I am about to make up a mess of rebar trap stakes, but I would like all the advice I can get in the design and even building process of them. I know it is simple, but there might be tips or tricks I could use during the process. How do you all make them?

I use washers for the tops of my stakes. I like to use a pair of vice grips clamped onto the stake to hold the washer at the right height, tack it in place, remove vice grips, and finish the weld. Whatever you use for the top, make sure you put it about 1/2" down from the top so you won't be pounding on the weld. Nothing really special, but it's all the advice I have for rebar.

Josh

Note to remember, last season I made up about 75 new stakes. I used nuts and washers on them. The problem that I ran into was I put the rebar through the nuts and then welded them on flush. When driving the stakes in hard ground I would be hitting on the nut and weld. I must have broken 20 nuts off last season. What I wish I had done was to run the rebar out the top about 1" then I would have been hammering on the rebar instead of the nut or washer. There are a few stakes driven into the ground out there and left, because I could not get them back up with out the nut on there. Just a note to help from my failure.

When i made up afew i did what camoman did. I put the rebar only about 1/2-3/4 way into the nut and then filled that little cup with weld and i have not had a problem.

Where is a good source to obtain plenty of rebar thats not twisted all to H-E-double hockey sticks?

Go around and check on construction sites, mainly concrete and masonry jobs. Ask the foreman if you can come in at some time when it would be safe and just look around on the ground and in the dumpster. You will find lots of scrap rebar of various lengths that is of no use to them. Again make absolutely sure to check with the forman or job manager as to a time you can be on the site so you and others don't get injured or suffer OSHA fines. You will likely need to bring your own hardhat to wear while on the job site. Good luck and be safe about it.

metal fabrication shops usually have it for about .50 per ft. an can shear it to length for you.

After watching a coyote jack about 27 inches of a 30 inch rebar stake out of the ground. I took too double staking. Later I found that buy grinding the top 6 to 8 inches smooth that stopped the critters jacking the stake out. I later smoothed out the top half of them to make sure. I had on about a 20 inch chain, 3 swivels,nr 1.75 trap, with the rebar driven straight down under the trap. I know some will ask....Tom

Youve got some great advice already....However you build em just never put a weld where it is going to get slammed by large hammer!!!!!!! Already been said plenty of other times....You can also get a couple of feet of large chain and weld one link about an inch from the top and attatch chain to it...

tom youre so silly !!! yotes dont jack stakes !!! also make sure ya dont heat em up too much ...will make the metal very brittle !!!

I wouldn't weld a link to a rebar stake intended for K-9's.The whole idea of the washer or nut is to use a stake swivel. Now, if you want stakes for attaching drownintng rigs and other situations that would seem to be ok

So yall are telling me, no one here as ever had a nut break off a stake? Yall either have real soft ground, don't put down that many stakes or yall can just weld a lot better than me. I never was any good at it, did if for a living for quite a few years, sounds like I was just drawing a pay check.

What I am wondering is how deep do you all guys drive ur stakes...mine are usually 3-4 inches down into the ground so the stake swivels are worthless....i just use several swivels...

Some good info here about rebar stakes. Do they make a tool to pull your stakes out? What all do you all use, or how do you manage to get your rebar stakes back? Thanks for the replies.

Nope ..never had a nut break...I weld them on just as camoman does and has worked well. I have several hundred that way.

Maybe you just got bad nuts .LOL! You using mig or stick? Stick welders will heat the nut up making it brittle.



30" on most of my land stakes.

bill i believe he was askin how far the head of the stake goes below the ground ... i dont pound mine below the ground ... for the reason that ya posted ... i want the animal to be able to have free movement after being caught ..... another tip to add is .... grind smooth the stake on the top 4 inches or so .... this will help lessen the binding of ya anchor point on upward as well as side to side motions

I had some break off of some i bought...but I have never built any like that myself...but if you use them a lot they will end up breaking off in time...

I am with Gary on this one, I do not pound mine in the ground, I go flush for the same reason.

You know, I wonder now, cause I did not use regular nuts, but rather ones that are special made rust resistant, but not stainless or galvanized. They had a gold tent to them and are used in electrical switches. When they broke off, the welds look crystallized.

I like my teed off for body grips and like smooth rod for the rest.

howie sounds like ya got em too hot man !!!