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    MANicure Your Lawn

    Friday, May 11, 2012, 2:30 PM [Weekend Warriors]

    Grooming the LawnLet’s face it: no matter how good of shape your house is in, no matter how fresh the paint job and how nice a deck you built in that backyard, nothing matters if it’s all sitting on an ugly patch of brown and dying turf. The lawn is the canvas on which you paint your home’s masterpiece, and a healthy expanse of green grass is a message to all that you know what you’re doing and aren’t afraid of putting in the hours to make sure it’s done right. From aerating to trimming to everything in between, having the best yard on the block is no more than a little commitment and the ability to get your two hands dirty. You know you have what it takes, now all that’s left is to read these tips, grab some tools, and go hit the turf.

    1. Fall Flashback: Remember that season that came right before winter? The one with all the leaves that forced you out into the yard with a team of trash bags and a rake? Well we are going to travel back in time and grab that same tool for a bit of spring maintenance. More then just a leaf-cleaner, the rake is important as a tool for removing thatch. For this reason it’s always good to rake deeply in the fall (not just on the surface where the leaves are), but even if you’ve done that, a spring raking is key to keeping a healthy lawn. Specifically, look for areas of matted grass and patches of “snow mold” as breaking these up will allow new grass to grow in the area.
    2. Anti-Compaction Action: Compaction is not your friend. Compaction is the enemy. And areas of the yard that receive heavy use or are weighed down by winter snow often need spring time action to neutralize this threat to having a healthy yard. The action here is known as aeration and is an essential step towards keeping your yard in good shape, especially if your yard has clay in the soil. One option is to buy an aerator, but these guys can put a pretty good dent in your wallet. The more economical option is to rent an aerator from a hardware store like your neighborhood Home Depot. From there the rest is as easy as watching a few tips on the process and digging in.  
    3. A Pinch of Lime: While liming the yard is not a necessary step for everyone, many yards (especially those in humid areas) suffer from over-acidic soil that can halt or completely stall the growth of grass. In this case, it’s better to be safe than sorry because having acidic soil can wipe out all the work from those hard-earned hours you’ll be logging in the yard. By using a soil test kit that you buy online or at your local nursery, you can determine the pH of your soil. If it turns out to be neutral, you’re golden. If it turns out acidic, well that means it’s time to bust out the lime.
    4. Pulling the Weeds: Don’t let the little yellow flowers deceive you. Perennial weeds, which make their reemergence in the springtime, can be a stubborn bunch if you don’t attack them from the beginning. Snipping off their flowers before they produce seed will be enough to keep them from reproducing and limit the annoyance, but if you want to get rid of them all together you’ll have to go one step further and dig them out by the roots. The use of post emergent herbicides is another possible option, but only really necessary in extreme cases. With a shovel and a bit of elbow grease you’re more than capable of handling the job the old fashion way and keeping that lawn green and weed-free all summer long.

     

    WD-40 TipTIP: When using a lawn aerator, use WD-40® Multi-Use Product to keep the wheels of the cart running smooth

    0 (0 Ratings)

    Tune Up Time: Get Your Bike in Gear

    Friday, May 4, 2012, 2:30 PM [Weekend Warriors]

    Bike Tune-UpThey have two wheels, not four, and pedals where pistons should be, but beyond the structural differences between bicycles and cars, bikes are still vehicles and are likewise subject to falling out of shape after long periods of non-use. Spring and summer are great seasons for grabbing the family and taking the bikes out for a spin, but it’s important to make sure that they are in working order so they are safe and reliable when you ride them. Luckily, while you may need science skills to work on a modern car, bikes are still somewhat “Flinstone-esque” in their technology and pretty darn easy to work on. All it takes is knowing specifically what problems to check for and you can be sure your family’s next pedal through the park is memorable for only the right reason: how much fun you had on your ride.

    1. A Clean Brake: The most important feature of any bike isn’t going to be the amount of gears or the fancy water bottle holder welded to the frame—the most important feature is going to be the brakes and how quickly they allow you to stop. For flawless braking, start by checking the brake pads themselves. Cut away any strips of frayed material and then resurface them with sand paper to create a smooth face. If they are worn past the indicator line it is time to have them replaced. Next, check the handlebar brake levers. If you need to squeeze them close to the bar to pull the brakes taught, that means the cable is too loose. Turning the brake cable screw adjuster counterclockwise is the simplest way to add tension. The screw adjuster can be found immediately in front of the lever where the brake line passes through, and should be loose enough that you can use your fingers to spin it to the desired tension.
    2. Freewheelin’ Adjustments: Most of us don’t think of cleaning our bikes before we put them into storage because we know they’re going to collect gunk in there anyway. While convenient at the time, this means that when we take our bikes out of storage we’ve got to deal with months of new crud plus the dirt from our last time out riding. For the wheels especially, this can mean a pretty big clean up job. Getting in between the spokes and around the inside of the rim with a rag and some soapy water is crucial so you can then take a gander at the surface and make sure there are no hairline cracks or punctured areas. Remove the wheels in order to clean them, and then check the hub adjustments to make sure they aren’t loose and are spinning freely. Lastly, check the pressure of the tires with your thumb. Firm as an apple generally means they’re fine; soft as a peach and they need some air. Check the recommended pressure on the tires and fill them up accordingly.
    3. Smooth as the Spring: After touching up the wheels and the brakes, the final step is to make sure all moving parts are running smoothly. Moving parts naturally receive the most stress, so making sure they are well-lubricated is going to really reduce the amount of wear put on the parts over the long haul. A few drops of lubricant in all pivot points, braking components, and shifting components should do the trick for the general lube. As far as the bike cables themselves, using a lint-free rag to rub on the grease helps to add an even layer of lubrication and prevent the formation of blobs. Also, be sure to keep the brake pads clean of grease and wipe off any extra grease off the frame to keep it from collecting dirt.

    Follow these three steps for a bit of bike maintenance before spring time’s first ride and you should be good to go when the sun rolls out and the kids are primed for their first pedal adventure.  

     

     

    WD-40 TipTIP: Use a coat of WD-40® Multi-Use Product on your steel frame to protect it from corrosion

    0 (0 Ratings)

    Weekend Warriors: DIY Vegetable Garden

    Friday, April 27, 2012, 2:30 PM [Weekend Warriors]

    Vegetable GardenFrom red vine ripe tomatoes to silky butternut squash, any vegetable you’ve brought to life with your own two hands has a special feel when placed on the dinner table. Now that spring is here and the frost has gone, it’s the perfect time to begin planning a vegetable garden for your home. Despite some of the clichés, gardening is definitely not just for women. In fact, there are not many things more manly than toiling away at the soil with shovel and rake just like our ancestors did before us. And beyond the perks of a project that allows you to spend your time outdoors, gardening gives you a chance to include the kids, turning it into a family affair. You’ll be able to teach them the valuable skill of living off of the land, and then join them in enjoying the fruits of your labor when harvest time rolls around.

    1. Tis the Season: The first step to planning any vegetable garden is figuring out what kind of plants you want to stick in the ground. As many of us have forgotten, not all vegetables can be grown at all times, and planting things in the right season is crucial if you want them to survive until the harvest. By determining your Hardiness Zone, you can then decide what vegetables work best for you and develop a planting schedule that matches the suggested time frames to make sure your first round of veggies is a successful one.
    2. The Right Real Estate: Once you’ve decided what you want to plant, the next step is figuring out where to plant it. Sunshine is the key factor in plant growth and so areas that see a lot of shade need to be scratched off the list. Five hours a day is the minimum amount of sunlight for a healthy garden, and the space also needs to be clear of competing roots—meaning at least ten feet away from the drip line of tall trees. Also, unless you want to give yourself an extra load of work by terracing your garden, seek out a spot where the beds can rest comfortably on flat land. When it comes to healthy crops, plants with crooked stalks are not going to be your friends.
    3. More Than Just Dirt: Having good soil in your garden is essential for all plants to grow. More than just a patch of dirt, good soil needs to be full of organic matter, easily drainable, and free of rocks and shale that will disrupt the spread of roots. Picking a spot in a good location is the best place to start because issues such as a lack of organic matter can be fixed with additions like organic fertilizer. Once you’ve picked out your plot of land, the only big step left to secure the space is to make sure your precious soil is at an acceptable PH level.
    4. Time to Plant: When it comes to the planting of the vegetables, some people choose to be brave and do the sowing themselves. It’s not astrophysics, but sowing can be a tricky process, and for the casual gardener, buying seedlings might be a more logical route as you can plant them straight into the ground. Start by drawing out a planting map so you can visualize the arrangement before you break ground. Next, dig a hole for each seedling about an inch wider than the plant’s container and then dunk each potted plant into water to soak the soil before taking the container off. Once the container has been removed, untangle any roots on the underside of the soil cluster and drop the plant into its personalized hole. Add to that a bit of fresh water, a tidy pat down with some fresh soil, and your brand new backyard vegetable garden is ready to go.

    Always remember that a well maintained garden means bigger and better vegetables on the table after the harvest.




    WD-40 TipTIP:
    Apply WD-40® Multi-Use Product to the metal face of trowels and shovels to keep mud and dirt from sticking.  

    0 (0 Ratings)

    Springtime Uses for WD-40 Multi-Use Product

    Thursday, April 26, 2012, 4:00 PM [General]

    It’s Time for Spring Cleaning… Hooray!

    WD-40® Multi-Use Product is so versatile, it can help around bathrooms, kitchens, tool sheds, garages and just about every room in the house.  Stop by your local retailer, pick up a can, and use it to shine your stainless steel appliances and to prevent build-up of soap scum, water spots and grime.

    Rain, Rain Go Away

    April showers bring May flowers, but they can also take quite a toll on tools left outside.  WD-40 Multi-Use Product can help protect and drive moisture from things left out in the rain.  Use it to drive moisture from gardening tools, lubricate hinges on pruning shears, prevent rust on outdoor latches and to keep your wheelbarrow wheels turning smoothly.

    Enjoy the Great Outdoors

    As days get longer and the weather warms up, it’s time to get outside.  It may have been months since you last used your bike, but biking is a great way to enjoy nature and get a workout at the same time.  Before you hit the road, make sure your bike is in tip-top shape so you’ll have a safe, smooth ride.  Pick up a can of WD-40 Multi-Use Product and use it to lubricate locks on bike racks, help remove caked on debris from chains and pulleys, displace moisture from components and protect your bike’s metal parts from rust and corrosion. 

    Learn more tips at WD40.com and check out the Weekend Warrior blog inside the WD-40 Fan Club

    3.2 (1 Ratings)

    Weekend Warriors: How to Make Your Home More Eco-Friendly

    Friday, April 20, 2012, 2:30 PM [Weekend Warriors]

    Compact Fluorescent Light BulbsPolitical affiliations aside, we should all be able to agree that we want to leave our kids and grandkids a planet that they can actually live on. This very idea of providing for our loved ones has underscored a large part of the green transformation that’s occurred in large scale across the globe, and these changes have been aided by another benefit that has universal appeal—the ability to keep more of our hard earned cash in pocket. The truth is, many ways of going green are also great ways of saving money. By taking a few steps to create a more eco-friendly household, you’ll be creating a more efficient household as well, meaning the positive benefits will trickle from your conscious all the way down to your bank account. It’s a serious win-win. 

    1. Efficient Appliance: Turning off the lights. Don’t leave the TV on. These are the things your own parents taught you growing up and are great ways to take direct action in order to save some energy. Less noted, however, are the ways in which you might be causing that energy bill to run high through indirect action, like not replacing a kitchen full of old appliances. True, the idea of buying a new fridge might seem pricey at first, but after taking into account that items such as an energy efficient refrigerator can save you up to $150 a year on your power bill, it’s not hard to see how that purchase can end up paying for itself. In addition, you’re getting a brand new appliance that looks great in the kitchen and is helping the whole world by consuming less power.
    2. A Bright Idea: Incandescent light bulbs might have had their day in the sun, but this day has long since come and gone. Incredibly inefficient in lighting output, many incandescent bulbs convert less than 10% of used power into visible light, and the U.S. has planned to phase out these bulbs in 2014. Rather than waiting until you’re forced to make a switch, save yourself some change right now by replacing all incandescent bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs). CFLs use 66% less energy and last ten times as long—an absolute no-brainer.
    3. Shower Saver: We get it. You like your showerhead. It feels like standing under a docile Niagara and has seventeen different settings to fit every conceivable bathing mood. But the glory of a tropical rainstorm recreation during shower time comes with a hefty price tag. Switching to an efficient shower head will still allow you to generate good water pressure while saving you up to $280 dollars a year on your water bill. Not that we’d suggest switching to a “drizzle style” shower head, but the ability to retain quality and still increase water efficiency, well, it just makes sense.

     

     

    WD_40 TipTIP: Apply WD-40® Multi-Use Product to your new showerhead to prevent it from rusting. It’s also terrific at removing calcification from old showerheads and faucets.

    1.9 (1 Ratings)

    Weekend Warriors: Troubleshooting 101: What’s Wrong With My Car?

    Friday, April 13, 2012, 2:30 PM [Weekend Warriors]

    Car CareWe name them. We decorate them. They help us haul lumber and bring our kids to school safely. And now Car Care Month is officially upon us and it’s time for us to turn our attention towards these beloved machines and make sure they’re up to date and in good running shape. While it’s natural for cars to show some bumps and bruises after years spent out on the road, we don’t necessarily need to turn to a new set of wheels or even a hired mechanic to fight through our automotive woes. Many problems commonly encountered with cars have notable symptoms and very manageable solutions. All it takes is the knowledge of what to look for and how to go about getting your hands dirty turning those car problems into straightforward solutions. 

    1. Shake, Rattle and Roll: Cars weren’t built to rattle and click on the road, but after tens of thousands of miles it’s not uncommon to start hearing strange noises coming from under the hood. While some clicking noises might mean it’s time to bring the car into the shop for a professional fix, other sounds can be traced back to problems you’re better off taking care of in your own personal auto shop. Get your hands on a cheap stethoscope to help you locate the source of the sounds. If you find an unsteady slapping sound coming from the front of the engine that increases with RPMs, then it’s likely time for you to adjust your timing belt. If the clicks come as a series of sharper ticks that stay consistent as the engine runs, make sure to check oil levels as such clicking is often the lifter telling you your engine is hungry for more oil.
    2. Take a Brake: There is nothing more important to driver safety than a car’s braking system. The ability to stop quickly and reliably is vital in keeping you safe and it also protects those on the road around you. Unfortunately, like any other car part, brakes are prone to wear and tear that can cause them to be less effective. By checking your brakes twice a year, though, you should be able to ensure they are in good condition and will function properly when it matters most. Start by examining the rotors. Running lines are normal but any sharp grooves or areas of severe wear means it’s time to put in replacements. Next, move onto brake pads and brake lines. Anything less then 1/8” left of brake pad means it’s time to replace those as well, and if brake lines show corrosion or rigidity you should err on the side of caution and throw in a fresh pair.
    3. Pumping at Full Pressure: Since car engines function under enormous amounts of pressure, a good way to begin examining overall engine health is by performing a compression test. A compression test will measure compression levels in the engine’s individual cylinders and allow you to diagnose such issues such as a faulty head gasket or a bad piston ring. The desired result, of course, is to find that your engine is well-balanced and running strong, but if something serious needs to be fixed, better to find out about it now than on the next family road trip. Compression testers can be purchased for around twenty dollars and the procedure itself should take no longer than a single afternoon.

    Fixing up your ride might not be the most thrilling of weekend projects, but setting aside an afternoon to make sure everything is in running order will keep you safe on the road and greatly reduce your chance of breaking down.



    WD-40 TipTIP:
    While you have the hood popped, why not use WD-40® Multi-Use Product to remove sludge from outside engine block

     

    0 (0 Ratings)

    Weekend Warriors: “Fore” Ways to Gear Up for Golf

    Friday, April 6, 2012, 2:30 PM [Weekend Warriors]

    Golf“I have a tip that can take five strokes off anyone’s golf game – it’s called an eraser.” So goes the famous quote by Arnold Palmer, and so goes golf’s inevitable truth—that the game is a challenging one. For those of us who have spent these past months of colder weather far removed from the links, the game can be especially tough as we attempt to knock the rust off what was likely a less than Mickelson-esque swing to begin with. But fear not. Before warm weather and fresh clipped greens demand your presence on the course, you still have time to get your golf gear primed and your short game repolished. By putting in a bit of effort now, you’ll be able to take those first games by storm and outclass your friends, whose only preparation has been a few range hacks, before tee time.

    1.  Scrubbin’ the Clubs: Though the sight of those dust covered clubs and that old golf bag might tempt you to seek out a fresh set of irons, chances are your old set is still in good shape. A well-maintained set of clubs can last you past the five-year mark, and all it takes is dedication to routine maintenance once golf season is back in full swing. In order to get the clubs out of hibernation, give them a solid cleaning just like you would after a full 18-holes. Clean the head and grooves with a soapy solution and a wire brush to remove all dirt and grime (do not use bleach as it can damage the surface of the club). Wipe the handle down with a damp rag and then dry the entire club thoroughly with a towel to keep rust from forming on steel shafts. 
    2. Home on the Range: Though you may think your swing has improved through an offseason spent watching the pros hammer out -5 scorecards, that nasty slice has probably gotten worse as the months have gone along, and your lob wedge still probably sends your divot further than your ball. The only way to get your golf game back to a respectable level is to return to where all champions are made— your local driving range—and invest in a few buckets of balls. Beyond just refreshing your old swing, the local range is a great place to sign up for a few lessons to work out the kinks before you hit the course. Be it your sand game, your putting, or your full length clubs, a good instructor can help you develop a few tricks to knock some pesky strokes off this seasons scorecard.
    3. Frictional Footwear: Believe it or not, a large chunk of golf injuries and mishit balls come from slick conditions and improper footwear. Short cut grass at the tee box and on the fairway is slippery by nature and morning dew can cause things to get even more slippery by creating additional moisture. Luckily, you can grab a good pair of golf spikes without having to break the bank. Check your local pro shop for sales or go online and snag a pair to really add some security to your game. 
    4. The Ball Arsenal: High spin. Low spin. Low compression. Medium feel. With the many millions spent on golf ball marketing each year, it’s hard to differentiate fact from fiction when restocking the arsenal with this season’s batch of balls. An expert will tell you a three or four piece ball is important for long shots off the tee. A beginner will tell you cheap balls are important because they’re all destined to end up in the lake. There’s no right or wrong answer when shopping for the perfect fit, but in general, unless you’re anywhere close to being a scratch golfer, the style of ball is going to make very little difference. Pick something that you’re comfortable with and that’s in your price range. The true pleasure of being out on the course has nothing to do with golf ball brand names.



    WD-40 TipTIP: WD-40® Multi-Use Product is great for removing caked mud off the face of your clubs and a good spray after cleaning will prevent any corrosion or oxidation before your next game.
    0 (0 Ratings)

    Weekend Warriors: Five Tips to Improve the Look of Your Home

    Friday, March 30, 2012, 2:30 PM [Weekend Warriors]

    Refinishing DeckYou work and you work and you work around the house. You don’t mind the tasks. Things at your place get taken care of, and as the man in charge of keeping things in order, this should make you proud. But between all the big projects that need to be done and all of the other big projects you want to get started on, some of the smaller things are easy to overlook. In the spirit of spending a few weekends paying attention to the finer points around the house, here’s a list of five good ways to take your already well-maintained home to the next level.

    1. No Rugged Rugs: One of the first things people notice when they walk into a home is the surface that they’re standing on. Be it in the entryway, the living room, or any of the halls, carpets have a real knack for getting themselves dirty and having kids around definitely doesn’t help. Whether you want to hire a professional or rent a steam cleaner and do it yourself, clean carpets will tie the house together and make the interior look sharp. 
    2. Trimming the Old: Though repainting the entire house may be too tall of a task at the time being, repainting the exterior trim takes a lot less time and will give the home a nice refreshed look. Work from the top down—starting with gables and gutters—and be sure to mask all areas well to avoid drip onto other areas. Also, don’t feel like you have to stick with the same color scheme you already have going on. Giving the house some life with a colored kick-in-the-shorts is a great way to make your work stand out.
    3. You’ve Got Mail: You know that rusty box sitting on the post out in your front yard? The one that you open up every day to retrieve the mail but never stop to really check out? That is your mailbox, and it is the most visible part of your house from any location on the street. Why have the most public part of your home be the part that receives the least TLC? Whether you want to clean it, paint, it, replace it—the method is up to you. Just make sure that your mailbox is up to par with the rest of the house. 
    4. Going Green: The yard is King. That’s never going to change. But if you’ve already mastered the game of keeping all grass well maintained, why not set your heights a little higher and look for ways to make your green space really shine? Though most yards have at least a few trees already planted, adding new lines of saplings is a solid long-term investment to make a yard that really stands out. Beyond just creating shade, trees create a refined feel once they begin to mature and also add some privacy from neighbors’ prying eyes.
    5. The Captain’s Deck: More than any other part of the house, winter can have an especially brutal effect on a deck exposed 24/7 to freezing elements. Though it may be in the back of the house and a not so obvious eyesore from the street, approaching summer months mean days of outdoor entertaining and hopefully plenty of BBQ’s; therefore, having a deck that’s in top shape should be on the essential to-do list for spring. Sand paper, fresh paint, and sealant are all great aids to the cause. And if you focus on it now, you’ll have a finely tuned entertaining space ready to go for the sunny days of backyard ball and grilled dogs in June.

     

     

    WD-40 TipTIP: Use WD-40® Multi-Use Product to loosen up the sticky hinges of an old mailbox, remove bird droppings and other debris.

     

    0 (0 Ratings)

    Weekend Warriors: Projects You Must Tackle This Season

    Friday, March 23, 2012, 2:30 PM [Weekend Warriors]

    Garage SaleJust as fall calls for leaf blowing and winter for shoveling snow, spring also carries with it a series of seasonal chores that are your manly duty to perform. From the outer edges of the yard to the inner chamber of the garage, winter leaves no area untouched, and restoring everything to its normal state by summertime is the real spring cleaning goal. The objective, as the man of the house, should be to tackle all the tasks that only you can handle. Anything involving heavy lifting and machinery is a man’s domain, and if you conquer all jobs in your own spring cleaning realm, the rest of the family will be free to focus on other areas relevant to their capabilities.

    1. Green Acres: From snow mold to mouse holes, the ways the winter season can bring about damage to your beloved lawn are endless. The longer the damage lingers, the harder it is to reverse, and that’s why the most valued practitioners of yardsmanship are proactive about fixing the damage as soon as spring weather allows. The key to regrowth in severely damaged areas lies in the skill of reseeding. Beginning with a rake of the old and refertilization of the new, reseeding with resistant varieties should be enough to allow grass to fill in by the start of the summer. Beyond a simple reseed, re-sodding also offers the possibility of replacing damaged areas with fully-grown grass. Just be sure to add some starter fertilizer under the sod to help the new patch integrate with ease.
    2. Save Space, Make Money: Part of getting the house back into shape is clearing out the accumulated winter clutter from closets and the garage. Thanks to Christmas decorations, new toys, and everything in between, come springtime it seems like there is always more stuff to put away and less space to store it. One solution is to give up on the idea of a functional garage and slowly let it become a sloppy storage unit. A much better idea, though, is to look at everything you have and make two separate piles—one for “keep,” one for “clutter”—and to turn a profit on your space saving with a weekend garage sale. Since one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, you can expect to cash in quite nicely from the event, and if you do well enough as a salesman, you might even find you’ve made enough room to start parking the truck in the garage, again.
    3. Pretty on the Outside: While cold winter conditions make it a perfect time for indoor reparations, the period from December to February generally sees little work done to the outside of the house. Sure, you may have weatherproofed the doors and lathered the deck with the best sealant in town, but winter wear and tear on the home’s exterior is inevitable, and March is a great time to get out of the house and straighten everything out. Some good places to start are by unclogging gutters and downspouts, resealing the driveway, and inspecting the roof for any damage that might have occurred during stormy weather. Take care of these tasks early on in the spring and you can kick back and wait for summer to come in the comfort of a fully restored house.  

     

    WD-40 TipTIP: After working in the yard, use WD-40® Multi-Use Product to help remove dirt, grime and rust from shovels, rakes and tools.

    0 (0 Ratings)

    Weekend Warriors: How-To Create the Perfect Backyard Mud Run

    Friday, March 16, 2012, 2:30 PM [Weekend Warriors]

    Mud RunAh, the sweet smell of springtime is nearly here. Leaves will soon begin to reappear, flowers will begin to bloom, and your yard will be an absolute mess after three months of heavy winter abuse. Though the time to bust out the tools and bring the lawn back to life is fast approaching, why not take advantage of its temporary messy condition and have a bit of fun before well-manicured sod is once again the expected norm? Rain and sloppy conditions might make most backyard sports too messy to enjoy, but slick sod is ideal for getting adventurous with a back yard mud run. Not only is scrambling through your own mud run a good way to shake off the feel of winter inactivity, but preparing the course will be an entertaining project both you and the kids can enjoy.

    1. Swinging in the Rain: Ever dream of flying through the air like Tarzan? We don’t recommend swinging from high trees or doing anything that involves a loincloth, but a great obstacle to begin your mud run course is a low level rope swing across one of your manmade mud puddles. The key is to build a swing that is low enough to be safe, but high enough to give adults clearance.  A good way to accomplish this is to tie knots in the rope at different levels so that grip heights vary, but all participants remain within a foot of the ground. Any trees with strong overhanging branches can be used for support. If not, constructing your own miniature support with two-by-fours should only take an hour at most. All that’s left is learning the proper knots to mount the rope.
    2. Logging Your Effort: As is standard in most official Marine Corps courses, adding a low-log section to your own course is a great way to get people down in the mud and exerting some solid effort early on. Though full size logs can be hard to come by, two-by-fours padded with Styrofoam act as a perfect substitute, and the goal of the obstacle is always the same: horizontal beams placed low to the ground that you have to army crawl to get under successfully. Clearance should be low so choose that pre-mud run meal carefully. Too many short rib sliders and you run the risk of getting stuck.
    3. A Well-Balanced Beam: Everyday gymnastics have no place on a real mud run course. Let’s make that clear. But being forced to cross a mud covered beam, dead dog tired and with a group of adversaries hot on your pace—that’s something we can get into. The beam should be close to the ground to make it as safe as possible, and should be well supported to keep the center from sagging. And of course, the mud should be nice and deep so a loss of balance means more than lost time, it means a nice bath in the muck and mire you’ve personally whipped up.
    4. Monkey See Monkey Do: Monkey bars just for kids? Please. All of the time we spent on the monkey bars as kids was just to prepare us for the big league version: a set of homemade monkey bars with a pit of mud underneath. A set of these should be enough to thoroughly test the strength of the old guys and give the kids an obstacle that they feel comfortable with. Best of all, after the mud run is complete, the set of monkey bars can be a permanent fixture for the kids to enjoy in the back yard. Solid win-win.

    With any mud run course, the sky is the limit. Have fun. Get creative. And just remember the two key ingredients: a safe course and a seriously high-powered hose.

     

    WD-40 TipTIP: WD-40® Multi-Use Product is a perfect product to clean mud from shoes after the event is over. Be sure to wash with soap and water afterwards so ya don’t slip and fall later.

    0 (0 Ratings)

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