Treeless hammock setup, REMOVABLE pipe/post in ground

**OneClick** · 01-09-2015, 16:34

With so many old treeless hammock threads, I hate to start another. But I'm looking for something specific.

Can anyone provide more firsthand experience and pictures of setups where a larger pipe is set right at/below ground level, then the slightly smaller upright pole is inserted into that? I want to do this so I can easily cut the grass and more importantly so my wife doesn't have to see it permanently

**Agfadoc** · 01-09-2015, 17:33

Wile it isn't specifically for a hammock, my retractable clothes line pole is flush with the ground, when in use it goes into the Pipe and pulls out for mowing and the winter. The thickness of that segmented pipe for the clothesline is about 1/32 and I wouldn't trust the pipe to hold a big guy like me sitting at a 90* angle but I would use 3/16 thick pipe as the main pipe and try it. No matter what, if you have a thicker wall tube in the ground, you can always replace the replaceable exposed hanging pipe if/when necessary with thicker pipe. The pipe that goes into the ground I wouldn't worry too much about if you go deep enough.

You would follow the same principle as setting a fixed pole, just replacing the fixed pole with a pole and a surrounding pole that fits inside the other with little clearance. I just think the removable pole thickness would be my main concern and that the buried pole is deep enough.

As I considered doing this myself, I was going to do just like I did with the Clothes line. I planned on needing two thick wall pipes (one for each end, I was going to use 4' x 3" metal pipe 3/16" thick to bury in to the ground). The hole is dug below frost line, here it is 3 - 4 ft, and the bottom of the hole is dug the bottom around like a pot belly stove. I put gravel on the first 2-3 inches and stuck 8" x 1/2" re-bar into the sides of the dirt making a circle around the pipe. Set the base pipe just below level by about a half and inch to be sure the surrounding dirt , tag it down so it won't move with 2 boards going across the pipe holding it place, then mix up the concrete and poor it into the hole.

I have absolutely no doubt that this will hold one end of a 2 3/4" thick wall pipe inserted into the tube, to be enough support for a hammock without pulling the pole towards the user. I can't tell you that I have done it, and you would have to test it, but this is what I would do. It's the angle of the pole that makes it need a thick pipe though.

Take a look at the thickness of the hammock stand pipes you buy at the store, you could even match their angle in the ground and likely go with a thinner wall pipe, and it may even look cooler... but your mileage may vary.

Worst case is you fill in the pipe with dirt and let the grass form back around it and try again. Just my opinion and ramblings, good luck.

**Scalz** · 01-09-2015, 19:54

If you don't want to do it yourself, do a google search for "Removable "In Ground" Hammock Post" and you will find companies that make them for under a hundred dollars. One company is Algoma.
A search for "removable ground pole" in Google images shows cross sections of what they look like.
Hope this helps.

**EdLee** · 01-10-2015, 15:36

Here is a good youtube video showing what you are describing:

Peace,

Ed

**OneClick** · 01-10-2015, 18:59

Thanks for the info. Before trying this, I decided to try the Tato stand kit. It may end up being something I use once and forget about, which is fine if I can sell it. But I think it will work fine.

**Alamosa** · 01-10-2015, 22:43

If you use a top bar between the two posts, you could use a much lighter pipe for the posts.

**OneClick** · 01-11-2015, 16:47

Even though I ordered the Tato stand kit, I'm still curious about pipes in the ground. I was just at Home Depot and figured I'd check some out. The 2" steel pipes look ridiculously strong. Maybe even a 1.5" would work. I can't see the 2" bending at all though. Would be a lot easier to set up and store.

**Alamosa** · 01-11-2015, 18:40

I am planning on setting this up so that I can use 1.25" conduit as the uprights. Notch the tops so that I can drop in a 1" cross bar. I will most likely need to extend the length with a connector to create a span greater than 10' so that it will accommodate all hammocks including bridge types. This should be light enough to easily carry, setup, and store.