Customer Reviews

Spalding The Beast Portable Basketball Hoop - 60" Glass Backboard

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It's a great product to play on when it's finally assembled but that wasn't as easy as it should have been. Some of the parts that were suppossed to be pre assembled were not and they were not included in the box. I called Spalding and the customer service was friendly but not very helpful. They said that they would ship the parts but after a week I called back and they told me they didn't ship anything because they were all out of the bolts I needed. They told me it would take a month to get the bolts from headquarters and another couple of weeks to mail it to me. I asked for the specs of the bolts and went to Lowes where I paid about $4 for all the materials. I'm glad I called back because it appeared they just dropped the issue when they realized they didn't have the parts.

This will be a two-part review ... the product, and the installation.

It's the best portable system I've seen (and I've seen several). I'd give it a 10 on a scale of 1-10 for portable systems (most of the portable systems, including our old one, I would give a 2 or 3).

But to help you compare it to a high school or college gym system, if a college hoop system with a glass backboard was a 10, I'd probably give this an 8. There is still some movement and vibration in play, but not much.

I'd rate it better than most outdoor court backboards and better than many of the indoor courts (grade school and middle school) my son has played on that use metal or plexiglas backboards. Bottomline, it's not perfect, but if you need (and can afford) this portable system, I think you'll be pleased.

Let me throw out a real plus for Amazon. We had problems with the freight company that delivered it. Won't bore you with the details, but Amazon made it right ... and I'd say went beyond what was necessary. I'm a fan of Amazon for sure.

Now for the installation:

First, it took me about 4 hours. If I were doing it again, it would probably take two or two and 1/2. I personally think the instructions are very good. And in my case, all the hardware was well packed in individual packages for each of the major installation steps. And it was all there. But there were no extra parts, so don't lose washers or bolts, etc..

Let me give some setup hints that might be helpful that I haven't seen in other reviews.

First, of course, read the instructions carefully. All warnings and important notes are there for a reason. I read the instructions online couple times before the shipment arrived, and still missed a few important details as I went through the setup. And make sure you look at the pictures carefully to ensure you have the right part alignment. Bottomline, read the instructions.

The main pole assembly - this takes two people for sure. I used a ladder (some use the back end of a pick up truck to stand on. Bottomline, I stood up high, my son down low, and at my call, we raised it about 1 1/2 to 2 feet vertical (I lifted from up high, my son from down low), and then dropped it on the wood. Took us about four or five drops to get it fully seated. Much easier than I expected (about 5 minutes total). We did use WD-40, but not sure whether that mattered or not. As a caution, I reminded my son everytime, before each drop to keep his feet clear. Trust me, you would do some serious damage if you dropped the pole on someone's foot.

When you install the main pole on the base, get nine inch socket extender. I happened to have 3-three inch extenders that I linked together, and it saved me a phenomenal amount of time tightening the nuts that hold the pole to the base. You need the extenders to have maneuver room.

Believe it or not, with just the pole installed on the base, it doesn't tip over. That surprised me, but was good for installing the side braces.

One little gotcha installing the wheel assembly ... on step 4 in the instructions, it shows a cutout of parts 14/15 and W7. Make sure you put bolt W7 through the hole in 14/15 before you install that part on the wheel axel. I didn't, and I had to undo it and reinstall. Just some wasted time.

It's important to lean the pole on a sawhorse like they tell you. However, my sawhorse was actually to low, as I suspect most standard size sawhorses are. When you install the elevator tubes, make sure they are at least about six inches above the ground, as you'll need that when you install the backboard. Bottomline, the pictures show the pole leaning on a sawhorse with a lot of ground clearance. You need that ground clearance (and I didn't have it at first).

I found installing the backboard to be my hardest step. Largely, because I didn't have a tall enough sawhorse so I didn't have eough ground clearance. I almost thought one time I was going to puncture the glass with one of the elevator tubes (fortunately I didn't). But you need two people for this at least. I'd recommend anchoring the lower elevator tubes to the backboard first, and then the upper (and freely moving) ones second. It may seem simple, but one of the tricky steps is trying to properly fit the plastic washer (part A4) betwen the elevator tube arm and the backboard frame. With my fumble fingers, it was a bit challenging with not much space to work.

On the backboard assembly, I had to tighten the bolts just a little bit tighter than they recommended (they say flush, I had to go a turn or so further). You can play that one as your assembly dictates.

Don't forget to fill the base about half way before you try to stand up the goal assembly (I did forget). Trust me, with an empty base, and the backboard installed, it will tip forward very easily. I almost lost it a couple times at this point. Would not have been cool to see it come crashing down.

I found that it actually rolls pretty easily on asphalt or concrete. When you pull the gray front piece forward, it actually lowers the front wheels in place, letting it roll freely. It's real heavy (probably somewhere around 600 pounds when full of water/sand), but it rolls pretty well. But it will not roll at all on grass (didn't try it on dirt). It's simply too heavy and will sink in. I actually had to use some plywood ramps to get mine to it's final location.

Installing the rim and fascia pieces was pretty straight forward (though again you need some coordinated fingers to get the rim bolts in the right place).

All in all, I had a lot of fun putting it together, and my son is having a lot of fun practicing on it.

Hope this helps a bit.

Great hoop system. The 60" glass backboard feel like you are shooting at an indoor hoop on your drive way! My kids wouldn't stop playing after we got it setup.

I was debating to hire someone to come out and assemble the system. So when I received the shipment, it sat in my garage for 5 days. Then after getting a ridicules quote to have someone come and assembly it, I decided to do it myself with.

So my 9 year old daughter and I ripped open the box Friday afternoon after work and started to assemble it. If you take few minutes to read the directions, the steps are very easy to understand and not very hard. We were done by night fall, about 3.5 hours. Probably faster if I had another adult to help.

When you get your shipment (it comes on a wood pallet in 3 big boxes) - kind of intimidating - open it up and check for any damages. We had one of the smaller water reservoir that had a crack in it so it won't hold water (or sand). Thought about requesting for a replacement part but that would have meant that we had to wait another week or two. And I would have to reassembly the whole system to get water reservoir replaced. So I am using couple of sand bags to give it more weight.

One last suggestion, be sure to have the right tools. Make sure you have all the tools suggested in the setup guide. They aren't anything special, just things like socket wrench, saw horse, etc. It will make your setup much faster and smoother!!

For a portable hoop, this is amazing. Took my husband and I an afternoon to assemble. That part is not easy and I would say that you need someone who is familiar with assembling things. Putting the post together was the hardest part and at some point I thought we wouldn't be able to do it. You really need someone who is strong with a good back. Make sure you have good help. Once together it is terrific and very stable. My boys and their friends have enjoyed playing basketball with it and has made our old hoop look pretty sad. I have only one rule tho, and that is no hanging off the hoop.

I would recommend this, but know going into this that you need someone with a good back to help put it together. There is a lot of pounding one piece of post into another and you need to stand on a ladder to get the height to do it. We live in an area that is quite windy and it stood thru many storms and cold weather. We have had it for almost a year.

UPDATE: THIS HOOPS HAS GONE THRU A WINTER NOW AND IT IS IN GREAT SHAPE. WE PUT ANTI-FREEZE IN THE WATER AND IT NEVER FROZE. STILL HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS HOOP.

I did a lot of research and came up with this one. I assembled it mostly by myself in one day, so it can be done. My wife and kids helped occasionally when needed. Recommend a sawhorse and then a stepladder to rest the unit on at various steps. Also, a key is to have deep sockets available, as well as socket wrench extenders (a really long one). Put some WD40 on the juncture between the two main poles--that will ease their joining. Once I did that, and straightened them out with a mallet, they slide together with just a few pounds onto the board as described in the manual.

If you have a cracked bottom reservoir like I do, you'll need to try and squeeze a quarter ton of sand into the little sand access hole after fixing the hole. THAT'S irritating and time consuming, including the trip to Lowe's to pick up all of the sand once I discovered the water leaking out. Make sure to check this before assembly, as once it's all together, it's very difficult to fix the crack (Mighty Putty? I've used duct tape and it's worked to hold the sand in, anyway).

Not too happy with the moving of it--front wheels when engaged don't give enough clearance for anything but a perfectly flat surface, and my driveway is not perfectly flat, so it hangs up repeatedly when moving it.

Now that I have it up, incredibly stable, very good design. A rebound off of the center of the hoop barely shakes it! Rebounds off of the sides shake a bit, but no more than most inground units do.

I RECOMMEND YOU (CONTACT SPAULDING / HUFFY SPORTS)DOWNLOAD AND READ THE ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE YOU PURCHASE.

I'm not alien to home handyman projects but this product became a challenge to assemble.

It definitely requires two people at times to assemble it safely. The main pole comes in two pieces and is joined by fitting one inside the flange of the other, and impacting them on a scrap piece of wood while holding them vertical. I stood on a ladder to "pile drive" the poles together while my helper guided the poles.
The bolts that hold the pole to the base are deep inside the base cut-out and required TWO SOCKET WRENCH EXTENSIONS connected to reach (approx 16" extension). I would still be tightening those nuts if I tried to use an open end wrench in that limited work space.

We opted to use sand instead of water after reading that it makes for a more stable base and it not as likely to leak out of any small hole that might develop.
After the assembly was 2/3 complete we tipped the unit upright to find that the backboard was not perpendicular to the ground, in fact it was at a 45 degree down angle. I contacted Spaulding (Huffy Sports) and sent digital pictures. We determined that the TOP POLE HAD BEEN INCORRECTLY LABELED AT THE FACTORY and as a result we installed it backwards. There is no way to separate the pole sections once they are together. Spaulding shipped us a new pole and no cost and it arrived in about 4 days.

Disassembly of the unit to install the new pole required that I build a support out of 2x4's for the vertically positioned base. It was a pain to disassemble and reassembly the components but we got it done in an hour or so. Trying to get all the recommended SAND into the 2" hole of the base was somewhat of a challenge. Make sure the sand you use is fine AND DRY. I USED A MODIFIED CAR RADIATOR FUNNEL which helped a great deal. The sand is easier to install when the base was vertical, once the base is flat we had to finesse the sand into the bases using a stick to pack it in. It was a TEDIOUS AND TIME CONSUMING process. WE HAVE ABOUT 120lbs REMAINING OF THE RECOMMENDED AMOUNT OF SAND THAT WOULD NOT FIT INTO THE BASES.

I suspect the total assembly time, including the new pole and sand installation, was about 8 hours.

My only fear now is that someday some neighborhood kid will throw a small hard object and break the glass backboard. Replacing that backboard would be a challenge.

DESPITE THE ASSEMBLY CHALLENGES, THE UNIT IS REALLY SOLID AND THE BEST DRIVEWAY PORTABLE BASKETBALL GOAL I'VE SEEN.

This is by far one of the highest quality and stable basketball goals I have ever used in ground or portable. The amount of stability for this goal is very unusual for a portable - but once you see the components you will understand why. A double base system that fills up with water or sand giving over 500lbs of weight for stability. It also comes with a cork screw stake that you can attach to the base for added stablity. Two 5 inch steal poles and a real glass 60 inch back board really make for a quality playing experience. I thought moving this goal would be impossible but considering the size it is realitively easy - only difficulty I had was moving the goal off of the drive way. Using some plywood I was able to reduce the distance from move drive way to the street making the transision much smoother. My kids and I have a great time practicing and play with this goal. Many of the neighborhood kids also enjoy playing as well.

It is not the easiest thing to put together but with the help of another adult it would greatly reduce the time to assemble it - I gets pretty heavy. Unfortunately for me it was a man job.

There are a couple of things to look out for during the assembly.

1. Joining the poles together
First you have to join the two main support poles together. The directions tell you to slide them together but you quickly find that this is impossible without some innovation. First get some WD-40 and sparay the parts that will "slide" together. Secondly push the poles together as far as you can before you stand them up. Lean the poles against a tree or the side of your house - place a wood block on top of the pole and use the back end of an ax or a sledge hammer to properly "slide" the poles together.

2. The screw jack assembly (lowers and lifts the height of the goal)
There is a hole at the top of the screw jack and the screw jack sleeve. Make sure that these holes are lined up during the attachment to the backboard support. The first time I assembled the this part the screw jack was not lined with the screw jack sleeve and I attached only the screw jack sleeve - so the goal did not have the ability to go up and down. Make sure the holes are lined up and put the support screw through both and there will be no problems.

3. Rim attachment (foam pad)
By this time I was getting tired and just missed this. Before you attach the rim to the back board make sure that the foam pad is between the rim and the backboard. The instructions tell you peel of the backing and adhere it to the backboard - the one I had did not have any adhesive so I put some wood glue to keep it in place long enough to attach the rim. (You don't want to attach the rim more than once - the top screws are not the easiest things to tighten.

4. The directions say you have the choice between using a wrenches or socket wrenches. I recommend both and assembly will be impossible without socket wrenches - perferably deep socket wrenches.

Enjoy

Did a lot of research before buying and finally decided to pay the money for "The Beast" for my 13 yr old son. I'm very glad I took my time deciding and got the best portable system available. Having a 60" glass backboard almost makes this feel like you're playing in a real gym! Unit does wobble a bit when you shoot up a brick but not any more than the residential in-ground units do. The handle makes the unit easy to move anywhere you want it. It uses a four wheel system that can be steered like a wagon. No more struggling trying to tip the unit over and roll on two wheels. Rim height adjustment is easy and accurate. I really like the overhang that the backboard has from the base so you can "play in the paint" without running into the base. Ordered from Amazon and received the unit in 9 days. Delivery guys delivered to my door, not just curbside. I don't know why some other reviewers had trouble with the assembly instructions. They are clear and concise and easy to follow. One thing that I would advise anybody who gets this is to check all the parts before starting assembly. I had two sets of rear struts in the box and no set of front struts. They look the same except the fronts have more holes to bolt stuff to. I called Spalding and they answered right away. I told them the problem and they sent the front struts via Fedex and I had them a week later. Disappointing to have to wait another week to put it together but not that big of a deal. My 13 yr old son and I assembled the unit completely in about 3 hrs. It's really basic to assemble as long as you follow the instructions and have a nice set of sockets. No hang-ups at all. I was wavering between buying "The Beast" or a lower priced Spalding unit with 54" glass backboard but I think it was worth the extra $ to have "The Beast". The unit plays very well and looks and feels like my son will have years of fun using it.

I knew from reading other reviews that this is a top of the line product .Now that I put it together I can tell you I got more help from the prior reviewers who I refered to during the fustrating assembly process. You would think the manufacturer would read these and try to improve on the process by redoing the instruction manual. I had the same problem as others getting the to main posts together using oil and laying one end against a tree and pounding a wood block on the top with sledge hammer The way they instruct is useless I also experienced what another reviewer did and that was to sheer or on of the bolts that hold the main pole to the base. You really need to tighten down those already on the base Get them all tight before you try to tighten the base bolts down It tells you in the beginning to tighten them but I think it should be a more important call ou to you and a CAUTION on the page where you put the post to the base Could a saved a trip to Home Depot for new bolt with a little more instruction in the manual
We ran out of patience on the height adjustment which we didnt know we had to slide the the hole inside the tube . Called several times and waited 20 minutes twice to get thru
Great product we are happy we bought it maybe thats why the company doesnt care to improve the inx .Looking back after doing it once I could put it together easily again but that tells you the instructions are poor and you have to learn from experiece or from other reviewers as the manual falls terribly short as far as I am concerned

So you do your research, figure out your budget and then you shop..............and after months of painstaking
research and the kids asking when are we going to get a new hoop, or are we ever going to get a new hoop, well
you have to pull the trigger at some point. So we did, and we plunked down big bucks for one of the top rated, best built
hoops on the market. Most of the reviews were accurate in set up time and ease of the instructions, our set up time with two adults was four hours. The instructions were not as clear as they could have been, but with patience we were able to assemble a hoop that is the envy of our neighborhood. More importantly it is sturdy and a totally legitimate basketball hoop. If this is in your price range buy it!