Farmers Bars

[Dont Want None]

I have a pair of farmers bars I grabbed off craigslist but have a few issues I'm hoping to solve with my next upgrade.

1) The bars were clearly made by some dude in his garage and my tight fitting bumpers and change plates don't fit.
2) My wife uses the bars, but being that shes only using 50ish a hand, it makes loading and picking a pain in the back (literally).
3) I typically use my driveway for the start of my walks, which is sloped. This causes the bars to roll, and again its a pain to load with them moving.
4) I have nice iron plates that I dont want anyone loosing their grip and banging to **** on the concrete.

#1 will be taken care of by basically any other bars, so I'm not worried there. The other issues, I've looked at the following:

https://www.blackwidowtg.com/Product...FARMERS%2DWALK
Top Load bars from Dean look like a decent option. My biggest concern here, is the finger pinching dilema. I have a decent amount of 1.25s and 2.5s and 5s that I can do the layering trick to avoid it if I go this route. Dean is a legit dude, and while I haven't bought anything from him, I've heard nothing but solid remarks and I've exchanged emails with ideas a few times and had a good response.

http://www.gopherperformance.com/str...mers-walk-bars
Your typical farmers bars, but with a nice twist. The triangle piece, according to their quality team, is rated at 800lbs. These look like they would take the finger pinching out of the equation, make loading super easy (regardless of weight used), and basically leave a ton of room for error if a dumb friend lost their grip and had to set them down.

After shipping and tax, these guys are coming out to almost the same price. I asked Dean about making a pair of the Gopher model, and he feels they wouldn't be stable if someone set them down in anything but a perfectly flat way. I've reached out to Beast Metals, as he is local, but in typical fashion I'm a week out and have no response (his site claims 48 hours).

Curious what the boards thoughts are. I'm not entirely keen on dropping $320 on farmers bars, since the "normal" kind cost $150, but with my wife and I both using them weekly the investment versus frustration of the current bars is well worth it. I'm open to other ideas as well BTW.

[Cleveland33]

First, with Beast - did you try messaging him via FB? I usually get a response pretty quickly that way.

I agree, I think top loaders are the way to go after having tried them - that said, if loading/unloading with your wife is becoming an issue, you might want to order her a set of the Spud Traveling farmer handles and she can have a dedicated set.
http://www.liftinglarge.com/Spud-Tra...s-Walk-Handles You should be able to find them for less than that as well. I have them, they are great. I still work them in over my normal handles sometimes when I don't want to work my core as often.

There is a guy on FB that has been making strongman gear for a long time under the name Pitbull Strongman Equipment - he has top loader handles with feet for $235 shipped or $200 shipped without feet. If you search, several people on here have bought from him over the years with positive results.
The only concern I have with his - they are only 53" long, I don't know how tall you are or how long your stride is, but my handles are 72" long and frankly, I am not sure how comfortable I would be with top loading handles that are only 53"

[Fivefootkillerz]

I have a set the of top loaded handles but i think I'd still prefer them over the regular handles(never used them though). Isn't a lot of strongman competitions using handles similar to the gopher farmers? I swear competitions Ive seen have something very similar just much beefier obviously.

[Cleveland33]

oh and for loading the vertical pins - I took a scrap stall mat, cut squares out of it and used a holesaw to drill out 2-1/4" holes - throw these on in between the plates and it give me sufficient room to pull the plates off.

[Fivefootkillerz]

oh and for loading the vertical pins - I took a scrap stall mat, cut squares out of it and used a holesaw to drill out 2-1/4" holes - throw these on in between the plates and it give me sufficient room to pull the plates off.

I have about a 3rd of a stall mat left over thanks for the idea

[rlundregan]

oh and for loading the vertical pins - I took a scrap stall mat, cut squares out of it and used a holesaw to drill out 2-1/4" holes - throw these on in between the plates and it give me sufficient room to pull the plates off.

^^ This is a GREAT solution (on spread, as usual).

I like the look of the Gopher handles, but they look cheap to me. I wonder if it wouldn't be worthwhile talking with Dean about doing something similar. It will probably cost a little more, though.

[RestoringTally]

http://www.gopherperformance.com/str...mers-walk-bars
Your typical farmers bars, but with a nice twist. The triangle piece, according to their quality team, is rated at 800lbs. These look like they would take the finger pinching out of the equation, make loading super easy (regardless of weight used), and basically leave a ton of room for error if a dumb friend lost their grip and had to set them down.

I like the Gopher idea. Basically, it is a permanent deadlift jack on farmers walk bars. I bet it would not take much to fab up something like that to use on a regular farmers bar. Slide it over the sleeve and gravity would keep it down, ready for use.

[TomMutaffis]

Top-load farmers are the way to go if you can find them (don't have to worry about the plates falling off, which is a big issue with a lot of farmers handles since the loading pins are slightly smaller diameter than a barbell and therefore traditional collars do not work). You could even make these type of handles with pieces of 4x4 or 6x6 wood and some pipe.

While the triangle idea looks like a nice design I would be concerned about durability of that setup, and you could also gouge/ruin the concrete or asphalt when dropping them.

I would not spend $300+ on farmers unless you were getting a highly specialized set such as the ones that turn into a Yoke, etc.

[supramax]

For what they actually are, all the above handles are overpriced. This is more reasonable: http://www.fitnessdepot.ca/J11QMO309...s+Walk+Handles

Also, for standard plates, these would do the job: http://atomicathletic.com/store/inde...dles-pair.html

[Cleveland33]

I like the Gopher idea. Basically, it is a permanent deadlift jack on farmers walk bars. I bet it would not take much to fab up something like that to use on a regular farmers bar. Slide it over the sleeve and gravity would keep it down, ready for use.

Does anyone make a kickstand for landmines already? I don't know - statically, yes it's solid, but drops - not sure how long that design would hold up.

For what they actually are, all the above handles are overpriced. This is more reasonable: http://www.fitnessdepot.ca/J11QMO309...s+Walk+Handles

Also, for standard plates, these would do the job: http://atomicathletic.com/store/inde...dles-pair.html

sure - but we're not talking about taking laps around the ugly area rug in the living room

[cwcmac]

Titan has farmer walk handles for 75-80 then get a mini DL jack from them for 35. Loading issues and handle issues solves for about $110 shipped.

[Cleveland33]

Titan has farmer walk handles for 75-80 then get a mini DL jack from them for 35. Loading issues and handle issues solves for about $110 shipped.

The loading issue is for the top loading style. He has the "traditional" style and trying to move away from it.

[supramax]

Titan has farmer walk handles for 75-80 then get a mini DL jack from them for 35. Loading issues and handle issues solves for about $110 shipped.

That's a good deal. I guess that's why they're OUT OF STOCK.

http://www.titan.fitness/catalogsear...rmer%27s+walk+

[thejosef]

Top-load farmers are the way to go if you can find them (don't have to worry about the plates falling off, which is a big issue with a lot of farmers handles since the loading pins are slightly smaller diameter than a barbell and therefore traditional collars do not work). You could even make these type of handles with pieces of 4x4 or 6x6 wood and some pipe.

While the triangle idea looks like a nice design I would be concerned about durability of that setup, and you could also gouge/ruin the concrete or asphalt when dropping them.

I would not spend $300+ on farmers unless you were getting a highly specialized set such as the ones that turn into a Yoke, etc.

Yeah I agree on all points. If you're good spending that much, the Black Widow ones (with stall mat spacers between weights) seem like a great solution.

[lsi1]

why not those titan top load handles?
http://www.titan.fitness/titan-farme...pair-1939.html
or the ones with the connector bars to hook them together into 1 solid piece.

[Synthetickiller]

oh and for loading the vertical pins - I took a scrap stall mat, cut squares out of it and used a holesaw to drill out 2-1/4" holes - throw these on in between the plates and it give me sufficient room to pull the plates off.

This is a great idea. On spread.

Top-load farmers are the way to go if you can find them (don't have to worry about the plates falling off, which is a big issue with a lot of farmers handles since the loading pins are slightly smaller diameter than a barbell and therefore traditional collars do not work). You could even make these type of handles with pieces of 4x4 or 6x6 wood and some pipe.

While the triangle idea looks like a nice design I would be concerned about durability of that setup, and you could also gouge/ruin the concrete or asphalt when dropping them.

I would not spend $300+ on farmers unless you were getting a highly specialized set such as the ones that turn into a Yoke, etc.

What's your experience with the standard (not top) load farmers? I have a pair from elitefts (probably built by williams strength) that use 1.9" OD pipe. Ivanko compression collars, as well as the Rogue HG 2.0s work very well with an 1.9" OD pipe. I haven't had a chance to use them on the handles, yet.

Yeah I agree on all points. If you're good spending that much, the Black Widow ones (with stall mat spacers between weights) seem like a great solution.

Any cheaper options?

[thejosef]

Any cheaper options?

I don't think you can much cheaper than Titan..
http://www.titan.fitness/titan-farme...pair-1939.html

I do have these spud traveling farmer walk straps and they're excellent for around $75 or so.
http://www.liftinglarge.com/Spud-Tra...s-Walk-Handles

(borrowed both links from prior posts)

[Cleveland33]

I don't think you can much cheaper than Titan..
http://www.titan.fitness/titan-farme...pair-1939.html

50" seems very short - that takes you down to about 31" between the plates - the traditional handles give you 36" between the plates but the plate are oriented differently and the top load handles "hang" lower.

[Dont Want None]

Appreciate all the ideas. Love the horse stall mat as spacers, I'm making some of those regardless of the style I go with, as I have a loading pin that would love those.

I'm not a fan of Titan, just seen too many bad deliveries to go down that route.

Is fitness depot valid? Their Northern Lights w/ tripod looks like the gophers but at half the price.

I have the same concern as everyone else on the "tripod" breaking. Maybe I'll ask Dean if he could make it, just improve it. Feels like he could add legit "feet" to the bars, much like the top load, and get a better result.

Note - on mobile, sorry for not giving credit to those that provided links, comments, etc. I'll rep when I get home.

[rpark]

I suppose the Slaters hardware wood farmers walk is out of your price range? Well, actually it's out of mine too, just stumbled across it today. And I'm not sure I'd need much weight loaded....

From the website "These weigh between 150 to 200 lbs depending on the density of the oak or ash hardwood per handle"

http://www.slatershardware.com/ecomm...mers-walk.html

[supramax]

I suppose the Slaters hardware wood farmers walk is out of your price range? Well, actually it's out of mine too, just stumbled across it today. And I'm not sure I'd need much weight loaded....

From the website "These weigh between 150 to 200 lbs depending on the density of the oak or ash hardwood per handle"

http://www.slatershardware.com/ecomm...mers-walk.html

They're nice, but the price is absolutely ****ing ridiculous.

[thejosef]

I suppose the Slaters hardware wood farmers walk is out of your price range? Well, actually it's out of mine too, just stumbled across it today. And I'm not sure I'd need much weight loaded....

From the website "These weigh between 150 to 200 lbs depending on the density of the oak or ash hardwood per handle"

Wow. Just Wow.

[rpark]

They're nice, but the price is absolutely ****ing ridiculous.

Agreed, I buy treated square posts for work in various similar sizes for $20-65 each..... I can't see anything that adds $1,000+ to the price to make them look fancy. Might have to coax my welder into outfitting an 8x8 or 10x10 for me just for fun.

[Domicron]

Sorinex is nodding approvingly

[SomeDudeAtHome]

These are the ones I have and I have zero complaints. They're what i found when looking for cheaper top load options before titan came out with there's.

http://www.gorillasledz.com/

[jdboyd78]

I use my BWTG trap bar for farmers walk, works well and I use it for deada, traps, overhead press. Just another idea.

[Dont Want None]

First, with Beast - did you try messaging him via FB? I usually get a response pretty quickly that way.

The only concern I have with his - they are only 53" long, I don't know how tall you are or how long your stride is, but my handles are 72" long and frankly, I am not sure how comfortable I would be with top loading handles that are only 53"

Went through his website directly.

On the length piece. I've never used top loaded, so whats the deal with 70 vs 50? The ones linked by somedudeathome are 45... for reference, I'm 6ft and wife is 5foot 6...

[Dont Want None]

I use my BWTG trap bar for farmers walk, works well and I use it for deada, traps, overhead press. Just another idea.

Yeah, I should have mentioned that. I have a trap bar. Love it for carries, but my sidewalk regularly has cars parked on it, making a trap bar too wide.

[supramax]

Agreed, I buy treated square posts for work in various similar sizes for $20-65 each..... I can't see anything that adds $1,000+ to the price to make them look fancy. Might have to coax my welder into outfitting an 8x8 or 10x10 for me just for fun.

From the 5 feet long spec, they look to be 8 inches wide and 16 inches deep. That's four 4x4x10 cut in half for one. Double it for a pair. That's 8 x $12 (treated lumber) in this neck of the woods. Mighty expensive hardware, I guess.

[lsi1]

Went through his website directly.

On the length piece. I've never used top loaded, so whats the deal with 70 vs 50? The ones linked by somedudeathome are 45... for reference, I'm 6ft and wife is 5foot 6...

my theory on this is that Its a carry chances are I've got it loaded up so heavy that I'm not taking huge strides and its more of a short step. while the longer bars sound great in reality the shorter bars are probably more than long enough. besides a top loaded farmers handle is going to have the plates at knee level or above with nothing down where your feet could possibly run into them like they might on a shorter set of traditional ones. I comfortably walk inside a trap bar with an internal dimension of 22 inches and thats at the widest point but where my legs move its already angling back towards the sleeves at that point maybe 15-16 inches by that point. So as happens around here we are probably making a big deal about absolutely nothing at all.