Backyard Play Set #5: The Swing Arm...

Okay, well I am a little late on this, but here it is. Just a couple of weeks ago I put the swing arm on the playground. Here are some shots of the work.

Here is on overall shot of the swing arm and the two swings. The arm itself is a 10 foot long 4×6 and the end support is made of 4×4s with a 2×4 brace between them. It is attached to the rear corner 4×4 of the tower with two 1/2” galvanized bolts.

Now, here is a close-up of the intersection of the swing arm and the support. The supports are half-lapped at the joint with two 1/2” galvanized bolts holding the joint together. The swing arm simply sits in the V. There are 7” lag screws going through each 4×4 up into the 4×6 to keep the support from being knocked out from under the swing arm. Ok, that is overkill, but it is safe.

This is a shot of one of the swings. We used rope for the swing supports, and I made the swing seats out of 2×8 material. The swings are hung from the swing bar with heavy duty hangers that came off of Ebay. They are lag bolted onto the 4×6 with 5” screws. Once again that is more than likely overkill, but it is safe.

Finally, a shot showing the happy customers!

There is one thing that is not in this picture. I want to put some bracing up between the swing arm support and the swing arm to keep the support from getting knocked out from under the arm. Even with the lag bolts, if someone hit it hard enough, it would probably come tumbling down. I will get that done before long.

Two more things to finish up the whole thing. First is another swing arm to hold a set of rings and maybe a tire swing or something similar. Finally is a roof over the top. Both of the boys love to go sit in the tower and listen to it rain. I can’t blame them, I like it too. The roof will make nicer to do that.

As always, thanks for looking and if there are any question, feel free to ask.

-- -- Rob Hix, King George, VA