Poured-in-place Rubber Teepads

[Disc Golf Live]

What worries me is that this course can flood in the spring so we need to be very careful about placement. Good to know the prepwork needs to be flawless.
.

I would think coloring the concrete would be a better option, Scott. Between freeze/thaw cycles and flooding the durability of concrete might win out. In either case, prep seems to be where most of the work will happen. It would be sad to see a more expensive rubber product used only to have it fail prematurely. Good luck with the course.

Joe

 

[esdubya]

Here's another crazy application of the pour in place rubber stuff. This idea is coming from the park too. They want to put a 3' diameter circle of the stuff around each basket pole. Crazy right?

But, I actually think it could be pretty cool. They don't like wood chips because of the maintenance and they want to be able to easily mow around the baskets. Would this be a first in DG?

I could see this resulting in more bouncing and roll-aways on missed putts and upshots, so overall I think it gets slightly harder to approach. But from an aesthetics and amenities point of view this could be really nice.

Feedback appreciated.

 

[ThrowBot]

Here's another crazy application of the pour in place rubber stuff. This idea is coming from the park too. They want to put a 3' diameter circle of the stuff around each basket pole. Crazy right?

But, I actually think it could be pretty cool. They don't like wood chips because of the maintenance and they want to be able to easily mow around the baskets. Would this be a first in DG?

I could see this resulting in more bouncing and roll-aways on missed putts and upshots, so overall I think it gets slightly harder to approach. But from an aesthetics and amenities point of view this could be really nice.

Feedback appreciated.

I think that sounds pretty nice. Just 3' in diameter though? Generally the bad compaction/erosion issues around baskets are larger than that, maybe 8-10' in diameter.

The threat of bouncing off it seems pretty minimal. If it's similar to rubber track surfacing it shouldn't be that much springier than grass or dirt or wood chips. Also, if it's only extending a few feet away from the pole, you can bounce off it and still have a very easy putt. However, I suppose it only takes on bad bounce and you'll hate that stupid rubber forever

 

[ThrowBot]

I had a chance to play a course this weekend that had tees made of shredded tire w/ polymer matrix (or similar). Overall I really liked them; the grip was good but not TOO grippy (not hard on the knees). They were also much easier on my boots than concrete. There was not much bounce or give to the surface; I think it was only a thin coating of the rubber/matrix on top of a concrete or asphalt substrate.

Overall these were great feeling tee pads and I'd be interested to see how the grip feels with rain or snow.

As a side note, the tees were all long [isosceles] triangles with the short side facing the target. I didn't much care for the shape. I often found myself wanting a different run-up angle than offered, so I'd start off to one side of the tee and finish my run up at the front. It wasn't a problem since the tees were set flush to the ground in almost all cases, but it did bug me.

 

[ClydesdaleDan]

The threat of bouncing off it seems pretty minimal. If it's similar to rubber track surfacing it shouldn't be that much springier than grass or dirt or wood chips. Also, if it's only extending a few feet away from the pole, you can bounce off it and still have a very easy putt. However, I suppose it only takes on bad bounce and you'll hate that stupid rubber forever

I used to do my field work on a football field inside of a rubberized track. When an errant throw would happen to hit the track, the skips were insane. Not because of bounce but because of grip. Its unlikely you would have that problem on a small circle right under the basket. If it did happen though, a parkjob in soft grass might become a putt from 60ft out after it caught the rubber.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[esdubya]

I used to do my field work on a football field inside of a rubberized track. When an errant throw would happen to hit the track, the skips were insane. Not because of bounce but because of grip. Its unlikely you would have that problem on a small circle right under the basket. If it did happen though, a parkjob in soft grass might become a putt from 60ft out after it caught the rubber.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

The pour-in-place rubber is a much different material than a rubber track surface.

The best way I can describe is it is mulch that is frozen in place.

 

[MiketheGoalie]

For what it's worth, bad subgrade prep and design and improper concrete mix design (lack of air-entrained for freeze-thaw concerns), or crappy workmanship can kill a concrete pad just as easily. It sounds like the upfront cost and the drainage/silt maintenance issues are the only real differences. Balanced against the uniqueness of the tee and the grip, it might still be a viable candidate.

 

[MikeK]

Mike what do you mean by bad subgrade prep? Our club has recently installed concrete pads and we think we did it right but aren't 100% sure.

 

[esdubya]

I do like that it is easier on the bones and joints than concrete. Also - I've personally seen a friend gash his head open on concrete while it would be near impossible to do that on the PIPR surface. Still waiting on the cost info but will post that here when it comes in.

 

[esdubya]

Park decided to go with concrete for the pads..

 

[ru4por]

Park decided to go with concrete for the pads..

Great news......it this Tecumseh?

 

[TAFL]

That pour in place rubber looks like the surface of a play area at one of the area parks. I was out tossing in the soccer fields right next to the play area and threw a couple of times off it. The springiness feels a bit odd, though I expect getting accustomed to it would happen quickly. Was able to pivot without trouble. I don't know how long it's been sitting out in Kansas weather to gauge how it's weathering.

 

[MiketheGoalie]

Mike what do you mean by bad subgrade prep? Our club has recently installed concrete pads and we think we did it right but aren't 100% sure.

It can vary. If you have some active soils (clays), you should remove them to at least some degree and replace with a fill that doesn't contain that material. Options range from engineered fill ($$$) to sand or gravel ($). Regardess, even if you have good native soil, compact the area beneath the planned pad well and make sure you have good drainage away from the pad.

A vibratory compactor works best, but it's another chunk of $$ to rent. Might be easier than hand tamping though.

Get your subgrade level (so that you have a uniform concrete thickness) and if you're reinforcing the pad (something I always recommend) make sure your reinforcing is up off the subgrade. Good shrinkage and temperature reinforcing should be 1-1/2" from the top of the slab. Any shallower and you increase corrosion potential (unless you're using epoxy-coated or galvanized reinforcing) and lower and it typically doesn't do you any good in pads that are thicker than 4 inches.