Gourd Rack Care

How to care for gourd racks on 2" square poles.

1. Wax Poles: Wax can be any quality car wax. Waxing the pole helps to deter the elements from pitting the aluminum
2. Oil pulleys: Pulleys should be oiled with 3 in 1 Household oil (or like). Place the oil onto the pulley sheaves. Do not use WD40 as this will dissipate.
3. Check to be sure all bolts and nuts are tight.
4. Check your rope for fraying. A damaged rope should be replaced.
5. At the end of the season remove the gourd arms. I store the hitch pins in small zip lock bags, and place the bag inside one of my gourds from the corresponding rack.
6. If possible remove your pole from the ground stake and store the pole in a garage or shed. If you remove the pole this is a good time to check that the set screws holding the top perch rods are nice and tight. When tightening set screws use the short side of the allen wrench. This allows you to apply more torque which helps the set screw bite into the rods or poles better.
7. If you remove the pole from your ground stake and you did not fill the stake with concrete cover the top of the ground stake with a piece of duck tape.

How to care for gourd racks on 3" square poles.
1. Wax poles with any good quality car wax. Due to the weight of this pole its best to do this BEFORE you mount the pole over the ground stake.
2. Angle arms can be waxed at seasons end, but not necessary.
3. Check that all nuts, on the hub, and to the winch brackets are tight.
4. Brake Winches are designed not to be oiled. Doing so could cause the braking mechanism to fail.
5. Please see step 6 from above about a great tip on tightening set screws!