Backyard Hanging Method

[scum]

My home is in a young subdivision which means the trees aren't big enough yet. I've tried hanging on my kids cheap swingset. That worked but it forced me into too steep of an angle to be comfortable. I've searched the forums about usning fence posts as anchor points and seen mixed responses. Some have said it's no big deal, others say you better have a post 4 feet in the ground with a massive about of concrete to hold it.

I'd like your opinion about using the post at the inside corner of the fence. Since I have neighbors at all sides, the fence at the corner looks something like my sweet top down Paint drawing below. My thought is that the 4 way fence will provide ample support for a hammock hang. The neighbor kitty corner to me used steel posts in concrete, my fence uses 4x4 pressure treat in concrete. On the other end of the hammock, I plan to use the single pole hammock stand (using a 4ft tall 4x4) method.




Thoughts? Will this hold me? I'm about 240 lbs on a good day. Any other ideas are helpful. I've though about tethering one end to the kids swingset and the other end the single pole stand. I've got to keep the cost to a minimum, otherwise I'd be building one of the sweet stands I've seen on here.

[Lonely Raven]

What's your second anchor point, and how far apart is the fence post and your second anchor point?

That 4 way fence should be fine since the stress will be distributed down the rails of all four fence lines.

I did something similar on my deck, except I only have *one* handrail that I reinforced and added a 4"X4"X8' post to. It holds me and I'm about your weight, but I don't string tightly.



On my deck setup you can feel how the post I added pulls on the whole railing, both on the upper deck (that I'm standing on in the photo) and the lower deck (that has the new post). I've not only reinforced where the post is mounted (you can see my 2X4 add on behind the hammock), but I've also reinforced each part of the railing to distribute the forces all down the railing rather than at one single point. With your suggested setup, it will pull on much more railing and distribute the stresses better.

Now, I can't *see* what you're really connecting to, so for all I know a bunch of drunken midgets built those fences, and you're going to collapse your whole neighborhood like a blackhole. But I think you'll be OK.

[scum]

The other end will be the method being tested here by Risk:
http://www.imrisk.com/hammock/singlepolehammock.htm

I'm convinced drunken midgets were involved with the building of my home, but the fence itself was built well. Thanks for the feedback! Only one way to find out for sure I suppose...

[Lonely Raven]

The other end will be the method being tested here by Risk:
http://www.imrisk.com/hammock/singlepolehammock.htm

Eek, good luck with that...I have enough trouble getting the hang right with two solids posts...I can't imagine hanging from a board under tension! Report back how that works for you!

[mbiraman]

On the free end , the non fence post , if you have ties outs going from the top of the post, perpendicular to the hammock line , to the ground to help stabilize you will probably be fine.

[scum]

On the free end , the non fence post , if you have ties outs going from the top of the post, perpendicular to the hammock line , to the ground to help stabilize you will probably be fine.

That's the plan. I have some heavy duty stakes (really ground stakes meant to tie a dog to) that I plan to use to anchor the post. One anchor centered in line with the suspension, the other two will be 30* off center (not perpendicular so that there is still ample anchor force along the direction of the pull from the hammock). Risk claims a single anchor line kept it upright, but others I've seen using this method used the 3 anchor points for stability.

Thanks guys, I think I'm going to take the plunge this week to try it out. I really just need to get out and test hang some gear but don't have the time to do a trip right now so hopefully this works out.