How to make a Strongman Yoke
The picture above was taken in my hallway. The pvc pipe in the middle is just there to hold the device in place.
There are a variety of strongman yoke designs. Another good one is here. I had some unique requirements. Since most of the time it will be used in my apartment hallway, the weight had to be close to the ground. Dumping it off my back wasn't an option. It also couldn't take up a lot of room, as I don't have a lot. It needed to be fairly quick to assemble, and for room and ease of use, utilize weight plates that I already have.
My first design was simple a 1 1/4 X 36 inch pipe with a chain going to the floor. I ran into a problem, the weights had a tendency to start swaying, causing the bar to slip off my back. I thought about using three chains going down going to different areas of a plate, thus stabilizing it. However, that was going to require some design work and possible welding of the chains to a plate. I remembered a design for a different device by the Cable Bar Guy, it gave me the solution. I got 2 - 1 1/4 inch elbows, 2 - 1" inch reducers, and 2 - 36 inch 1" inch pipes. Before putting it together, I ran approximately 14 feet of chain threw the whole device. The chain hooks to a loading pin on each side. It works great, with virtually no plate sway.
REVISED
I had an question about the strength of the unit. I honestly don't know. The weak link is likely the chain. I got it free. I did take a piece to a hardware store, with hopes finding the same size and getting a strength on it. However, I wasn't able to find it. A lot smaller chain was rated at 500 pounds. When I get up to that range (I just started using it, so far the most I've used is 320. But, I expect do go up quickly, as I get a bit smoother at the movement and stronger.), I probably will replace the chain with a heavier version. I will also have to replace the 1" inch pipe, as this is the largest chain that will fit threw them. They were also free. I just had to buy the reducer. The only other weak link is the top bar. I don't know how much it will hold. I might look into a pipe inside a pipe design or something along those lines. It might also be possible to fill it with cement, but this will be a little harder than usual, as the chain needs to be in there.