Mounting wood disks

[JClaude42]

When trees were being cut down in my neighborhood, I was able to get my hands on 4 disks (about 18 inches in diameter and 5 inches deep) of wood from a cherry tree. Since then they've just been weathering in the yard while I try to figure out how to set them up. I was thinking of screwing a hook into each side of a disk and running a 6 or 7 foot cable from one to the other. Then I would put the cable over a thick cut-off branch on a tree so that the disk is at the right level for me to throw into. Is this a reasonable idea? Is there anything better to try out? I'm thinking of using this method because I have plenty of trees, it's portable, it's cheap, I can set up several targets easily, and trees seem stronger and sturdier than any kind of brace I could set up. Thanks for the feedback and ideas.

 

[siggy]

Hi,

That's some hunk of wood! - is it a very hard wood?

Two things:

- If the target can swing, it will probably keep moving for some time after a strike - you will then have varying distances for the next throw, or you will have to wait till it stops

- I prefer something as a wide backing board immediately behind the target, mainly to catch those off-target throws from disappearing into the distance

 

[siggy]

Hi,

Me again - on re-reading your post, it seems that you plan to have the target resting aginst the tree? My first issue above is probably not too serious then.

Good luck

 

[JClaude42]

The wood's fairly soft, but that's mostly attributed to it's weathering for so long, I'm not sure how soft it is naturally. I've thrown into them while they were resting on the ground, and they seem perfect, all my knives stick quite well. When wet, the disks close up on all the gashes and holes left from the knives so that they nearly disappear. Putting up a backing board sounds like an excellent idea, I think I have some large sheets of plywood that I can prop up against the tree and under the disks.

 

[aerostar]

We did what you are writing about. I cut down an offensive elm that was pushing up some concrete and sliced the trunk into 6 inch thick "cookies" that were about 30 inches in diameter. I screwed hooks into the sides and hung them from pine trees around the yard. To keep them from swinging I wrapped the wire around the trunk and over a branch. This placed the target against the pine tree trunk. It worked great, and we had a lot of fun since we could throw then walk to the target and throw at another. It cut down on the walking back and forth. Also, since the trees were at various distances we threw from 15 to 30 feet. Quite relaxing and very addictive. Made quite a path in the lawn.