Building a swing yourself - good idea?!

The Swing is one of the most popular playground equipment on playgrounds as well as in your own garden. But not only children like swinging, also many adults don't miss it when they have the opportunity to swing - back to their childhood for a few minutes.

If you have your own garden and want to set up such a scaffold, the easiest way is to buy a finished one. But it is much nicer to build the children a swing and the scaffolding themselves. However, this is not always the best variant. Some of it is dangerous and carries a high risk.

That's needed

With a step-by-step guide you can easily build a swing yourself. It is beautiful in any garden and especially for the little ones a great play opportunity. But in order to be able to begin with the construction at all, a few materials are needed.

Ball bolts, nuts, washers, snap hooks, ropes and logs are generally required. How much of what you need always depends on the size of the swing.

ropes and fastenings

It is particularly important with such play equipment to pay attention to whether ropes are present and how they must be fastened. The classic wooden board has two rope suspensions on each side, the ropes can run parallel to each other or the suspension first forms a triangle and then a middle rope.

A center rope is not stressed by the pressure of holding and the search for balance from the direction. Height adjustment is much easier with a rope construction with a triangle than with parallel ropes.

The elastic rocking board is an exception here, because it has only one suspension point and therefore only one rope. Stability is provided by the flexible seat and the associated higher contact surface.

Various rocking boards

• Swingboards made of wood
  Swingboards made of wood are the classic as far as a swing is concerned. Wood has its advantages and disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage is the susceptibility to weather conditions. Especially snow, rain and frost damage the board. If you do not rock in winter, it is recommended to store the board dry and hang it on the scaffold again in spring.

The wood has a big advantage on hot summer days. When the blazing sun shines on the board all day long, the seats are quickly heated up. The wood, on the other hand, keeps a pleasant temperature and you can sit down with short clothes without burning yourself.

Wooden boards can also be loaded with a higher weight than other variants.

• Swing board from plastic
  If one buys a complete swing for the garden, the swing seat is in most cases from plastic. These are robust and maintenance-free. They are also weatherproof and do not need to be maintained or replaced.

The biggest disadvantage of plastic swing boards is solar radiation. On the other hand, they are insensitive to storms and low temperatures. The colour of the boards may fade over the years and become porous over time.

• Elastic swing boards
  An elastic swing seat is relatively common. These are made of flexible plastic and sometimes also of rubber. This type of swing seat adapts to the shape of the body and is characterised by its high load-bearing capacity.

Select a suitable location

Before you start the construction of such a device, you should find a suitable place for it. In contrast to other equipment, such as a sandbox or a gymnastic bar, a rocking scaffold requires a lot of space.

Because in addition to the stand area, widths to the front and rear must also be taken into account for swinging. The surface should be as soft as possible to prevent serious injuries in the event of a fall.

If you want you can sow grass under the swing, but you won't enjoy it for long. Because by braking with the feet over the ground, the earth is stirred up again and again and the lawn has no chance to grow in peace.

How it works - The individual steps

Building the frame:

For the swing frame, two of the round beams are now laid flat on the floor. Then the round beams are arranged on top of each other so that they cross each other. At the point where the two beams cross, they are connected with a continuous threaded bolt.

The threaded bolt is secured on both sides with a washer and a nut. In order to further stabilize the V-shaped construction, a round beam is now placed on the two vertical timbers and fastened as before using continuous threaded bolts, washers and nuts. The second side of the swing frame is now made in the same way.

Then it is the turn of the round beam that forms the crossbar. Here the suspensions for the swing seat are attached first. The distance between the two suspensions depends on the width of the seat surface.

As a rule of thumb, the seat width distance plus ten percent of the suspension height should be the same. However, the distance between the two suspension points must never be less than the width of the swing seat.

For a garden swing, a suspension should always be used which runs through the entire beam by means of threaded bolts and is screwed on the opposite side. Swing hooks, which are fastened only on the underside, are not suitable for outdoor use.

When the suspensions are mounted, the round beam is inserted into the upper crosses of the two side parts, mediated and bolted to each vertical beam again using bolts, washers and nuts.

Avoid hazards

The greatest danger is that the scaffold will not withstand the weight and forces. This is measured not only by the weight of the children but also by the thrust and centrifugal force when the weight is moved back and forth.

Furthermore, you should not only measure the weight of the little ones, but preferably also so that adults can swing on the swing. If you save on the scaffold and the foundation, you must expect the entire scaffold to collapse.

The Setup

For safety's sake, the wooden feet are wrapped with steel mesh to protect them from rot. The holes are filled with ready-mixed concrete below the surface. Only now do you erect the entire frame and place it in the holes. A spirit level should be used to check whether the structure is also straight in the concrete. The remaining height will later be filled with rolled chippings or sand.

The concrete must harden for at least 24 hours - depending on the proportion of sand, also considerably longer. Enough time to devote to the seat. Finished seats are available at the hardware store. The advantage: They are also TÜV-tested and only need to be hooked into the chains or ropes.

For self construction we recommend a strong board, which is drilled through at its four corners. Then turn the wrench screws with steel ring end into the holes and lock them from below with nuts. Next, connect the chains or ropes with the corresponding hooks on the seat.

Costs

For the round beams you should calculate with costs of 40-60 Euro. A massive finished swing board costs about 40 to 60 €. For the threaded bolts, washers and nuts you can expect costs of 40-50€. In addition there are the costs for the gravel and the concrete, which can be estimated at approx. 60-120 Euro depending on the quantity required. For the wood protection paint one can calculate with costs of approx. 20-30€. Tear-resistant swing ropes cost approx. 15-20 Euro in specialist shops. Alternatively, swing chains made of V2A stainless steel can also be used, which we deliver as standard with our swings.

Tips

• A play tower or a box can be attached next to the swing itself to make the scaffolding more versatile and to give the children more play opportunities.
• The swing frame can also be anchored in the ground with special ground sockets that are set in concrete. Anchoring with ground sockets has the advantage that the round timber has no direct contact with the ground. This means that the wood is not exposed to soil moisture.
• If you want to build a swing yourself, you should paint it with a suitable wood preservative paint to protect the posts from rot. It is advisable to ensure that the wood preservative paint does not contain any toxic substances and is suitable for outdoor children's play equipment.
• Larch is particularly suitable as a post, because it can be bought everywhere and does not have to be impregnated.