Basketball Hoop “Sled” Mount

Fun times built for Spring Break!

My son’s been getting into basketball over the past year, and we were so excited to pick up this backboard, hoop, and mounting pole from a yard sale about a year ago. Unfortunately, we did not realize there were quite a few mounting brackets and assembly hardware components missing from the kit.

No problem. I make things all the time!

Well, thanks to the blistering Phoenician summers, “analysis paralysis,” and no small amount of procrastination, we got there… about a year later.

Design Notes

Designed in FreeCAD 1.0, I really struggled for a while trying to come up with the best way to attach the backboard and hoop to our carport without damaging anything. Ultimately, I landed on a “sled” design using some easy-to-come-by wood components and some nuts/bolts/washers from the hardware store:

Half-inch thick 2′ x 4′ sheet of Plywood (x1)

Eight-foot long 2×4 (x1)

Cutting them up into pieces at the store saved a ton of time and effort and the concept turned out pretty nicely!

The Build

My son and I worked together to paint all the wood to try to keep everything in good condition for a while. Assembly started with a brad nail gun, and was quickly solidified with drywall screws. My son loved using the power tools, and made sure to remind me every five minutes that I was the one who snapped a drill bit in the build process.

And since I don’t post photos of my kids online, I poorly photo-chopped our cat-friend Roscoe’s head onto his body:

Once everything on the “sled” was together, the backboard got mounted with the nuts/bolts/washers from the hardware store, I heaved it up on top of the carport, weighted it down with some sandbags, leveled the hoop, attached the net, and we have all been enjoying shooting hoops in the coolness of the mornings and evenings together.

Anyway, that’s about it on this project. It’s likely an outlier of a use-case, so no detailed build list or instructions or anything like that.

I’m also not going back up on the roof to take more photos of the final build and attachment. Heights can take a hike.

If you find yourself in a similar pickle, just remember that If I can do this, you can too.

In other news, I’ve about given up on any attempt at social media. As a concept, it’s brilliant, but in practice… whew what a mistake for society! I still have an account on Mastodon Social (@DragonMountainDesign@mastodon.social), but I don’t think I’ve even looked at it in months. I’m just going to continue to have fun here as time allows.

Take care everybody!