New home plate

Coach, I too have this style of plate on my field. I do like it better than the traditional bury plate but I have a concern or two about this style.

If you only use it on game days how do you make sure that it is level with the surface of the dirt so that if a kid slides in at the plate they will not be hurt by the corners of the plate that may be above the surface?

My home plate spends a lot of time covered up by a mat and the best thing was the peg style plate didn't spend the winter out sinking like the bury style.
You are right about the edge but that is the one area of the field you are always raking anyway so it's not like you are making a special effort to get that all smooth.
This is only yr 2 for this style for me but I sure have liked it so far.

Coach I didn't do a good job of reading your initial statement the first time. I was thinking that you had a practice plate and a game plate and that is why I asked about the corners.

I was thinking about buying a new plate just to use on game days and not practice.

My plate area also stays covered up when not in use so I understand about the sinking part.

You could just use a throw down plate for practice if you want to protect your game one. I just threw this topic out there because the last two bury plates we've purchased didn't last very long and I think we paid more for them than the peg style.

Best wishes

quote:

Originally posted by trojan-skipper:
You could just use a throw down plate for practice if you want to protect your game one. I just threw this topic out there because the last two bury plates we've purchased didn't last very long and I think we paid more for them than the peg style.

I don’t quite understand how a well installed plate doesn’t last for many many years. The original home plates for the SB JV and V, and the BB JV and V at my son’s old HS are still in place and still very serviceable after more than 15 years. What exactly happened to your HP that it had to be changed?

Either caving in, or bubbling up; i've had problems with both.

quote:

Originally posted by trojan-skipper:
Either caving in, or bubbling up; i've had problems with both.

What seems like 100 years ago(more like 60), my uncle who was contractor, bricklayer by trade, went to our HS as a volunteer, and installed home plate, and I volunteered to be his gofer. He dug down about a foot, and about twice as big as a plate, then cleaned out all of the soil and threw it in a wheelbarrow. Next he had me put in a couple of shovels of cement, and pour water into it, while he mixed it until it was the consistency of wet concrete. Then he dumped it back in the hole. He turned the plate upside down and troweled on mud, making sure all those crevices were filled, then put the plate on top of it, and wiggled it back and forth while pushing it down into the muck, like it was a brick. When he was satisfied it was pretty close to where he wanted it, he took out 1’ carpenter’s level and leveled it. We put up a chicken wire fence around it, and off we went. About 2 weeks later we took down the fence, and that plate was there until they built a new HS field over 40 years later.

I remembered that, and since then have used that same method to put in plates and pitching rubbers so many times I can’t remember, but I’ve never had to replace one, other than for something like they got moved by a mower or tractor. Of course I’m not talking about using something cheap and flimsy.

i never knew to use concrete... very informative, thanks

quote:

Originally posted by trojan-skipper:
i never knew to use concrete... very informative, thanks

Actually, it really depends on the soil in your area. Here in NorCal, the hardpan may as well be concrete, so just making a muddy slurry works just fine. But in a place where the soil is sandy, you need to add a little somethin’ somethin’ to the mix.

We use the mound clay.... excavate the spot down 6 inches or so.... pack in the moistened clay one inch @ time. We also packed the grid on the back of the plate, then place the plate and tamp hard to 'join' the two. Works well for us.

Last year we experimented with mixing some of the powdered mound clay into the batters boxes.
They held up much better through the season.