Help with Swingset

[schmism]

ive built a few of the kit versions of the wooden play sets.

usually the kits you find at HD come with a materials list.

go to real lumber yard that has kiln dried PT material as opposed to the soaking wet stuff you get at HD. It will be much more stable for your project.

As for PT material and kids, well ya i suppose it COULD be a problem if you fed it to them like mashed patatos. use commone sense and youll be fine.

 

[Champy]

I built one of these myself, and now 10 years later the neighbor has it in his back yard - still going strong.

One point to make sure you take care of is to properly anchor the legs down. I laid 2x2 stakes along the topside of the legs (near the ground) and them pounded them halfway in at that angle - no chains or screws required. This simply kept the legs from lifting as the kids got more vigorous in their swinging efforts.

 

[bmac]

If you build it exactly like the plans call for, it will probably work exactly like it's supposed to. If you modify it and start doing things different, you may very well end up with something you don't want or can make work properly. I know it's just a swingset, but with 8 posts, there's more to it then I thought.

Actually, Eddie, there are only 4 posts. Using longer posts would add additional heigth to the swingbeam as well as increase the distance between the ends of the posts where they meet the ground (increasing the footprint). Whether or not one would gain stability from a wider (actually, deeper) footprint might be debatable, I would think it would reduce the likelihood of tipping (unless the legs are anchored).

Change one aspect of it, and you will affect every other aspect of it. Maybe you can forsee what will be effected and adjust for it, after all, it's just a swing set, but what will an extra two feet really give you?

Eddie

One thing that makes commercial swings more fun than your typical backyard swing is the extra long chains attached to the swing seat. This is possible because the commercial swing beam is higher than the backyard swings. As was previously mentioned, a bigger swing arc makes for a elevated fun factor because you can swing higher. Of course, it also increases the broken bone factor because the kids can jump off (or fall) from a greater height. I haven't done the math to see what elevation in the height of the swing beam one would get by changing the length of the legs by 2'. Certainly will be less than 2' additional height, but I don't know the number.

bmac,

I'm a big fan of overkill and rarely follow instructions, but I also pay for this with hours and sometimes months of frustration at making something work. Its a mental sickness that I've had all my life, so please don't laugh at my hypocracy. hahahha

Eddie, I'm shocked to hear this from you. I always thought you were a "strictly by the book" kind of guy.

 

[bmac]

Eddie,
I have that same mental illness and as I read this thread I kept thinking, "why not use 3 inch galvanized pipe and make a real swing set like I had when I was in grade school". Remember them? An adult could use the swing and it would be as solid as a rock.
David B

David,

I did look into the commercial steel swingsets like they install on playgrounds. Quite pricey and I didn't like the looks for my wooded homesite. But you are right, they are built like tanks.

 

[KubotaSteve]

Bmac:

I built my daughter a swingset when she was around 5 or so. It had two swings, a teeter todder, and a swinging trapeese bar. I almost added on the end a ramp up to the small platform that the slide went off of. The top beam is about 7 foot off the ground. When my daughter turned 8 she said that she couldn't swing high because I had to raise the chains as she got taller. I decided to make her a larger swingset. I got two telephone poles and they are about 10 or 12 foot in the air with a 6 X 6 going across held on by 1 inch bolts and 3/8" steel plate. I've got two swings and a climbing rope. The swings are commercial grade and I used 3/16" chain and commerical hooks for the swing to hang from. She loves the larger swingset now as she can go higher.
The point I'm trying to make is that the swingset you are building for a 9 year old may be too small for her. It may be better to spring for a commerical type swing set then to have to get another one later.
Also that piece sticking out from the end will have a lot of play and movement in it. If you attach a playhouse of somesort to the swingset, that really helps stiffen them up too. Get your kids input as to what they want.

 

[bmac]

go to real lumber yard that has kiln dried PT material as opposed to the soaking wet stuff you get at HD. It will be much more stable for your project.

As for PT material and kids, well ya i suppose it COULD be a problem if you fed it to them like mashed patatos. use commone sense and youll be fine.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try to minimize the amount I feed the kids. Maybe no more than 1 PT wood snack/week.

 

[bmac]

When my daughter turned 8 she said that she couldn't swing high because I had to raise the chains as she got taller.

That's a key point I didn't think about. As she gets taller, the chains will have to be shortened to raise the seat, further reducung the swing arc.

I got two telephone poles and they are about 10 or 12 foot in the air with a 6 X 6 going across held on by 1 inch bolts and 3/8" steel plate.

Steve, where does one get telephone poles? How did you set the poles? (Do you have an auger big enough to dig the holes? Did you lift the poles into position yourself? How deep did you dig the holes? Did you sue concrete? ) Can you post a diagram as to how the steel plate is used to connect the 6x6 beam to the poles?

Thanks for the ideas.

 

[EddieWalker]

bmac,

Some of the best swings are the cheapest and easiest.

Eddie

 

[KubotaSteve]

Steve, where does one get telephone poles? How did you set the poles? (Do you have an auger big enough to dig the holes? Did you lift the poles into position yourself? How deep did you dig the holes? Did you sue concrete? ) Can you post a diagram as to how the steel plate is used to connect the 6x6 beam to the poles?

I sort of lucked into the telephone poles. They had to replace two in front of my house as the lines were too low. The guy asked me if I wanted them and of course I said yeah. I was afraid someone was going to ask how I got the 6X6 into place. It's not the safest way but I hooked the forks on my B-7800 and tied two 6 foot T-posts to each fork and then put the 12 foot 6X6 on the end of them. It was quite an experience. I'll try to get a picture of the swingset, but in the mean time I'll try to explain it. I took the telephone poles and put them in the ground about 45 inches or so. We leveled the telephone poles with string level and then drilled two holes in each telephone pole (one towards the bottom of the steel plate and then one towards the top of the plate.) The 6X6 sets on top of the telephone poles and sandwhich between the steel plates. Steel plates bolted to poles and 6X6. It's been weight tested with a 300 lbs person on one swing and a 200 lb person on the other swing and a 200 lb person on the rope all at once.
Sorry if my explanation was confusing. I'll try to get a picture on Friday as I don't get home until dark.

 

[ktm250rider]

I used 16' 4x4 PT for my A frame. The cross beam comes out about 10-12 feet off the ground. The other end is attached to the 6x6 fort that needs to be finished.
I would go with the tallest cross beam you can manage. This will give you a larger swing arc and make the swing more enjoyable. If you notice many of the commercial units on playgrounds have large swing arcs. I was able to get my cross beam in place by setting up my pole staging, which made it simple.