Outfield Foul Line

Rent a sod cutter, and make one pass outside the line and another inside. Or even make just one pass with the line right in the middle. Spray it with something to keep the weeds from growing on it, dress it with infield dirt, pack it, then paint “heavy” line. As long as you spray for weeds every couple of weeks, all you should ever have to do is “touch” it up once in a while.

I would think if your using 'spray paint' to paint the line it could get $$.
How about buying a pail of turf paint.... that stuff gets watered down to half or more making it possible to use a sprayer like the ones used for weeds, that might keep the $$ down.

I have seen folks try to keep a grass free line..... but that's a lot of work and hard to keep a "line".
I have seen one take a old firehose a split it down its length then stake that down....not so safe to me.

...nothing like a straight, painted patch of healthy grass.....

If the ground is prepared correctly, the paint will last the whole summer, needing only ”touch-ups” where players step on it.

Keeping the line grass-free is simple if you put down a pre-emergent, then walk up the line once a week with a sprayer of Round-up, killing the weeds before they get a good foothold. Most people won’t take the 10 minutes a week to do that, and the weeds will take over really quickly.

Trouble with spraying the grass is, if its healthy, it’ll grow 2” a week, so you’re paint will last 2 weeks if you’re lucky.

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In order to ensure that you have decent foul lines in the outfield you will have to rely on teamwork and some pretty sophisticated coordination...
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Ideally a team of four (or more properly a klatch when you're referring to three or more satellites), as pictured above, should be used for optimum results. You may be able to get by with three, but the quality and precision of your lines will undoubtedly be diminished.

What are the positives when using a klatch of laser toting satellites? Reliability, line quality, and of course the 'Wow' and 'Brag' factor. Your grounds
crew will be the talk of the county! They will have necessarily become quite a technologically savvy group. The skills they will have learned to pull this off will allow them to easily transition into other endeavors. For instance: establishment and maintenance of parking space lines at all still viable shopping malls; producing logical, yet vexing, 'out-of-bounds' lines at major golf courses the world over; and if they're really talented the crew will be able to repaint the lane lines on any outdoor track. And if they are the compassionate and caring types there are plenty of hospital heliports that need touching up.

And I should ask. What are the negatives? Initial capital outlay. Don't ask how much. Get started on a government grant while they're still in the mood. Here's a tip...stimulate your favorite U.S. Representative who is 'shovel ready' and desperate for another election year photo op. C'mon...it's baseball for youngsters! That's a sure winner in any pol's still unread book.

And then there are some safety issues to be concerned with. First off, if you have any Western Hop-Scotched morose tricolor striped lichen dependent levee dwelling chipmunks within close proximity (let's assume 50 miles) to your field you will certainly have to rethink the use of the space lasers. There isn't a government agency or public interest group in these United States that would tolerate even the thought of interfering with those dour little chipmunks tucked away in their swank government subsidized 'existence dens' punched attractively into most levees throughout our land.

Now if it's the welfare of your players you may be concerned about then I would have them simply assemble in the dug outs while the crew is marking the outfield foul lines. The lasers are capable, even when calibrated perfectly, of cutting even the most expensive 'laser resistant' alloy bat in two in a flash. Keep the players on the bench.

And if any government officials are snooping around just show them how responsibly you are watching out for the safety of your ballplayers. The bureaucrats won't care of course, they are there to account for the chipmunks. Or perhaps tally the number of flies in your Port-A-John®!

quote:

Originally posted by boom:
What is the best way to do this. Normally we get a sting and paint it but that is starting to get expensive. Any tips.

Without sounding like a jerk the best way to do this is to get some string and paint then paint it. There are other practical ways of doing this but they just don't look right. How much is paint where you are?

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Yeah, I think coach is on to something. String and paint is a whole lot easier than tracking down your favorite U.S. Representative.

And this gizmo? A 'Manually Operated Beam Organizer & Optimizer' for the Raygun SDI Satellite Laser Striper & Pong Game Deluxe® will set you back a cool $120K alone. And that doesn't include S & H!



You may be able to cut a better deal. How much are 'Manually Operated Beam Organizer & Optimizers' where you are?



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How often are you attempting to repaint it? Our grounds keeper paints our once a week, the day prior to the first home game. If we don't play at home that week they don't get painted.

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I wonder what he does when there is a long spell between home games?





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Question, why isn't the foul-line painted yellow? Would it not be easier to see a white ball on yellow foul-line?

Back in 2006-2007, we ran out of white and plenty of yellow and it actually looked pretty darn good and it seemed to last longer than the white.