First "proof of concept" effort
After reading a giant forum discussion on DIY Disc Golf Baskets over at dgcoursereview.com, I got to thinking I could do better, for less money. I'd been itching for a project for some time, and while all of my favorite tools were in Oregon, I had a good amount of basics available to me at my parents place in New Hampshire. Why not give it a go?
The plan: Go to the town dump, find scrap pieces that will work, bring them back, and assemble. I had some basic ideas in mind. Bicycle tires were highly desirable, steel to weld was ideal, and anything else that looked promising was to be grabbed.
Turns out for this first run my best bet for the baset base was the internal basket of a dryer. It sat at about 26.5" or so wide,which was a bit wide, but within PDGA specifications. I was unable to find a 20" BMX wheel, or even a bicycle wheel at all... so I took a grill lid as it seemed close enough. Next up I found a small restaraunt table stand setup that was perfect. Stable, entirely steel, big heavy base plate. It was a perfect candidate. Lastly, I found some old car chains some one threw away. Perfect chain candidates.
My costs out of pocket were just $14 for welding supplies, of which I used 8% or so. So... $1.12 or so.
There is definitely room for improvement. This was just an itch that had to be scratched, so I went for it. Next time I'll measure the basket bottom better, I'll predrill all of my holes on the lid... basic just thorough preciscion things I skimped on for this project.