blanket rack dillemma- looking for ideas

I'm trying to make(haha) a blanket rack that stands alone and will hold 6ish horse blankets and not take up a huge amount of space AND be user friendly. (I know.. I want everything;))

I'm thinking something like you see in stores that sell rugs with all of them being hung up and on an arm that spins from a central point.... thoughts, ideas, constructive critisims?

anyone have an easy system they are willing to take the time and tell me about?

anti blanket crowd,;don't waste your time. Nothing you say is going to 'convince' me not to rug my horses as i see fit.

Well if you would just not blanket your horses, then you wouldn't need a rack to hold the blankets.


:P

Are you looking for something to dry the blankets, or just store them? I've seen a lot of setups, and by far, again and again, what works the best is just a line of "arms" on some empty wall.
These things: http://www.smartpakequine.com/swinga...FUOK4AodIj4AlA

Or how about a few of these, somewhere?
http://www.horze.com/Horze-rug-rack%...,en_US,pd.html

That seems like a good solution, and close to what you were thinking of. Plus at $7, if you find a 50% off code, even several will be WAYYY cheaper than what you could build!

Couldn't find the ones I have in a quick search, but sstack has this .
What I got from them a few years back were three sets that each had a bar that screwed in to the wall, and three of these swing arms. So I could hang 9 blankets, sheets, etc.
They were ~$20-30 each, I think.

I like that! I could build a standard like base and put those on three sides then each horse could have their own side/rack.

the biggest problem I have is that I can't mount it to a wall, it HAS to be stand alone. and I don't like the a frame ones.

It's for drying adn storage while they are not immediatly being used but I don't want to put them AWAY away. just UP for a week or two when our weather is being wierd... like last week lows were in the 20ies... it's 70+ degrees out right now. and Mir has a summer weight haircoat right now(not clipped, just doesn't grow much hair- and never has). So my blankets are sitting on a palette in the storage building.

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Originally Posted by GoForAGallop

Or how about a few of these, somewhere?
http://www.horze.com/Horze-rug-rack%...,en_US,pd.html

That seems like a good solution, and close to what you were thinking of. Plus at $7, if you find a 50% off code, even several will be WAYYY cheaper than what you could build!

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Originally Posted by Catersun

I like that! I could build a standard like base and put those on three sides then each horse could have their own side/rack.

the biggest problem I have is that I can't mount it to a wall, it HAS to be stand alone. and I don't like the a frame ones.
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Yup, I imagine if you just built a jump standard, maybe beef up the base a little bit, you'd be good to go. :)

At our barn we just use the tack hooks...or you could use heavy duty hooks from the hardware store. We hand the blankets by the metal rings at the chest, or the rings at the back of the blanket. It's not great for drying them, as they hang in folds, but for storage, it's fine. You just have to hang them high enough to keep them off the ground.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GoForAGallop

Or how about a few of these, somewhere?
http://www.horze.com/Horze-rug-rack%...,en_US,pd.html

That seems like a good solution, and close to what you were thinking of. Plus at $7, if you find a 50% off code, even several will be WAYYY cheaper than what you could build!

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These are for saddle pads. I got sucked in by that ad & price too, only to realize the arms are only like 15" long. But, it does work great for saddle pads, I needed something like anyway. (Note, once you have even one pad on each rung, they won't fold flat against the wall. So make sure you install it somewhere that has room for them to stick out.)

In manufacturing factories we use something called a cantilever rack that would work for your purpose. It's designed to hold heavy weights all on on one side, without tipping over. Here's a website that sells used racks and parts: cantilever You could just buy some of the parts, such as the base, and then jerryrig the rest. Or sketch out what you want and bring to your local metal fab / welding shop. Bet they could make it pretty cheaply.

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Originally Posted by HungarianHippo

These are for saddle pads. I got sucked in by that ad & price too, only to realize the arms are only like 15" long. But, it does work great for saddle pads, I needed something like anyway. (Note, once you have even one pad on each rung, they won't fold flat against the wall. So make sure you install it somewhere that has room for them to stick out.)

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Hmm, good catch.

The black one, though: http://www.horze.com/Horze-Rug-Rack/50040,en_US,pd.html

Says that the arms are 25''. More expensive, but still, with the 50% off code it would only be like $13.

Actually the black one is the one I got--and yeah, the arms are probably the 25". (Must be, because my saddle pads only extend out beyond the arms by a little bit. clearly I suck at eyeballing dimensions LOL).
So I guess it would work to hang blankets by the chest buckles. As you can imagine by the price, it is not heavy-duty construction by any stretch. Not sure how long it would last with the stress of taking winter blankets on and off it. Definitely think a wet blanket would be too much weight. (then again, for the price.... ) Can't see how it would be stable enough unless mounted to a wall. I think a jump standard kind of setup might be constantly tipping over.

I know you said it has to be freestanding but this is what I did.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...9-14124722.jpg

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Originally Posted by CDE Driver

I know you said it has to be freestanding but this is what I did.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...9-14124722.jpg

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OMG that's what *I* sort of did! I was going to try to think of a way to describe it (little pieces of PCV and every inch added a T connector with a piece of PCV sticking out...continue) and I didn't want to go out and take a picture!

Mine is slipping down, the pipes are twisting and starting to point to the ground, so I screwed small pieces of wood under each T connector and it "rests" on it and doesn't pull down, and I hang the blankets by the chest buckles.

I also did one out of 2x4's, took one 2x4, cut another in about 12 inches pieces and mounted them to the solid 2x4 about every 6 inches. Works great! (think of a 2x4 with "teeth" coming off with gaps between the "teeth".)

I'm in NC, and our temps have been weird too the last month or so.

We have dividing walls inbetween the stalls - we use those in our secondary barn and just spread the blankets out over the top of the walls to dry. In our other barn, we have fold-down blanket racks on the front of the stalls.

Did you know that you can heat rebar enough with a heat gun to bend it?

HEH heh heh. the concrete base for my blanket rack is still curing so pics of it completed are coming, but for 40 bucks plus some stuff I had laying around I now have a stand alone color coded blanket rack to hold 5 rugs. (more could be added)

Ooh please post pics when it's done. TIA

Pics! With and without blankets on it! With detailed instructions as to how to build it too, please :)

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Originally Posted by TBPONY

Pics! With and without blankets on it! With detailed instructions as to how to build it too, please :)

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Yes please!!

Just saw these last week at the AETA show in Philadelphia, very cool!

www.horserugdriers.co.uk

oooh, would be a good use for a crapped-out round-pen panel. Thanks for the idea!