How to Make a Bucking Barrel

Bull riding is a dangerous, but thrilling, event in many contemporary rodeos. Bull riders often train for years before becoming professionals. A safe and easier way to train for this event is by building your own bucking barrel, which is a large barrel attached to springs and posts hoisted off the ground. Helpers pull the ropes on the barrel, making it buck like a real bronco.

Things You'll Need

  • 55-gallon barrel
  • 4 4x4x10 wood posts
  • Post hole digger
  • Cement or concrete mix
  • 8 bolts
  • 16 washers
  • Drill
  • 4 large springs
  • Rope
  • Wrench
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Instructions

    • 1

      Dent each side of the barrel slightly so you have a place to wrap your legs. Drill two holes on each side of the barrel about 5 inches from the top. Repeat this process about 5 inches from the bottom. Insert an eye bolt and washers into each of these holes, through the inside, so the eyelet is facing out. Secure the bolts with a wrench.

    • 2

      Measure 6 feet from one end of each post and drill a hole. Insert the eye bolts into this hole and tighten and secure them so they are level on the wood post.

    • 3

      Select an area with a soft, even dirt ground and measure out a 6-feet square. Dig holes at each of the four corners of this square that are large enough to accommodate the size of your posts, using your post hole digger. Drop the post hole digger into the ground with the jaws open to break down the dirt in the hole area. Repeat this until the dirt has been loosened, then close the jaws around the loose dirt to remove it from the hole. Insert the post into the hole, with the eye bolt up and facing the interior of the square, and have someone support them so they're flush. Mix the concrete and cement according to the package directions and fill each hole with the mixture. Allow the concrete or cement to harden for 24 hours.

    • 4

      Measure and cut four pieces of 2-feet long rope. Tie one end of each piece of rope to the eye bolt in the barrel and the other end to the end of a spring. Cut four more pieces of rope of equal length. Tie one end of each piece of rope to a free end of the spring and then thread the open end of the rope through the eye bolt in one of the posts. Repeat this until you have joined all four posts to the barrel and springs. Finally, pull all the ropes at the same time to lift the barrel evenly about two feet off the ground. Tie and secure the ropes to the eye bolts.