How to build a “Trampoline Soaker” for only $26.68

What is a trampoline soaker you ask? Well it’s a name to describe any contraption that sprays water over a trampoline. It’s great fun for the kids on days when it would otherwise be way too hot to play on a trampoline.

I’ve seen this done before in many simple ways but found all examples quite difficult to put up on the trampoline, take down, control direction and change the type of spray. My first few builds were failures in all the above noted difficulties. I needed something much simpler, more functional and still flexible enough so my wife could take it down to spray her plants along the side of the house and then hang it back up on the trampoline.

 

My solution solved all the difficulties, and best of all, the kids can set the spray angle and the spray pattern too: (Soaker, Mist, Flat, Angle, Fan, Jet, Cone and Shower). Here is what I came up with and it works GREAT, as you can see in this photo it is very easy to hang up on the bars that hold up the net.

It sprays nicely across the whole trampoline and has an off switch on the wand.

And the wife can still water her plants with ease.

What follow are some photos and a quick run down of the exact parts so anybody can build their own DIY Tamp Soaker.

I’m going to start with a short “summary shopping list” followed by a more detailed shopping list with photos of each item. The hardest and most time consuming part of this build was finding just the right items and contriving the assembly so that everything fit. The hard part is now done for you so all you have to do is buy these exact items and do some simple assembly.

“Summary Shopping List”: All prices in USD from Home Depot:
   1 Sprayer wand $17.88
   2 Pipe grounding clamps $1.46ea
   2 Threaded rods (1/4” – 20 x 2’) $1.47ea
   2 Nuts & 2 Bolts – for mounting ground clamps (#10 – 24 x 1/2″) $0.98bag
   4 Washers – for mounting ground clamps (#10) $0.98bag
   4 Nuts – for mounting threaded rod (1/4” x 20) $0.98bag
Shopping Total: $26.68

Once you put this all together the connection to the neck on the wand will look like this:

“Detailed Shopping list”: All prices in USD from Home Depot:

To tell the truth I had everything in my junk pile except the sprayer wand, but for this documentation and pricing I took photos of all new stuff. (Never throw out anything, well not if you think you could ever use it that is.)

Sprayer (1): doesn’t come with the custom hooks of course :(
  Make: Garden Blooms – wc92007
  Model: Multi Pattern Telescoping Wand with 180 deg. head adjustment
  Spray patterns: Soaker, Mist, Flat, Angle, Fan, Jet, Cone, Shower
  Manufactured by: Melnor Inc. Winchester, VA
  Purchased at: Home Depot
   Sku: 716-270
   Bar: 42206-92007
   Cost: $17.88

Pipe grounding clamps (2):NO! There is no electricity to this. I’m just using one piece from each bag to make a simple pipe clamp.
   Zinc bare wire 1/2″ to 1” pipe grounding clamp
   Manufactured by: Halex Company
   Sku: 621-708
   Bar: 51411-16010
   Cost: $1.46ea

Note: I recommend the zinc clamps for this projects because the bronze ones are very expensive. I used the bronze only because I had them in my junk box. If you really want the bronze here are the details:
   Bronze bare wire 1/2″ to 1” pipe grounding clamp
   Manufactured by: Halex Company
   Sku: 404-627
   Bar: 51411-36019
   Cost: $4.39ea

Threaded rod (2):
You will need 2 threaded rods each 2 feet long. One for each hook but you will be cutting about 8 inches off each with a hacksaw when you are done with the bends. These rods bend real easy without heating but you should wear gloves and use a vise if you have one. I got lucky and found a 3 foot 1/4 inch rod that was threaded about 1 inch on each end, so I was able to just cut my rod in half to make my two hooks. Once again I had this in my junk pile but these threaded rods will work just the same.
   Threaded rods (1/4” – 20 x 2’)
   Manufactured by: Grown Bolt
   Sku: 671-088
   Bar: 30699-17160
   Cost: $1.47ea

Here is my best attempt at drafting out the bends.

Nuts & Bolts – for mounting ground clamps (2 of each)
This is a bag of 8 nuts and 8 bolts. You only need 2 each but the whole bag is under a dollar so why not get extras. The grounding clamps come with bolts but they are too long and it’s just easier to get the right size for this project than to cut bolts.
  (#10 – 24 x 1/2″)
  Manufactured by: Grown Bolt
  Sku: n/a
  Bar: 30699-27721
  Cost: $0.98bag

Washers – for mounting ground clamps (4)
  (#10)
  Manufactured by: Grown Bolt
  Sku: n/a
  Bar: 30699-32481
  Cost: $0.98bag

Nuts – for mounting threaded rod (4)
  (1/4” x 20)
  Manufactured by: Grown Bolt
  Sku: n/a
  Bar: 30699-19471
  Cost: $0.98bag

Your final connections using the bent rod, nuts, bolts and washers can be seen in this photo. I did grind the clamps just a bit where the nuts pinch the rod in place so that the nuts would fit flush against the clamp collar.

We have used our Trampoline Soaker for over a year now with no problems at all! I hope you build your own Trampoline Soaker and don’t forget to drop a comment sometime to let me know how it worked or how to make it even better.