Homemade Prowler

      How to make your very own DWAGON!

The intention of this post is to show how I made my personal homemade Prowler (aka - Dwagon, the draggin wagon, yes I'll be painting a fire breathing dragon on the side of it). A brief search of the web can show you many different variations of homemade sleds, or where to buy one from a respectable company like www.elitefts.com, but this is how I made mine. Use the idea if you want, but I would expect you to make any necessary adjustments and common sense to make yours better, or more suitable to your needs. Be sure to watch the video as well. 

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One of the major concerns I took in to consideration was the fact that I needed to transport the Dwagon in my very small hatchback automobile. So I needed to get it in and out fairly easily with scratching my car or breaking my back. Lets just say I was not very successful at either of those goals, but I tried. I chose the bucket design because I wanted to safely load the Dwagon with a variety of tools, like plates, sandbags, kettlebells, ropes, sledgehammers, bodies or anything else you could essentially haul in a wheelbarrow, not just weight plates or a kettlebell awkwardly hanging off of it. I also knew I would be using my sled primarily on concrete and not the grass, so I constructed it accordingly. 

Necessary Supplies:

• wood 
• pipe
• screws
• nuts and bolts
• nipples

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First I got a 1 1/2 inch x 10 foot long galvanized pipe from Home Depot that cost $36.75. 

I cut 30" off each end to have two uprights at 2 1/2 feet with threading on one end of each upright. That left me with a 60" long pipe that I use for fat bar training. Axle clean and press, anyone? Anyone?

You will need 2 or 4 two inch nipples x 6 inches long to support the uprights. Read the rest the see if you want four nipples or are satisfied with two, as two nipples are sufficient for most men. They will cost a few dollars a piece. As you can see in the above pic, the 1 1/2" pipe slides in to the 2" nipple very nicely. 

You will start with a 12" long 2x12, cut in to 4 three foot strips. 

You'll need two 2x6 strips cut at 36 inches, four cut at 19 1/2 inches, and two cut at 14 3/4. 

Now we need to secure the supports for the uprights. I added my skis before this step, which you will notice in the following pics, but I recommend you do it after the supports are secured in place. 

19 1/2 inch long 2x6 x 4 strips

The 2 nipples are 4 3/4 inches side by side, which means the inside wood strips will be 14 3/4 inches long. 

I added a 1x4 only as a spacer to keep things tighter, it is cut at 14 3/4 inches as well. 

Hammer everything snugly into position, tighter is better than looser. Use 3 inch wood screws to temporarily secure it. 

I used 1/2"x6" bolts to secure it tight. 

Drill the holes. 

Hammer the bolts through and use washers and nuts to tighten. 

Remove the outside wood screws before tightening down the nuts and bolts for a tighter fit. 

Tighten bolts securely. 

Replace outer wood screws with lag screws. Repeat same process for uprights on other side if desired, but it is not necessary. Flanges are a great substitute here, but I avoided using them to attach the uprights due to cost, as their use would have almost doubled the cost of this project. 

At this point I would add the skis, which are the two left over 2x12 strips. Use 1/4" x 3 1/2" bolts to secure in place. These bolts will bear a lot of weight just as an axle in a car bears weight, so use strong bolts. 

I recommend you add handles, I used gate door handles, to the inside of the sled to make transporting it much more fun when you have to pick it up. 

If you wish, you can add elbows and nipples to the uprights to be used for dips. 

With or without dip bars installed, you are ready to rock. 

The Dwagon is appropriate for everyone, regardless of age or ability. Used appropriately it can build strength, increase stability and shoot your conditioning through the roof.