Pulling Tent Stakes Doesn’t Need to be a Challenge
It’s the end of the day, and your backyard event went off without a hitch. Everyone loved your fancy new party tent, too. But now it’s time to take that tent back down and put it away. And you’re not entirely sure how to get tent stakes out of the ground.
You can’t just bend over and yank the stakes out with your bare hands. Well … you can, but you definitely shouldn’t. And if the ground is harder or colder, you’re going to pull muscles a lot easier than you’ll pull that tent stake out of the ground.
So how exactly do you pull tent stakes? Is there an easy way? Let’s show you the simple, tried and true methods of tent stake extraction that allow you to work smarter, not harder. Once you learn how to get tent stakes out of the ground more quickly, you’ll feel a lot more inclined to use your new party tent a whole lot more often!
How to Get Tent Stakes Out of the Ground, the Old Fashioned Way
The most straightforward method of getting tent stakes out of the ground is by yanking them out by hand. This doesn’t require any special equipment, but it’s definitely the more physically exhausting of the two tent stake extraction methods.
Attempting to pull up a tent stake by hand without any prep won’t be a pleasant experience. Some of you can maybe get the stake loose and out, but it won’t be easy. And there’s a fairly high risk of injury, too. Many a back muscle has been pulled while someone was trying to get tent stakes out of the ground.
To soften the workload, strike the side of the stake with your sledge hammer, then strike the opposite side. You may want to give each side a couple of good whacks. This will loosen up the ground around the stake and make pulling it up a lot easier.
Harder Ground? It’s Time to Use a Tent Stake Extractor
The manual removal method only works when the stakes are driven into ground that isn’t too hard. The stakes won’t have as much give if the ground is cold, and you’ll do more harm than good if the stakes are in asphalt. You’ll want to use a tent stake extractor to get tent stakes out of hard ground.
A tent stake extractor gives your human hands and arms the mechanical muscle of a Terminator robot to help yank stakes out of the ground with ease. You simply set up the tent stake extractor on the stake, push down on the lever, and watch your tent stakes come out of the ground without any muss or fuss.
An extractor is essential if you’re driving tent stakes into asphalt. To minimize damage, you’ll also want to use a tent stake driver, as driving a tent stake manually with a sledge hammer is grueling work. After you’ve pulled your tent stakes, you can plug the remaining holes with asphalt plugs.
If you’re setting up your party tent on asphalt not on your own property, be sure to get the property owner’s permission before you drive tent stakes there. Driving tent stakes into asphalt is going to damage that ground, so if there’s an alternative space to set up your tent, you should consider doing it there instead.
If you need any help finding the best tent stake driver or extractor, please give Party Tents Direct a call today at 1-716-566-5804 and we’ll point you in the right direction!