Building a Dynamic Lie Angle PVC Ball Pusher/Collector

[iacas]

So for our facility downtown, Golf Evolution, I've built a few PVC ball pushers. Previously I'd made two for the general area, and a "special" one for the regular area.

One of the regular area ones has always been too upright, and so when someone recently cracked our "special" ones, I re-did both of them so that we now have two special ones, and one standard one.

What makes the "special" ones special? Why, they have a dynamic lie angle! They're even reversible, so instead of pushing, you can pull balls back to you!

Here's the pusher (or puller!) in action (pulling not shown):

This contrasts with standard pushers because of the special pivoting joint in the middle, which allows you to push from any angle with a 180° range of motion (or, technically, 360°, but the ground tends to get in the way when you try to move the handle below horizontal).

Here's a closeup showing the hinge:

Making these is pretty simple. Here's what you need:

• 2 five-foot 1" diameter (inside) PVC pipes
• 3 PVC end caps
• 2 45° PVC joints
• 2 1" PVC couplers
• One 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" x 1" PVC T-Joint
• PVC adhesive (primer recommended)
• A pipe cutter (a little blade you spin around and tighten to cut the PVC)

Note: You may wish to change up the dimensions. For example, you could make the angled sides 8" and add the 4" to the 1'10" horizontal "arms" or the vertical part that you hold 8" longer if you wish. The above are not the dimensions of the PVC Pushers that I've made, but I think I used 8' pipes originally, and I didn't really measure much, I just bought a bunch of PVC and made up the dimensions as I went.

---

Instructions:

1. Cut the PVC like so:

2. Assemble the PVC like so, using common sense for the elbows (between the 1'10" sections and the 1' sections), coupling (on the ends of the 1'10" sections), and end caps (they go on the 4' and 1' sections):

The arms of the elbows look like this:

3. The internal joint will look a bit like this (with the side arms cut off - this is from the pusher that someone hit with a ball and broke):

 The 1.25" x 1.25" x 1" PVC connector goes "over" the middle of that (you have to assemble only one side of it). Where the 1" connector is that connects to the handle, there's a little internal ridge that prevents the pusher arms to slide completely through. The coupling basically acts as a stopper, so you want the middle section in the photo above to be wide enough to accommodate the connector piece's internal ridge, but not so wide that it's sloppy and has too much lateral movement. You want the ends of the coupling joints to stay inside the connector piece.

In the end it looks like this:

(This joint has a little bit too much side-to-side wiggle room. Were I to do this one again, I'd likely shave an inch off the middle piece. It was probably almost five inches wide. In reality it should only be 1/4 to 1/2" wider than the width of the connector, as the internal ridge is only about the width of the 1" connector side.)

4. Let everything dry:

You can see one more "dynamic lie angle pushers" in the background as well as the old static lie angle pusher.

5. Celebrate and push (or pull) some balls!

[boogielicious]

9 minutes ago, iacas said:

So for our facility downtown, Golf Evolution, I've built a few PVC ball pushers. Previously I'd made two for the general area, and a "special" one for the regular area.

One of the regular area ones has always been too upright, and so when someone recently cracked our "special" ones, I re-did both of them so that we now have two special ones, and one standard one.

What makes the "special" ones special? Why, they have a dynamic lie angle! They're even reversible, so instead of pushing, you can pull balls back to you!

Here's the pusher (or puller!) in action (pulling not shown):

This contrasts with standard pushers because of the special pivoting joint in the middle, which allows you to push from any angle with a 180° range of motion (or, technically, 360°, but the ground tends to get in the way when you try to move the handle below horizontal).

Here's a closeup showing the hinge:

Making these is pretty simple. Here's what you need:

• 2 five-foot 1" diameter (inside) PVC pipes
• 3 PVC end caps
• 2 45° PVC joints
• 2 1" PVC couplers
• One 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" x 1" PVC T-Joint
• PVC adhesive (primer recommended)
• A pipe cutter (a little blade you spin around and tighten to cut the PVC)

Note: You may wish to change up the dimensions. For example, you could make the angled sides 8" and add the 4" to the 1'10" horizontal "arms" or the vertical part that you hold 8" longer if you wish. The above are not the dimensions of the PVC Pushers that I've made, but I think I used 8' pipes originally, and I didn't really measure much, I just bought a bunch of PVC and made up the dimensions as I went.

---

Instructions:

1. Cut the PVC like so:

2. Assemble the PVC like so, using common sense for the elbows (between the 1'10" sections and the 1' sections), coupling (on the ends of the 1'10" sections), and end caps (they go on the 4' and 1' sections):

The arms of the elbows look like this:

3. The internal joint will look a bit like this (with the side arms cut off - this is from the pusher that someone hit with a ball and broke):

 The 1.25" x 1.25" x 1" PVC connector goes "over" the middle of that (you have to assemble only one side of it). Where the 1" connector is that connects to the handle, there's a little internal ridge that prevents the pusher arms to slide completely through. The coupling basically acts as a stopper, so you want the middle section in the photo above to be wide enough to accommodate the connector piece's internal ridge, but not so wide that it's sloppy and has too much lateral movement. You want the ends of the coupling joints to stay inside the connector piece.

In the end it looks like this:

(This joint has a little bit too much side-to-side wiggle room. Were I to do this one again, I'd likely shave an inch off the middle piece. It was probably almost five inches wide. In reality it should only be 1/4 to 1/2" wider than the width of the connector, as the internal ridge is only about the width of the 1" connector side.)

4. Let everything dry:

You can see one more "dynamic lie angle pushers" in the background as well as the old static lie angle pusher.

5. Celebrate and push (or pull) some balls!

Nice! I love doing things like this. It is a lot of fun to design and build something useful.

[nevets88]

Spend a little time to save a lot of time so you can hit more balls!

[Papa Steve 55]

If you took a few 1 1/4 couplers and slipped them over the pipe at the end of handle they would act like rollers making pushing easier....maybe.

As kids, we would raid the dumpster of a plumbing supply house for scrap to make hockey nets with.

Edited January 26, 2019 by Papa Steve 55

[Patch]

I spend idle times working with pvc. Making stuff out of the different sizes. Table lamps, bed frames, and other types of furnature. I transport my fishing rods in pvc piping. 

Once something is made, it can be painted,  or materials added to enhance it's looks, or style. 

Golf wise I have made frames for netting to hit balls into. Another golf item I made was a 28 ball shag stick. I used it till I gave it away to some guy who thought it was pretty cool. Was going to make another one, but never did. 

I once saw a large diameter soil pipe used as a bargain bin for golf clubs. 

Edited January 26, 2019 by Patch

[dennyjones]

5 hours ago, Patch said:

Another golf item I made was a 28 ball shag stick

Could you detail the design here?  That is something I may be interested in making.

[iacas]

1 minute ago, dennyjones said:

Could you detail the design here?  That is something I may be interested in making.

Ideally in a different topic.

Basics are, though: get a tube that's about 2" in diameter, and put little one-way metal prongs on the end so the balls can go in but have to be dumped out the other end.

21 hours ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

If you took a few 1 1/4 couplers and slipped them over the pipe at the end of handle they would act like rollers making pushing easier....maybe.

I see what you mean, though I've not had a need for them. I might change my mind if I was using them outdoors more often, but indoors they slide along the ground just fine. Very easy.