I just built a railroad tie backstop and used cut rebar on each layer to literally attach each layer to the bottom layer. My design was a three-sided box which helps for rigidity. It was a lot of non-stop RR tie stacking and constant pounding of rebar stakes into each layer. I stacked the RR ties 12 high and then filled the center with several tons of clay-sand to be the impact area. I don't think any bullet-rounds are going anywhere beyond the backstop. As an extra safety measure, I stacked two 55 gallon plastic barrels (filled with clay-sand) along each outer side of my backstop area and placed three clay-sand filled 55 gallon barrels behind but higher than the top edge of my backstop for any bullet rounds that may fly-high of the backstop. Nice work on your build. I've only had my RR tie backstop constructed for five months and so far it's as sturdy as the initial build date. Have fun and be safe Possum Farms. Enjoyed watching your build. I subscribed to your channel to show support and assist reaching 1K Subs. Have a Merry Christmas and have fun throwing some lead down range. 👍🏽🤠 12/12/22
Nice video. After researching different ways to build a berm It just made more sense financially for me to dump a huge pile of dirt high enough for my needs. Ammo will go through just about anything except dirt.
Very nice. That 1025r did really well with those ties - I thought that might be a little heavy for the loader but it didn't seem to mind 3 of them at all. How far are you drilling into the ties for the pilot hole? Whole length of the fastener or just enough to get through the top one and into the bottom one an inch or so?
The whole length of the fastener - and those LONG screws aren't cheap! They supposedly won't rust anytime soon, grade 8-ish, yada, yada but they work out to almost 2 bucks a screw and we needed a LOT of them. 3 ties was about the limit for the 1025r - once you get weight out on the tips of the forks it gets a little tough to lift. Those things weight a ton! Thanks for the comment! And come on back anytime!
Why not drill straight down? Just lay 2 layers down, screw them together, then each layer put more in. This 45 degree thing seems to make things a little more difficult for yourself. Unless I'm just missing something here. Awesome job though. I'm going to build one this way now.
@@patrickevans5738 - We didn't get the vertical supports in front of the wall fast enough before a storm cam along and made the berm melt... We will repair it by putt it 2 ft. further forward and installing some old telephone poles for vertical supports on the face of it. One more winter project!
i was planning a build with my uncle to create a range. he wants to use tires as a backstop, but railroad ties look much much better. do you have any suggestions where to get ties for free/cheap? just contact the local railroads?
Check craigslist, Letgo, FB marketplace, also depending on where you live your local Home Depot and Lowe's might sell them. I picked up a bunch of free ones from an ad on craigslist. I grabbed over 40 of them, still wish I got more but loading railroad ties by yourself is a daunting task.
@@goforbroke2 Thanks for the reply even though it was an older video! I'm still on the search for free ties. Even called all the local RR companys. I really dont want to resort to 15$ a stick.
