Stall bars mistake

Hi guys,

I starting building myself stall bars, but in order to save some money I bought the smaller, pre-cut dowels (1 1/4 inch). They were cut at 4' lengths, and I went and cut them all to 3' lengths (I believe that's the standard size) and then I checked to see if they were strong enough to hold my weight. I should have done this first. They had quite a bit of flex in them, which concerns me a great deal.

Is there any way to salvage this? What's the minimum width I could get away with for stall bars? I don't think there'd be much flex at a width of a foot. I would like the standard size, so I'll probably just go buy the proper size/strength, so is there anything I can make out of the scrap dowels? I have 2 toddlers home so I'm trying to think of wooden toys I could build.

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

What type of wood are they. Some flex shouldn't be alarming.

I can't remember the exact name, but I know it's not fir or oak. Over a 2 foot span there was about an inch and a bit of flex.

Might it be poplar? I used poplar at 3 feet with no problem. I weighed 155lbs and it wasn't a problem. Josh Naterman also got on mine and was fine. There was a good deal of flex but I wasn't afraid if it breaking. My personal test was to stand on it with one leg and bounce just a but with all my weight. If it doesn't break then you are probably fine. Wood can bend a good bit.

If you are still afraid of it breaking you will probably need to replace them with oak which will be much sturdier.

My stallbar if flexing a little bit as well, so I try to put the pressure/weight as close to the sides as I can, instead of in the middle of the rungs.

Thanks for the replies. I was having troubles making a hole the right size for them anyway (every 1 1/4" bit I tried made 1 5/16" holes), so I'm going to play it safe and get 1 5/16" fir dowels.