How Can I Build a Horseshoe Pit in My Backyard?

Dig the Pits

• 1

  Measure 38 feet to go from pit-stake to pit-stake. Be sure there is an additional 4 feet behind the pit-stakes for a backboard.

• 2

  Measure a 3-foot square around each pit-stake point, and mark with wooden stakes. The squares should be directly across from each other, even, and parallel. The pit-stake point should be exactly in the center of each square.

• 3

  Dig 4 inches down inside each 3-foot square, removing the wooden stakes as you go. Cut the 24 feet of 2 by 4 lumber into 8 pieces measuring 3 feet each. border each square by setting the lumber on its side in the ground.

• 4

  Secure the 2 by 4s with wooden stakes by driving them with a hammer into each corner of the square, sandwiching the lumber against the ground.

Set the Stakes

• 5

  Cut the 3 feet of 4 by 4s in half with the table saw, and set them on their sides. Drill a 1/2-inch hole 1 and 1/2 inches deep into the center of each 4 by 4.

• 6

  Drive the metal stakes into each 4 by 4 hole with a hammer.

• 7

  Dig as needed to set the 4 by 4s on their side into each pit, centering the metal stake inside. The metal stakes must stick up 14 to 15 inches from the ground, at a slight incline towards each other.

• 8

  Fill the pits halfway with firmly packed clay, and top off with sand.

Build the Backboards

• 9

  Cut the 10 feet of 4 by 4 lumber into 4 lengths of 2 and 1/2 feet each using the table saw.

• 10

  Cut the 24 feet of 2 by 4 lumber into 8 pieces of 3 feet each.

• 11

  Line up the 2 and 1/2-foot posts in pairs, 3 feet apart. Drill four 3-foot pieces of 2 by 4 into each pair of posts, starting from the top. Fourteen inches of each post should remain bare.

• 12

  From the back corners of each pit, measure 2 and 1/2 feet back and mark. Dig a post-hole 14 inches deep at each mark.

• 13

  Set the post structures into the holes, with the 2 by 4 lumber facing towards the stakes. Backfill with the dug-up soil and tamp down tightly.

Turf Paint

• 14

  An easy way to delimit the court lines is with turf paint. Three feet from each stake, away from the backboard, paint a foul line 6 feet across.

• 15

  From each end of the foul line, paint a straight line back towards the backboard. When lined up with the backboard, paint towards the backboard until you reach the posts.

• 16

  You should now have two 7 by 6-foot boxes with a pit, stake, and backboard. There should be 32 feet between each foul line. You have built a regulation horseshoe court!