Dec
28
Hockey trees are a great way to air out your gear between uses. Airing out your gear can slow the growth of bacteria, and help control odor. A hockey tree combined with Ozone Gear Sanitizing, and Sports Gemz5 (now in store) is an ideal way to control bacteria and odor in your gear.
You can download a printable pdf version of the plans by visiting the ProShop and clicking on the Equipment Care category. At checkout, select payment by check, and enter 1234 for the bank info. Be sure to use a valid email address. Once I see the order, a link to the download file will be sent. There is no charge for these plans. Note..the plans are an initial draft, so they are kind of rough. thanks.
I’d also like to add that leaving your hockey equipment wet after use can lead to early failure. The rivets holding the towers onto the bottom of your skate boots are a good example of a specific component that can fail due to corrosion. Imagine executing a hard hockey stop and having the tower separate from your boot. Ouch.
Hockey trees are also a great way to stay organized, reduce the amount of space required to store your equipment, and help ensure you don’t leave important gear at home.
Shown below is a basic hockey tree. You can buy hockey trees at retailers or if you desire you can build one yourself. I’ve updated this hockey tree to be compatible with the Shock Doctor Power Dry Blower. The purpose of the blower is to provide heated air, with ozone, to the underside of your equipment which aids drying and bacteria reduction. The Power Dry is nice because it provides a decent flow of air, is very quiet, has controls for heat and ozone selection, and comes with a built in 0-3 hour timer. The octopus attachment allows up to (4) one inch flexible tubes to run from the Power Dry unit to the equipment tree. The heated air then runs inside the PVC pipe to your gear. I chose to run air only to my skates and gloves, but it would be simple to add two additional ports to the tree and run heated air to the rest of your equipment. I built the one shown below in less than an hour and for less than $30. I purchased the Power Dry Unit from Champion Cycles eBay Store for $99, and paid $15 for the Octopus attachment.
Over the past few months I’ve experimented with inline duct fans, and other blowers, and was not happy with them. My gloves and skates took less than an hour to dry (immediately following a game…and a night in the trunk of my car) The ozone noticeably reduced the odor of the gloves, which was nice too.
One other modification I’ve made to the equipment tree was to add another rod for hanging my game and practice jerseys and socks from. This added 56 cents to the cost of the tree, and is great for hanging the jerseys, and my extra sock-tape rolls from.
If you would like me to build one for you, send me an email. You can customize the dimensions of your hockey tree to suit your needs.
Quick Update: I’ve made some more changes. You can see two more designs in the Pro-Shop, Hockey-U Store. The intent was to reduce the size and cost of the hockey tree. Take a look!
Required Tools:
- PVC Pipe Cutter or Equivalent (Mitre Saw)
- Tape Measure
- Pen
Materials List:
| Quantity* | Item | Estimated Cost |
| 15 | 1 inch Tee (Slip) | $7.98 |
| 2 | 1 inch 90 degree elbow (Slip) | $0.86 |
| 11 | 1 inch caps (Slip) | $5.50 |
| 4 | 1.5 inch Couplings (Slip) | $2.44 |
| 8 | 12 inch zip ties | $0.50 |
| 20 Feet | 1 inch Schedule 40 PVC Pipe | $7.24 |
| 1 | Can of PVC Cement | $5.00 |
| Total: | $29.52 |
*Each unless otherwise noted
Cut List:
| Quantity | Item |
| 7 | 12 inch lengths (base feet, vertical uprights, helmet support) |
| 2 | 2 inch lengths (base to vertical Plugs) |
| 4 | 14 inch lengths (uprights) |
| 6 | 3.75 inch lengths (outer cross-members) |
| 3 | 6.25 inch lengths (middle cross-members) |
| 2 | 7.5 inch lengths (upper cross-members) |
| 6 | 6 inch lengths (equipment supports) |
PVC “T” Diagram (For Clarification Which hole is being referred to in the instructions:
Instructions:
Cut PVC Pipe to lengths indicated in cut list. Keep PVC separated by length.
Assemble Base:
a. Insert (1) 12 inch length of PVC into hole “2” of a PVC “T”.
b. Insert (1) 12 inch length of PVC into hole “3” of the same PVC “T”
c. Insert (1), 2 inch length of PVC pipe into hole “1” of the “T” fitting.
d. Press (1) cap onto each 12 inch length of PVC Pipe
e. Repeat steps (a – d) once.
Assemble Cross Bars:
a. Insert (1), 3.75 inch piece of PVC into hole “1” of a PVC “T”
b. Insert the opposite end of the 3.75 inch PVC into hole “3” of a “T” fitting.
c. Insert a 6.25 inch length of PVC into hole “2” of the T installed in step (b) above.
d. Insert the opposite end of the 6.25 inch length of PVC into hole”3” of a PVC “T”.
e. Insert a 3.75 inch length of PVC into hole “2” of the “T” installed in step (d) above.
f. Insert the opposite end of the 3.75 inch PVC into hole”1” of a PVC “T”.
g. Repeat two times.
Install Lower Cross Bar to Base Assemblies:
a. Insert the exposed end of the 2 inch plug of one base assembly into hole “2” of a cross bar “T”
b. Insert the exposed end of the 2 inch plug of the other base assembly into hole “3” of the “T” on the other side of the cross bar.
Install Vertical PVC
a. Insert one 14 inch length of PVC into the left and right “T” of the lower cross bar.
Install Second Cross Bar
a. Place the 2nd Cross Bar onto the vertical PVC lengths.
b. Insert 14 inch lengths of PVC into the left and right “T” of the second cross bar.
Install Third Cross Bar
a. Place the 3rd Cross Bar onto the vertical PVC lengths
b. Insert 12 inch lengths of PVC into the left and right “T” of the third cross bar.
Install Top Cross Bar:
a. Place a 90 degree PVC Elbow on each vertical PVC length.
b. Insert (1) 7.5 inch length of PVC into each PVC elbow.
c. Connect the (2) PVC lengths using a “T”
Install Helmet Support:
a. Insert (1) 12 inch length of PVC into hole (1) of the “T” from step 8.
b. Cap the top of the PVC pipe.
Install Equipment Supports:
a. Insert (1) 6 inch length of PVC into each “T” on the crossbars.
b. Cap the top of each PVC pipe.
Install Stick Holders:
a. Using zip ties attach (1) 1.5 inch coupling to the top vertical support on each side of the hockey tree. You will use (2) zip ties per coupling.
b. Using zip ties attach (1) 1.5 inch coupling to the bottom vertical support on each side of the hockey tree. You will use (2) zip ties per coupling.
