Is there some limit to the height of a swingset

[last426]

I am putting in a swingset for my girlfriend and me and am trying to get it fairly high, maybe 18-20 feet.  I have not seen any that high and am wondering if there is some physics reason.  Other than the sheer mass of haviing more weight to swing, I wonder if there is some pendulum thing going on.  Anyone know?

[Brock Samson]

I dunno about that... But howabout a trampoline within reach?.. 



pls post pics!

[Shakey]

I don't know if there is any type of limit but I'd figure if you were planning on having the top bar that far off of the ground you would want to make sure that the footings are in nice and deep and held in with cement.

I would guess about 2' deep with a solid cement base.  

Never built a swing set before but have done a few decks and up here in Canada, we drilled down 4' with an auger and cemented the posts into the ground.  The main reason for the 4' is to get below the frost line.

[PocketThunder]

A swingset for you and your girlfriend?  is this going outside or do you have a vaulted ceiling in your bedroom??   

If the top bar is 20' high and you swing forward as hard as you can i dont know it you can over come gravity and get parallel with the bar, maybe you will get past 60º.  and at that point you would be pulling out and down.  so the swing set would have to pull itself out of the ground on the back legs and over come the front legs in order to tip over.  i dont think this will happen if you have your legs spread far enough apart.  (on the swingset) 

What size pipe are you planning on using?  3" iron schedule 80?     PVC? 

[Ponch ®]

A swingset for you and your girlfriend?  is this going outside or do you have a vaulted ceiling in your bedroom??   

hahah...way to go Kim...always knew you were a kinky mofo. tell me how it works out...I might pick one up for myself and the nubian princess.

BTW - this thread reminds me of those waaaay off topic threads you see on MOPARTS: "O/T:Anyone know how to operate on a benign tumor? - my spotted owl is sick" or "O/T: The operating core temperature of a Russian Typhoon class nuclear submarine's reactor - anyone ever work on one?"

[last426]

A swingset for you and your girlfriend?  is this going outside or do you have a vaulted ceiling in your bedroom??   

If the top bar is 20' high and you swing forward as hard as you can i dont know it you can over come gravity and get parallel with the bar, maybe you will get past 60º.  and at that point you would be pulling out and down.  so the swing set would have to pull itself out of the ground on the back legs and over come the front legs in order to tip over.  i dont think this will happen if you have your legs spread far enough apart.  (on the swingset) 

What size pipe are you planning on using?  3" iron schedule 80?     PVC? 

To answer Pouch, kinky yes, but we have a dedicated chamber chock full of devices for such things (and I highly recommend alternative but safe activities).

As to the outdoor swing set, I am married to the spread of the legs because, about a year ago, I bought a couple of these  http://www.buyswings.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=buyswings&Product_Code=EFF2A&Category_Code=8 and already have the chain and seats.  I rigged up a pipe carrier for my pickup yesterday and am going to buy some 20 foot 2" pipe.  Hopefully they got the angles correct when they welded those endcaps.

As to off topic: remember that huge rock that I had to move more than a year ago?  Hmmm, maybe not.  Kim

[Ponch ®]

A swingset for you and your girlfriend?  is this going outside or do you have a vaulted ceiling in your bedroom??   

If the top bar is 20' high and you swing forward as hard as you can i dont know it you can over come gravity and get parallel with the bar, maybe you will get past 60º.  and at that point you would be pulling out and down.  so the swing set would have to pull itself out of the ground on the back legs and over come the front legs in order to tip over.  i dont think this will happen if you have your legs spread far enough apart.  (on the swingset) 

What size pipe are you planning on using?  3" iron schedule 80?     PVC? 

To answer Pouch, kinky yes, but we have a dedicated chamber chock full of devices for such things (and I highly recommend alternative but safe activities).

As to the outdoor swing set, I am married to the spread of the legs because, about a year ago, I bought a couple of these  http://www.buyswings.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=buyswings&Product_Code=EFF2A&Category_Code=8 and already have the chain and seats.  I rigged up a pipe carrier for my pickup yesterday and am going to buy some 20 foot 2" pipe.  Hopefully they got the angles correct when they welded those endcaps.

As to off topic: remember that huge rock that I had to move more than a year ago?  Hmmm, maybe not.  Kim

I do remember that, and the bowling ball you needed to cut in half. 

[last426]

I do remember that, and the bowling ball you needed to cut in half. 

I forgot about the bowling ball -- did I ever show what I did with it?  I just found the other half this weekend.  Wow, my gf and I used a chop saw and it looked like the house was burning down it created so much smoke.  To bad it was too big for my bandsaw -- I bet that would have been a bunch cleaner.  The rock is next to the pond -- wow again, what a great experience.  Sat. night, about eleven, my gf half naked in the middle of the pond trying to net the fry before the bigger fish gobbled them.  She got about 12 and now we are busy feeding those things.  She said the fish felt funny -- I am not sure how she knew how the fish felt but anyway I guess I would rather have happy fish than sad ones.   Kim 

[73dodge]

I would guess that the higher the cross bar from the ground the greater the possibility of the thing tipping over. Now if you put it like 20' off the ground the wider the legs need to be for stability purposes. I have a big wooden swing with the covered tower on one end. It has a crossbar that is 4X6 about 12' long about 8' off the ground. The width of the legs is about 10feet apart. Now if you have ever seen 4 kids swinging at once on a swing set you'll know the weight of the kids is multiplied by the swinging motion and even though the cross bar is a 4x6 it still bends pretty good and when they get going it looks like it's going to come apart. So if you put the cross bar really high off the ground the swinging momentum of the kids is going to be multiplied at a greater force and a greater distance, I would assume, I am no structural engineer. So my suggestions would be to make the supporting legs as wide as possible if you go really high on the cross bar and structurally support the legs and the cross bar possibly with a second set of support legs in the middle. All the really tall swing sets I have seen in playgrounds I have brought my kids to over the years have a second set of support legs in the middle because the cross bars were really high up in the air like 20 or more feet.

You get a 40 pound kids swinging at that length of chain and his weight quadruples add 5 kids doing that at once and you better have a swing set made of concrete and cast iron.

[Old Moparz]

Hey Kim,

I work for a site construction company doing the estimating, & sometimes we get school projects or ones that will include playground equipment. This company sells the equipment & I'm sure someone there can probably help you with calculations on height, angles & weight. My guess is that the 2" diameter pipe seems a bit small, but it depends on the pipe gauge & grade.

Link:
http://www.gametime.com/

EDIT: One last thought, you may or may not need a permit for something that is mounted in a foundation/footing. If you do, there might be a height restriction. Or, you could just take a chance & hope nobody notices two kinky naked people swinging at night & landing in a pond.

Just a random photo I found of a very high swing set.

[Todd Wilson]

You get a 40 pound kids swinging at that length of chain and his weight quadruples add 5 kids doing that at once and you better have a swing set made of concrete and cast iron.

Good point!  Add heavier adults and it has to survive a lot of stress.   Saw that Myth Busters a while back where they did some tests on a swing and they broke it. The swing set was rated for kid weight and not adult weight. Looked to be a rough landing when it broke.


Todd