Dick Lemmon read the post I made at the old forum regarding my variation on the "Fly-Ties"- type tie-downs and asked:
"George,
1. How much do those four 4ft tie down rods weigh?
2. Where in hell can you stow four 4ft steel rods?
3. How do you get them back out of the ground?
Dick"
My reply:
They weigh less than a pound each, and are not 4' long after you cut the helix off, they are only about 30". I store them beneath the rear seat contained in a long canvas bag that the cheap folding camping-chairs came in that WalMart sells. I keep my tie-down ropes in that bag as well. I don't use 4, I use 5, two at each wing tie-down point, and one at the tail to keep it from swinging around in a strong side-gust. They are easy to remove. Untie the rope from the plane, and leave the rope tied to only ONE rod at a time. Wrap the rope around your waist with your knees slightly bent, take ahold of he rope, and straighten your legs, pulling the rod straight out of the ground from the same angle that it's driven. It'll slide right out. If not, then use another rod slipped through the eye and twist it to loosen it, or tap it sideways with the hatchet-heel to loosen it, and then try again. - George
Homemade Tie-downs
Moderators: GAHorn, Karl Towle, Bruce Fenstermacher
Tie-downs (Original Post from other site)
For references, here's the post from the other site.
Wanna save some real money? Try this.
Fly ties are a good idea, but they have somel useless hardware
involved. The reason they work well is not the little tie-thing with
three holes in it. In fact, 3 stakes are not what does the work
either. It's 2 stakes that do almost all the work. Here's what I
did.
Purchase "mobile home" anchors, also known as "spiral anchors" from
your local hardware store. 4 feet long with a 5 inch helix welded on
the bottom designed to screw into the ground. Use a bolt cutter or
hack-saw and cut the anchor rod just above the helix and throw the
helix away. Now you have an almost 4-foot long rod with an eye in
one end. Drive it into the ground, leaning it slightly away from
your tie-down eyelet on your upper strut. Drive a second one at a
crossing angle, and also leaning slightly away from your strut
eyelet. In other words, the two rods are now driven into the ground
so that THEIR eyes are exactly aligned with each other, but with
their rods leaning AWAY from both the plane, AND EACH OTHER like
this ---/\ (imagine a small circle on top of each slant). Now tie
your tie-down rope through BOTH eyes (which are perfectly aligned).
You see, one rod cannot come out because it would require the other
rod to release it. In other words, they hold each other in
position. You do not need a third one OR the little disc with an
eylet in it, and you've saved about a hundred dollars. (The anchors
cost about $4 each.) Use 1/2-inch twisted, nylon rope which will be rated
at about 1100 lbs. working load. So with six rods and 3 ropes you'll
be very well tied down.
P.S.- I carry a small 12" hatchet under my rear seat along with my
tie down rods/ropes. I use the flat back (heel) of my hatchet to
drive the rods into the ground. My hatchet would also be a cool
survival tool if forced down somewhere. And by the way, when
driving these rods into the ground, ...drive one first until it's eye
is a couple inches above the ground, then line the 2nd one up so as
to cross the eye of the first one at an angle, and drive the 2nd one
until it's eye is level with the first one. If the two eyes are not
exactly parallel, no problem. Use another rod as a twisting-lever by
sticking it through the driven rod-eye not in alignment and twist it
into alignment. Then slip your rope through both eyes to hold them
in relationship with each other and tie your favorite knot. (Mine is
a clove-hitch with a half-hitch to secure it, or pass the rope
through the eyes twice and then use half-hitches, which are fine.)
the point is that the knot then holds the two anchors in relationship
to each other. One cannot pull out because the opposite one won't
allow it.
Wanna save some real money? Try this.
Fly ties are a good idea, but they have somel useless hardware
involved. The reason they work well is not the little tie-thing with
three holes in it. In fact, 3 stakes are not what does the work
either. It's 2 stakes that do almost all the work. Here's what I
did.
Purchase "mobile home" anchors, also known as "spiral anchors" from
your local hardware store. 4 feet long with a 5 inch helix welded on
the bottom designed to screw into the ground. Use a bolt cutter or
hack-saw and cut the anchor rod just above the helix and throw the
helix away. Now you have an almost 4-foot long rod with an eye in
one end. Drive it into the ground, leaning it slightly away from
your tie-down eyelet on your upper strut. Drive a second one at a
crossing angle, and also leaning slightly away from your strut
eyelet. In other words, the two rods are now driven into the ground
so that THEIR eyes are exactly aligned with each other, but with
their rods leaning AWAY from both the plane, AND EACH OTHER like
this ---/\ (imagine a small circle on top of each slant). Now tie
your tie-down rope through BOTH eyes (which are perfectly aligned).
You see, one rod cannot come out because it would require the other
rod to release it. In other words, they hold each other in
position. You do not need a third one OR the little disc with an
eylet in it, and you've saved about a hundred dollars. (The anchors
cost about $4 each.) Use 1/2-inch twisted, nylon rope which will be rated
at about 1100 lbs. working load. So with six rods and 3 ropes you'll
be very well tied down.
P.S.- I carry a small 12" hatchet under my rear seat along with my
tie down rods/ropes. I use the flat back (heel) of my hatchet to
drive the rods into the ground. My hatchet would also be a cool
survival tool if forced down somewhere. And by the way, when
driving these rods into the ground, ...drive one first until it's eye
is a couple inches above the ground, then line the 2nd one up so as
to cross the eye of the first one at an angle, and drive the 2nd one
until it's eye is level with the first one. If the two eyes are not
exactly parallel, no problem. Use another rod as a twisting-lever by
sticking it through the driven rod-eye not in alignment and twist it
into alignment. Then slip your rope through both eyes to hold them
in relationship with each other and tie your favorite knot. (Mine is
a clove-hitch with a half-hitch to secure it, or pass the rope
through the eyes twice and then use half-hitches, which are fine.)
the point is that the knot then holds the two anchors in relationship
to each other. One cannot pull out because the opposite one won't
allow it.
Yeah GayHorn I saw u pullin yer hurnea tryin tu git them iyrn rods out a thu groun hyear at ma place th uther nite. better tu tye to a gud ol stump than git yer silf hurt.Having said that just to 'git yer gote goin'- - - -, the best system I've ever seen is a two inch disk of steel about one inch thick with a one inch eye bolt screwed into the center and three holes drilled in at an angle and three 3/8 spike nails about 12 inches long for each disc. A claw hammer will drive the spikes into the ground easily then you can hook the spike heads to extract them. The 9 spikes, three steel discs, a hammer and three ropes weigh about 2 pounds. Don't take up much room either.
tie downs reply
Fly guy, ...now you've gone and done it! 
Actually, you didn't see me pullin' 'em out. It was your good friend 
Ron Massicot who pulled 'em out for me. But I did pull the last one out. Your ground is the hardest I've ever pounded a tie-down into, and they still came up with only a little extra effort.
The system you're describing is a plagiarized "Fly Ties" system, and is the type I feel is unnecessarily complex. You don't need the disc, or the extra rod, if you don't try to install it directly beneath the tie down ring. Simply use the two-rod system I've brilliantly
described and place them about 4 or 5 ft in front of the airplane, angled slightly away from the airplane, and converging on each other as described.
Actually, you didn't see me pullin' 'em out. It was your good friend Ron Massicot who pulled 'em out for me. But I did pull the last one out. Your ground is the hardest I've ever pounded a tie-down into, and they still came up with only a little extra effort.The system you're describing is a plagiarized "Fly Ties" system, and is the type I feel is unnecessarily complex. You don't need the disc, or the extra rod, if you don't try to install it directly beneath the tie down ring. Simply use the two-rod system I've brilliantly
described and place them about 4 or 5 ft in front of the airplane, angled slightly away from the airplane, and converging on each other as described.If I could aim four feet away I wood not have a problem! Usin them little hunks of steel I already dont have tu do no aimin. I bet you a hunnert bucks I kin tie myne doun faster than you du. I think I'll give a set to Joe then he kin be faster than you in anuther way too!
Last edited by flyguy on Wed Jan 22, 2003 1:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Here's another store-bought version that includes some nice aluminum chocks as part of the system. Kinda pricey at $125, but it does come with a neat little black storage bag.
http://www.dealassoc.com/tie-down_kit.htm
http://www.dealassoc.com/tie-down_kit.htm