Building a Large Swing Set

[bobad]

Me and a buddy are going to donate time and material to build a large swing for a small private school.

We've been looking around the web for plans, and mostly come up with wooden porch swings, and expensive plans. :(

We want to build a large, very safe, and durable set that will last for years. Maybe something with ladder bars on the ends for climbing. Something with maybe 4-6 swings, and a the top bar made from 2-1/2-3" Sch. 80 pipe, and about 8-9 feet above the ground.

We want to do most of the work at my buddy's shop, where he has a large flat slab for accurate layout. That way, we won't have to do a lot of layout and welding on site.

Does anyone have a favorite plan or pictures of a project they can share?

Many thanks,,,

[TexHand]

Have you looked at other schools in the area? I know all the stuff at my kids elementary school is made from pipe.

HTH

[Rocky D]

I think sch 80 is overkill, but maybe not...One thing you must take into consideration is that if all the swings are horizontal to the ground, with little bodies on them, it won't tip over.
The basic shape illustrates that, notice how far apart the legs are.
http://www.planitplay.com/images/Free-Standing%20Swingbeam_withBkgd.jpg

[bobad]

The basic shape illustrates that, notice how far apart the legs are.


I hear you Rocky. Nothing is stronger than the basic sawhorse shape. Unfortunately, nothing is harder to build, handle, and transport.

I notice the swing in your picture seems to have vertical legs. Splayed legs prevent the swing from swaying right and left.

About the Sch. 80... the main bar would probably be 16' long, so we thought Sch 80 would be less likely to sag under the weight of 4-5 chubby kids. Maybe we could build 2 smaller swings instead of 1 giant one.

[RickSidebottom]

If you are going to put more than 2 or 3 swings per section, you will have to put a set of mid legs in. Sch. 40 will be fine, it will be overkill. If you build a an end plate on each end of the leg sets with a sway brace, you can do vertical legs.

Here are a few pictures of a swing I rebuilt for a lady last year. The a-frame top bar is 2" sch 40, the legs are 2" 1/8" wall, the swing is 6 foot long and the top bar is 8 foot between legs. I put 600 lbs on it, and the just sat there. the swing creaked a little but that was it. The 3 link chains were hand forged to fit.

[Pangea]

Buy insurance.

[Jim-Tx]

When my neice was younger (she's 22 now) I built her a couple of swing sets. One for her house and one for mine, of course.:) I made them wide enough to hold about 3 swings but they were plenty stout enough to hold more if I had wanted them. The legs and top piece were made from 2 3/8" upset tubing. (oilfield pipe about like sch 80) I made some brackets out of 2 7/8" pipe that joined the top with the legs. (2 3/8" slips into 2 7/8" just about right) I don't have pics, but it was made from 3 pieces of pipe... one slipped over the top (horizontal) pipe. The other 2 were welded at an angle to the first piece so that the legs slipped into them. I welded 1/2" nuts on each of the 3 pieces and put set screws in them to secure it all together. Obviously, it took 2 of these assemblies for the swing set. The legs can be about any length you choose within reason. I added flanges on the bottom of the legs and drove rods into the ground to secure the whole thing, but if you make the angle of the legs pretty wide it will be stable without the need for stakes. These are heavy frames! Follow me now... on the top pipe, the horizontal one, I put a piece of about 1/2" x 1" flat bar below it with holes drilled to fasten the swing chains to. This added a great deal of strength to the pipe and also allowed easy additions or changes to the swings. I can get pics if you need them but I think I have described it pretty good.

Edit: This can be broken down and easily hauled in a pickup truck. 5 pipes and 2 corner assemblies. No onsite welding is needed.

[.RC.]

Buy insurance.


Buy lots of insurance...While it is a great idea and a very community spirited thing to do, get ready to be sued by the parents of the child who while doing something very dangerous manages to break their arm on the swings that you built...

When I was at primary school we had a great set of home made swings there, some years after I left the PC and liability crowd came along and it was all ripped out to be replaced by some mundane plastic crap so there was no way little johnny could possibly injure himself..

[bobad]

Jim,

Excellent! I was trying to think up a slip-together system, but wasn't confident that I could find pipes that would fit snugly enough to be solid. Youngsters swinging on it 50 days a year will certainly test the design and material.

.RC,

Duly noted. Your words are sad, but true. We're covered pretty good, I think. Parents must sign releases at our school every year to absolve all volunteers of liability for what we build and donate. Since the parents themselves volunteer materials and labor, they feel they are part of the system. Suing me and my buddy would be sort of like suing themselves. Some day a nutty judge will allow a suit against God for creating gravity, and a manufacturer for not controlling it. I guess that will be the end of civilization, and we'll go back to hunting and gathering. :)

[usmcpop]

As far as I can recall, the 4-seat swings I used as a kid has something on the order of 3+ inch pipe for the top bar. I used to like to swing up as close to horizontal as I could, then jump off about 9 feet in the air. Say what you want about kids being stupid these days, we were too.

[Thomas Harris]

We have to put 10 yds of wood chips in our church school playground each spring to meet state requirements on the ground around the swings and slides. A state inspector will actually poke his/her "official" wood chip measuring tool into the ground to see if we conform. I hope the project goes well and the kids have lots of safe, fun on it. It's sad that so much attention on the lliability/blame diverts attention from the noble act of donating time and skill to such a project. I would cover all bases with a project like this, and have decisions made in committee.

[AnotherDano]

The local codes call for rubber chips here/ About the same depth.
They don't like the wood and all the fungus, mold, water retention (this from the wimminz on the committees), splinters etc.

Somebody out there is making the stuff from old tires. They grind up the tires and freeze 'em solid, then shatter them into about 1/4" pieces. They get the steel out of the pile with magnets and run it all down a visual inspection line.
then they charge a fortune for the stuff in bags.

American ingenuity - What a country.

[bobad]

The local codes call for rubber chips... What a country.


No wonder children are getting so chubby. We make all these idiot-proof toys, and there's a shortage of idiots to play with them. :D

When you fall off a swing and get a scrape, you need to rub dirt on it... not rubber. Kids shouldn't be raised like veal. They will be leaders, soldiers, and tradesmen some day, and need to be prepared.

[AnotherDano]

No wonder children are getting so chubby. We make all these idiot-proof toys, and there's a shortage of idiots to play with them. :D

When you fall off a swing and get a scrape, you need to rub dirt on it... not rubber. Kids shouldn't be raised like veal. They will be leaders, soldiers, and tradesmen some day, and need to be prepared.

100% agreement from me bobad. No blood, no tears. But, I don't want to stray into the social sciencs here..

About that swingset;

The think that made me cringe as a kid was the thought or snagging a piece of the nasty jagged cement that the legs were set in. The ground always gets eroded and worn down past the top of the anchor. I like to sink the legs in a deeper hole and only fill it with concrete to within about 8-10" of the surface. Then I work it to a smooth crown just in case.

I don't look at it as as much a safety factor but more as evidence of due dillegence - for the ambulance chasers.

[Rocky D]

Bob, I saw a swing set in Africa, it was all pipe..no chains, the swings were a pipe frame with a seat, which I couldn't see, but obviously the seat was bolted to the seat somehow...The seat frame was either 3/8' or so pipe...at the top it was connected to the crossbar by two or three inch pieces of pipe (pipe within a pipe) and welded to the crossbar. Looked bomb-proof to me.
I agree there is a BIG liability factor in making things for people, in general, especially for kids...you might want to re-think this one. All too often, the unthinkable happens! :eek: