Ground Cable/Zip Line

so i was thinking about the other thread and my future plans for housing....and now that the option of not using kennels is available ive been thinking of ideas of what to use. after TFX post about the ground cables my imagination took on me and this so far is what i have been able to come up with.

the posts: i was thinking of bent REbar (tip to tip, like a "U" shape. driven into ground (into cement if needed)

the cable: 1/2" home depot steel cable clamped to the posts at each end

trolley connection: Large steel O ring

if you feel like it needs to be changed for whatever reason please feel free to drop advice, constructive criticism is always welcomed....

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fyi, the posts would be thumped completely into the ground to avoid hangup.......with the cables...

I think the reo bar might rust out pretty quick and your cable might go slack without a turn buckle to keep it strained. Love the dog by the way hahaha

rebar will not be strong enough, 1/2 inch probably not thick enough especially for an O ring dragging across it 1,000 times a day. you gotta use 2 car axels and 1 inch or 3/4 coated atleast if u gonna use metal on metal. for a permanent set up you want to make sure that it's not going to break with a 50 pound dog running it all day everyday. lot of wear tear and friction plus the elements.

don't use anything you wouldn't use on a chain set up. if you wouldn't chain a dog to rebar then don't tie a line between some and let the dog tug on it. to much tension. might last a little bit tho. but that shit is gonna bend and give away way before axels will.

the only problem i see happeneing with car axles is the hang up, it wouldnt be very hard for the trolley cable to get snagged under the lip of an axle???

so......if i were to use the car axles..........any ideas of avoiding this?

What if you cut the round bit off the axle and welded a big ring on it to attach to?

something to consider.......

I saw pictures of a setup were the cable was between trees and the runner was 2 pulley wheels.

you have to put stops on most cable runs. even if you use trees there has to be stops on the cable so your dog doesn't wrap itself around a tree. but since it's low to the ground you might have to do it a different way cuz u aren't using pulleys. on te Wildside yard videos the Pete dog was on a ground cable between two axels.

you can't use trolleys on a ground run. the trolleys have to be higher than the dog for the wheel to stay aligned on the cable. you will have to use something else probably.

i don't nor do i condone it. But i meet a guy along time ago that bent rebar into to a little bit wider then a u shape and put a o ring in the middle and beat both sides into the ground and left just enough up just for the o ring to slide one enough rebar for the dog to run his circle. This was some years ago. They have yet to fail him. And he has had some BULLDOGS on it before. Like i said i don't recommend it or do I do it. But i have seen it done with success. BTW they were the inch round rebars and pretty deep in the ground as well.

lets get some yard pics goin guys, im anxious to see all the different methods of set up..

if on the ground the cable has to be low enough so the ground moves the chain, or the O rings off the same spot. If it runs on the same spot it will cut the link in half or wear the cable down, which ever gives up first. EWO

I posted my yard months ago.

You just need to smash the car axle shafts into the dirt. When the cable is strung, it will be pulled tight with a truck, and then the last axle shaft pounded while it is under some tension. You don't want a bunch of sag in the cable.