My Tractor Forum banner

Tire Swing

3K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  rediranch 
#1 ·
Hi Folks!

I want to put up a tire swing in our future backyard. We have some century-old oaks, so I anticipate tossing the rope a good 20- or 30-feet in the air. What type of rope would be good for this type of application? I figure there will be some chaffing where it wraps around the limb, so a durable material would be desired. But, it also need to be smooth, so the kids won't have a hard time holding onto it.

Thanks in advance!
 
#2 ·
*********************************************************
Consider buying a spool of manila/hemp or even sisal twine and make your own rope any size or length you need. The kids will have as much fun doing that as the swing itself and they helped make their own. There may be better rope but if it wears out make another one. I've seen them wear several years as swing ropes and it'll tuffin their little hands some too which won't hurt a thing as most kids now days need to get a little tuffer. :ROF

pm me if you would like information on building the rope maker and the rope making procedure.

 
#3 ·
put up two boards on the tree or put in eye bolts. either way you want to make sure you do not cut off the sap to the rest of the limb. as well if one side of the rope is higher than the other the swing will go crocked and all over the place. this is why eye bolts are good

for the rope. check the working strength and the breaking strength. pick one for the biggest heaviest adult kid you know

the bigger the rope the easier it is on the hands. as well check to see if it rots, sun danage and it will be on the package
 
#4 ·
Don't want to hijack your thread, but got a question on the same subject. I don't have oaks, wish I did. Pines. So don't have very many with huge strong branches. Was actually considering running a heavy rope or chain b/w two trees, and fastening the tire swing rope to the middle....?
 
#6 ·
That is a statics problem, I picked it up in college in the engineering dept, many college level physics texts also cover this.

There is trigonometry involved in finding the answer, as seen in a similar problem online

To put it in layman's terms, a rope pulled tight enough to no deflect downward when a load is hung from the middle would see a nearly infinite tension load (and certainly uproot any tree it's attached to!!)


A rope hung loosely enough that each side is vertical to the load (straight up & down) will have a tension on each side equal to 1/2 the load.


Obviously you will need to be somewhere in between these two extremes!! I'd suggest starting my using enough rope between the trees that it forms a 90 degree angle where the load attaches (90 degrees between sides, NOT to the load's rope!).



On another note, if the ends of your bridging rope are not at equal heights, you may develop a weird swing arc. If you cannot get both ends level, try three trees, meeting the bridging ropes in the center and hanging a single line down to the swing.


EDIT:
so apparently ASCII art doesn't work anymore, my spaces are all deleted! :thSick: :thSick:
 
#7 ·
I have a plastic disk swing hanging in the pines out in front of my house. Being a pine it cant be to far from the tree because the branch isnt real strong, but just remember to make the rope tight on the branch, if you leave it loose it will wear through the limb as you swing.
 
#8 ·
Wow, thanks JRC - I would have never known any of that. I think I know what you are saying with the 90 degrees at the point where the swing attaches. I will look into the 3 ropes as well.

DeepSouth, yeah, that's my problem as well - how to get the tire swing away from the tree.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top