing up. One of these days I will take the time and clear out that hole, but...
Quote from: rccsWhy carry all that extra weight along just to hold the awning down? What I use is two of the screw into the ground type dog tie out anchors and put one in next to each awning pole. Then I have a length of nylon cord with a small s hook tied on one end which I hook into a hole on the awning front rail and tie off tightly to the dog tie out anchor. This way the anchor is tight to the awning pole so we don't trip on it and it is also fairly light weight to carry along.
Some sites are paved. I don't think they would like you putting holes in the asphalt or concrete.
I've been giving this one a lot of thought and think there might be a decent solution that involves less weight. I intend to buy a couple of the water jugs with carrying handles and try them out for awning weights. At 8+ pounds per gallon each five gallon jug will, when full, weigh plenty enough to hold down the awning. I'm thinking a strap or bungee cord attached from the jug to the awning rail will do the trick. When empty, they will weigh less than a pound for both. As an added benifit, there will also be an outside supply of water for various uses. Another...and potentially more important benifit...is that when returning from a late-night campfire where all the worlds troubles have been resolved, kicking one of these suckers will not result in breaks, blood or bad language. Certainly not as aesthetically pleasing as flower pots but much more flexible.
Testing trials to begin soon.....
Quote from: SkipPAnother...and potentially more important benifit...is that when returning from a late-night campfire where all the worlds troubles have been resolved, kicking one of these suckers will not result in breaks, blood or bad language. Certainly not as aesthetically pleasing as flower pots but much more flexible.
Testing trials to begin soon.....
You could begin testing in Ohio ... I'll videotape. You are supposed to record your trials, right? :D
With the old Palomino ~ I duct-taped tent stakes to the awning poles and pounded those into the ground. (I have yet to camp on a paved site, Tracy!)
The new trailer has a Carefree of Colorado awning ... problem solved :D
Quote from: KellyThe new trailer has a Carefree of Colorado awning ... problem solved :D [/COLOR][/FONT]
There ya go! That's a good way to solve this problem!
Larry
Quote from: Kelly
With the old Palomino ~ I duct-taped tent stakes to the awning poles and pounded those into the ground. (I have yet to camp on a paved site, Tracy!)
Assateague Island National Sea Shore and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake sure both have paved sites. At Assateague I think they are paved so that they don't loose the campers into the sand and have to pull them out.:)
Hey Gang,
It's been 30 years since I've camped in a PU. We're breaking in our new to us camper in a couple of weeks and I was just wondering;
Are these ideas for the canopy supports to take the place of the support lines that double as tripping hazzards?
That's what I'm guessing, but wanted to double check. If so, I'm thinking of casting my own decorative concrete textile blocks to dress them up a bit. I'll let you know how that goes.
Thanks
Quote from: Dwayne NHey Gang,
It's been 30 years since I've camped in a PU. We're breaking in our new to us camper in a couple of weeks and I was just wondering;
Are these ideas for the canopy supports to take the place of the support lines that double as tripping hazzards?
That's what I'm guessing, but wanted to double check. If so, I'm thinking of casting my own decorative concrete textile blocks to dress them up a bit. I'll let you know how that goes.
Thanks
Dwayne,
Welcome to PUT!
These ideas are to make the use of the canopy easier. That is, to keep from having to drive stakes, mainly. At least in my case.
I still use the support lines, only they are hooked to an eyebolt that is in the concrete, right beside the PVC pipe. Keeps the line from blowing in the wind, and keeps the pole/canopy from jumping out of the PVC pipe, in case a big gust comes up.
Like I said before, our Quik-Shade has pretty much made our canopy obsolete anyway. Rarely take the buckets o' concrete with us anymore!
Larry
Man, I'm reading this thread and no one's answering her question about how to make them. Most of the answers are the guy-engineering thing build-a-better-mousetrap type! We're women here! We don't get it. I'm so confused. :eyecrazy:
So here goes, with my flower pot version: I made three, one for each pole, because as stated previously, the ropes can be a pain and a trip hazard, sometimes we've camped at paved sites or sandy sites where you really can't nail in the stakes, and I wanted an easier way to put up the awning and not have to worry about staking, etc.
I went to my local home improvement store and bought the cheapest plastic pots I could find. They were about 8-9" tall. I bought two boxes of plaster of paris (found in the paint department) and I ended up using both boxes. I bought a piece of PVC that the poles would fit into (take a pole with you to measure) and use the cutters there at the store to cut them just about an inch higher than the flowerpots are. I also purchased from a craft store some colorful rocks/marbles to decorate with.
I put a piece of the cut PVC right in the middle of the pot, over the hole as mentioned, and my daughter held it in place. I used a rubber spatula to scoop up the P of P (already mixed in a separate container) and poured it around the PVC piece (work quickly as it starts drying pretty fast). I filled it to about 1 1/2" from the top. Then we pressed the marbles into the P of P (you could use shells, silk flowers, whater you want) and let it sit in the sun to dry. They were easy and fun and work great. Only problem was that my daughter didn't press the marbles in very much and some came loose, so I just glued them back into their indentions in the P of P.
I don't worry about the added weight very much because I'm not that close to the edge on my max weight allowed. We've not had a problem with kicking them in the night because they're not very big, as opposed to a five gallon bucket. In the past we'd forgo even putting up the awning because it was such a pain, but the flowerpots have solved the problem. DH loves it because the kids or I can deal with it without calling him over to figure out the ropes for us.
Ihope that helps.
Thank you all so much for the help, opinions, and ideas for doing the awning bases and even the ideas for the other unique ways to go about making them. I did have one question though..is plaster of paris more lightweight than the cement to go in the pots?? I liked the idea too of how you decorated them..that could be alot of fun too!!! I was thinking about putting my girls handprints in it either way and letting them help decorate- ages 1 & almost 3...lol messy fun!! I am going to go to Home Depot this afternoon to get my flower pots and then to Hobby Lobby to get the decoritive stuff..I'll decide while I'm at the store if I'm going to use the p of p or cement..weight isn't really an issue for us either so it comes down to what medium I want to work with.. Thanks again!!!!
OrangePridePOPUP
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Plaster of Paris will be a mess if it rains on it. But a good idea other than that.
Larry
As we speak the 3 hunter green flower pots filled with dyed concrete- I know..overboard huh.. are drying in the garage. The two little bitties and I ventured out to Home Depot this afternoon and bought the pots, 1 10 foot stick of 1 inch PVC pipe, 3 bags of 80 pound quickcrete and headed home to work..The hubby mixed and added some old concrete dye we had and hope the end result is pretty and not "Is That Dirt?" that the neighbor friend pointed out..anyway..everything is drying and hopefully tomorrow we will have made and completed our 3rd modification to the new to us pop up..affectionetly known as "The Dream Catcher" to reflect our native american heritage since we picked her up in Dallas on Saturday..modification 4 should be in the mail either Thursday or Friday in time for the holiday trip..what fun!!
Greetings and blessings!
Orangepridepopup
Quote from: KellyThe new trailer has a Carefree of Colorado awning ... problem solved :D
Definitely one of the best awnings I've ever seen! Our first popup was a Starcraft (used), and it did not have an awning. I called the Starcraft dealer here, to order one, and he said "I could order you a Starcraft one, but I strongly recommend you get a Carefree of Colorado..." (and then told me where to get one).
Now that I gave that camper to my older brother and moved up to my parents Coleman... I have extreme "awning envy". I really miss my Carefree... I hate having the legs down on the ground to run into, the dogs to wrap their leashes around, etc.
Of course, I'm not sure I could mount a Carefree on the Coleman - because the sides do not have wood panels behind it to support the diaganol canopy legs.
Carefree of Colorado popup awning
Thanks Trina for setting this thread straight, and providing the answer originally asked.
I notice in the original question, they said they only needed 2 flower pots, well that's exactly what we did. I taped up the middle post of the awning on our Niagara, and only used the two outter post. Never had a problem with it, and loved all the extra space with the middle pole gone.
We did use silk flowers on our pots, see picture at the bottom Flower pots (http://the6quigleys.tripod.com/camping/id4.html)
They did get rather worn looking after a few trips, especially with the kids picking the flowers, sso we replaced them with the 10lb weights, which did not take up as much room in the front trunk.
I use two plastic table umbrella bases - the kind one can fill with water or sand - one for each awning end pole. I fill them with water upon arrival - empty when we pack up. I use a bungee cord attached to the awning rail with an 'S' hook, and to the umbrella base with a second, larger hook through a drilled hole. The awning pole fits nicely into the hole in the base. They've done the job in every storm we've been through, and there were some pretty strong wind gusts.
Blue Skies!
Skydivn Bill
I just finished making my flower pot awning pole holders. The only job I ask my kids to do is help me set up the awning, you would think it was cruel and unusual punishment. Now I can avoid the arguement that starts every camping trip, who's going to help mom? :#
Quote from: rccsWhy carry all that extra weight along just to hold the awning down? What I use is two of the screw into the ground type dog tie out anchors and put one in next to each awning pole. Then I have a length of nylon cord with a small s hook tied on one end which I hook into a hole on the awning front rail and tie off tightly to the dog tie out anchor. This way the anchor is tight to the awning pole so we don't trip on it and it is also fairly light weight to carry along.
Not to beat a dead horse but I will!! :eyecrazy: I use the screw type anchors :# and use a small breaker bar (jack bar) to screw and unscrew. NOT difficult at all! I also use the ratcheting straps which are red and visible and only a foot or so away from the awning legs. Awning holds tight in all weather! Just a thought to share for the "screw anchor" people who are limited on space and weight ;)
It's not the anchoring, it's who's going to hold the poles while I anchor? I usually bring 4 kids and not my husband and the kids want the fun to start the second i shut the engine off.
Quote from: Tim5055Yup, that's about it
Awning base
I'm not sure from the picture, but did you use plastic flower pots? Thanks.
:tent:
Try the folgers coffee cans.
(http://www.arthritis.org/resources/sponsors/Ease_of_Use/folgers.jpg)
Poke a hole in the lid. Then put a large washer on the bolt, and secure it with a nut. Then pour in quickcrete (get all the bubbles out!!), put it on a tuna can (I'm not sure exactly why, but that's what my friends do) and let it cure. The lid need not be off, but only popped open a bit.
When it's cured fully, snap the lid on, spray paint it black (or whatever color you want!) and you're done.
Why the Folgers can? Because it has a handle :)
If the can ever breaks off, your concrete will have a handle, too..
(edit the washer and nut should be at the bottom of the can)