DIY $25 Rabbit Ear Hammock Stand

**gargoyle** · 05-30-2010, 20:39

Looks great should work well for years.

**krugd** · 05-30-2010, 20:57

Thats a nice looking stand. I hope it gets lots of use.

**opie** · 05-31-2010, 06:49

Ok.. So I built 2 of the rabbit ear stands. The first one I built using 1.5" emt conduit and a 4x4 as the base. Drilled the holes using a 1.75" hole saw and a spade bit to chase out the hole. My poles were at a 45 degree angle to the 4x4.

It held, but I had to add plates to the top of the beam because the poles were splitting the top of the beam, essentially wedging it apart. Im sure my weight has something to do with that. I also didnt think the emt conduit was stiff enough.

So I rebuilt... This time I used 1.5" rigid conduit and drilled 2" holes with a forstner bit. The forstner allows you to drill all the way through with no chasing. One thing I noticed on my first stand is the holes were quite sloppy, lots of play. Could be due to my less than acceptable carpentry skills. Anyway... the holes now were clean and straight. I dont know the exact angle but it was probably closer to 25-30 degrees.

I think it would have held, but I believe I got a bum 4x4. It blew out one of the ends. Upoun insepction I noticed that where I drilled the hole was right at a branch/trunk intersection on the once alive tree. Alot of the wood that I could see from the broken pieces looked dry, and semi rotten. Not alot of holding power.

One good thing did come from this.. It light the fire for me to get a proper outside stand built. The poles in the ground, while simple, had to much flex for me. My guy outs wouldnt stay solid since our ground is pretty loose and sandy.

**HCH** · 05-31-2010, 08:47

Originally Posted by Black November

The tubing doesn't bend at at all and the wood doesn't even creak. It's is plenty strong. I am 6'3" 215 lbs and I flop down into the hammock no problem.

Very cool...we are the same exact specs on height and weight and you answered whether it will work for me,

**AccidentProne** · 06-02-2010, 08:06

I built this stand with 1 1/4 rigid conduit. Using a 1 3/4 drill, the poles were 6ft at a 56 degree angle to the 4x4, and the poles had a lot of play in them. I'll have to try again with a smaller bit. Hopefully the holes won't have as much play.

**dover338** · 06-09-2010, 14:53

I went to Lowes today to get the needed supplies. BUT, the 1.5" rigid conduit was $32. Where are you getting all of the materials for $25?

**MondayHopscotch** · 06-09-2010, 21:02

Originally Posted by dover338

I went to Lowes today to get the needed supplies. BUT, the 1.5" rigid conduit was $32. Where are you getting all of the materials for $25?

I had these pages up from a few days ago to see if i had enough money to make one of these:

Conduit

Post

Feet

Obviously, if you dont have the tools to make it, that will run you a bit more.

**exdiver** · 06-10-2010, 21:08

Originally Posted by dover338

I went to Lowes today to get the needed supplies. BUT, the 1.5" rigid conduit was $32. Where are you getting all of the materials for $25?

rigid and emt are different pipes
emt is what some call thin-wall conduit

**WonderMonkey** · 06-18-2010, 15:42

I'm thinking of doing a similar build but making it as portable as possible. The only thing I'd have to think about is the outrigger 2x4's that give stabilization. I think Black November nailed or screwed the 2x4's into the 4x4 post but I'd need to be able to remove them. I know one way is to use a plate on the bottom side of the 2x4 and go up through the 4x4 with lag bolts (or similar) but having to take a crescent wrench (or regular wrench) with me to tighten all that down makes it a pain and takes longer to put up.

Now..... if that is what I have to do I'm ok with it. But I'd like something simpler if any smarties here can figure it out.

**MondayHopscotch** · 06-18-2010, 16:07

Originally Posted by WonderMonkey

I'm thinking of doing a similar build but making it as portable as possible. The only thing I'd have to think about is the outrigger 2x4's that give stabilization. I think Black November nailed or screwed the 2x4's into the 4x4 post but I'd need to be able to remove them. I know one way is to use a plate on the bottom side of the 2x4 and go up through the 4x4 with lag bolts (or similar) but having to take a crescent wrench (or regular wrench) with me to tighten all that down makes it a pain and takes longer to put up.

Now..... if that is what I have to do I'm ok with it. But I'd like something simpler if any smarties here can figure it out.

Could you try just doing some sort of pin assembly where the feet just slide into the 4x4 from the bottom through holes drilled in the 4x4. You could avoid the need for tools.

Not sure about strength, but it's an idea.

Edit:

something like whatever this thing is called on the pipe (please excuse my lack of product knowledge, haha): http://www.neebu.net/~khuon/albums/b...0003.sized.jpg

but have the pipe 'foot' bolted to the 2x4 from the bottom up rather than top-down like in that picture. The actual pipe would go up through the 2x4 and remain attached to it at all times.

to put the feet on, all you do is slide those up through holes drilled in the 4x4 and you are good to go. For extra stability, you could drill a hole through the sides of the pipe and put some sort of pin to hold it in place.

again -- this is just me thinking out loud, hopefully it will help in some way.