question about baskets

[marklar]

i have been thinking about buying some baskets for my families property. the only thing holding me back besides cost is the fact that there are cattle where i plan to put the baskets. i fear that the cows would end up using them as scratching post and possibly breaking them in the process. the only solution i can think of is to use hanging baskets. has anyone played a course with hanging baskets or where cattle are present? any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Three Putt]

I have played on a "hanging basket." It was hanging over a steep drop off, so I more remember the pucker factor of the hole than anything to do with how it caught mounted like that. It seems like the cost of mounting 18 like that would be worse than just buying extra basket attachments if the cows ding them up. I can't imagine even a cow doing damage to the chain assembly on most baskets, but I could see them bending a basket attachment.

I played a course on a horse ranch, but never in a cow field. If you put it in, remember to bring extra towels to wipe the off your discs!

 

[kvanorsdel]

There was a thread on the PDGA board a while back that discussed placing baskets in an area that had Bison issues. Baskets being able to withstand a herd of 700 bison I would think a cow could bend the crap out of a basket if it had a really good itch. Hanging baskets are fun to play on it adds a different mental challenge to the game. I don't think I'd want to play on 18 hanging baskets though. I wonder if you could put the basket on a spring base so when the cow rubs on it it just pushes it over and then it'll spring back up when they are finished.

Here is a pic of a hanging basket we did at our clubs fall picnic

 

[marklar]

thanks for the input!

three put, the cow pie factor isn't that bad considering the cattle are not confined to just the areas i plan on putting the baskets. also, it would actually be cheaper to hang them than to replace parts when they break.

kvanorsdel, is that a DB-5 basket? i agree that playing on a course with only hanging baskets could be less appealing. i had the same thought about some type of spring base, but that sounds like a nightmare to figure out. the only other option i can think of is barbed wire on the outside of the catcher

 

[timg]

I don't think 18 hanging baskets would be too bad. It would definitely add a novelty factor to the course. Maybe you could attach the lower portion of the baskets to weights that sit on the ground so they'd be more stable for playing and cows could still run into them without causing much damage.

 

[Donovan]

I don't think 18 hanging baskets would be too bad. It would definitely add a novelty factor to the course. Maybe you could attach the lower portion of the baskets to weights that sit on the ground so they'd be more stable for playing and cows could still run into them without causing much damage.

Do you ever stop having great ideas timg....LOL

 

[DavidSauls]

From a private course owner---

Hanging baskets limit your pin placement. You have to have something substantial enough to hang them from. They tend to sway a little in the wind, or after someone removes their putt if they're not especially gentle. Some players think this is cool....fewer think it gimmicky. (We have one on our course). It's not, however, expensive or difficult to do.

You can also consider portables. We're hoping to expand our course into some horse pasture, and are testing the horses' reactions with an M-14, a relatively fragile basket. They tend to knock it over periodically, either scratching or just out of curiousity, but once it's down they don't damage it. Portables don't have the scratching value that a fixed object would have. Of course, this assumes you're not located where basket theft would be an issue. (Portables also allow you to tinker with course design much easier than fixed baskets).

 

[cjlgarage]

iv got 3 baskets on my land and a small head of cattle i put an electic fence around the baskets for a few weeks and after the cows got lit up a few times they wont even look at the baskets ... also we have a large cattle farm in ENID with about 500 cows we use a thing called a pop box to keep them away from the electric junction boxs when you get to close to it , it lets out a very loud pop and the cattle disburst Qwickly....