How do I put up this swing set?
November 2, 2013 1:34 PM Subscribe
I'm building this a-frame swing set for our yard. The pieces are all cut, sanded and painted, the hardware is all attached, and the locations for the legs are all level. Now how do I actually put this thing up?
The top is a 12' 4x6 and the legs are 10' 4x4s, all yellow pine. Every approach I can think of to get it upright and fit together seems like it will put a lot of strain on the joints, or will just generally be completely unwieldy. How should we go about this, and how many people will it take?
The top is a 12' 4x6 and the legs are 10' 4x4s, all yellow pine. Every approach I can think of to get it upright and fit together seems like it will put a lot of strain on the joints, or will just generally be completely unwieldy. How should we go about this, and how many people will it take?
From your picture, this swing set is meant for the side A-frames to be sunk into concrete or buried in compacted gravel and dirt. There is only the one crossbeam running between the two A-frames, which is insufficient to allow it to be totally free-standing.
Measure well, sink your A-frames into concrete or compacted gravel, using scrap lumber and stakes in the ground to make sure they remain upright while the concrete is setting (or gravel is being compacted.) After the concrete is cured, drop in your crossbeam. (Probably easier to mount the swing hardware to the crossbeam while it's on the ground.)
posted by xedrik at 1:43 PM on November 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
Measure well, sink your A-frames into concrete or compacted gravel, using scrap lumber and stakes in the ground to make sure they remain upright while the concrete is setting (or gravel is being compacted.) After the concrete is cured, drop in your crossbeam. (Probably easier to mount the swing hardware to the crossbeam while it's on the ground.)
posted by xedrik at 1:43 PM on November 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
Actually, those brackets on the top look strong enough to raise one end, then the other. Or assemble it all laying on its back and then lift it up.
Option 1: Assemble both A's flat on the ground. Then take the A on one side, prop it up just enough to put the end of the beam into the top. Now you have a tilting-A and the free end of the beam on the ground. Raise the free end of the beam up & insert into the second A. Now everything is upright! You'll need 1-2 helpers and 1-2 ladders to do this without building a temporary support structure.
Option 2: Assemble both A's flat on the ground. Then lift one A up so it's laying on its side, and prop it there, and insert one end of the beam. At this point the beam will be laying flat on the ground. Now do the same to the other A. You now have the beam flat on the ground, with two sideways A's. Get a helper or two and lift the beam up, rotating the whole structure forward. Again, you'll probably also need a ladder or two as well.
xedrik, unless the ends have anchors that are vertically sunk I don't think they are meant to be buried. The top brackets look quite sturdy to handle the expected load/movement of swings (they've going back & forth, not side-to-side) without additional bracing.
posted by jpeacock at 2:18 PM on November 2, 2013 [2 favorites]
Option 1: Assemble both A's flat on the ground. Then take the A on one side, prop it up just enough to put the end of the beam into the top. Now you have a tilting-A and the free end of the beam on the ground. Raise the free end of the beam up & insert into the second A. Now everything is upright! You'll need 1-2 helpers and 1-2 ladders to do this without building a temporary support structure.
Option 2: Assemble both A's flat on the ground. Then lift one A up so it's laying on its side, and prop it there, and insert one end of the beam. At this point the beam will be laying flat on the ground. Now do the same to the other A. You now have the beam flat on the ground, with two sideways A's. Get a helper or two and lift the beam up, rotating the whole structure forward. Again, you'll probably also need a ladder or two as well.
xedrik, unless the ends have anchors that are vertically sunk I don't think they are meant to be buried. The top brackets look quite sturdy to handle the expected load/movement of swings (they've going back & forth, not side-to-side) without additional bracing.
posted by jpeacock at 2:18 PM on November 2, 2013 [2 favorites]
Listen to jpeacock, option 1. If you have a spare beam ready to prop (rather than simply "raise") the free end of the beam up, you might just be able to do it all alone. Watch your head, though (been watching too many epic fail collections).
posted by Namlit at 2:39 PM on November 2, 2013
posted by Namlit at 2:39 PM on November 2, 2013
My swings (similar to yours) came with galvanised steel ties to embed in concrete - I assembled the swing set, marked the positions of the legs, then poured a cubic foot of concrete under each and embedded the ties in them. It's nice to know that the thing isn't going to get tipped over under any circumstances.
I assembled mine single-handedly, pretty much as jpeacock suggests. One helper (just to hold up the first A-frame and crossbar while I positioned the second) would have been more than adequate.
posted by pipeski at 3:01 PM on November 2, 2013
I assembled mine single-handedly, pretty much as jpeacock suggests. One helper (just to hold up the first A-frame and crossbar while I positioned the second) would have been more than adequate.
posted by pipeski at 3:01 PM on November 2, 2013
Seconding jpeacock's option 1, or even option 2. The connections at the top look beefy enough to resist either of those moves. With option two, the main strain is really going to be the As trying to collapse on themselves, but there's the crossbeam to prevent that.
posted by LionIndex at 3:41 PM on November 2, 2013
posted by LionIndex at 3:41 PM on November 2, 2013
The page advertising the actual kit shows a closeup of the joint and says that the swing set is "free standing" (meaning no concrete). I'd build the kit on its side, and then tip it up to standing -- that's less stress on the joints than two burly kids swinging at the same time.. It looks like it would be hard (but not impossible) to do alone, but easy with two people.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:34 AM on November 3, 2013
posted by Dip Flash at 6:34 AM on November 3, 2013
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