The TurtleDog stand

[samsara]

Complete failure...... I am the scoutmaster for our local BSA Troop and I attended our Spring Camporee this weekend. My plan was to use my newly constructed Stand and enjoy my hammock because I vowed to never sleep in a tent again. So heres what happened please evaluate and help me fix this. I constructed it just like the majority in this thread. The top rail is 1 3\8" chainlink fence top rail. One cut at 7' 3" (including the factory compressed connection point) and then one cut to 7'. So when assembled it is 14'. I used the endcaps with the loop formed into it and attached my whoopie slings to that. Hung the hammock and slowly crawled in. The pole started to bow up at the connection and then completely failed with me ending up on the ground.....

What do you suggest I do to remedy this problem, I want to hang without trees...

Thanks

BTW I ended up sleeping in my 2 man tent and my back is really PI$$ED at me today.....

2 things...

1. Your top rail is probably a lot longer than you need. I think most can get by with 10-12 feet for a normal gathered end hammock (most only need 10). You can probably get a ballpark number if you use dejoha's hang calculator and futz with it until you get a decent idea.

2. Don't connect your hammock to the end cap. If you look at my original post the hammock attachment point is almost in line (vertically) with the top rail attachment (I didn't know it at the time but that was the correct way to do it). People stopped doing the end cap thing (probably the wrong way to do it... at least for most) a long time ago when they figured out that connecting to the end cap causes it to bow (and possibly fail) or connecting it closer between where your top rail is attached will cause the rail to sag (and possibly fail). hppyfngy has a very good method that he has been suggesting for use. It might be in his signature (not sure). You could also do something similar to what I did in the original post... whatever works for you. But get the hammock attachment in line vertically with all of the other stuff. Hinge/shackle attachment, toprail attachment, hammock attachment... all in line vertically (or as close as possible).



Dave

Found it! This is about the best way that I can think of to do it, the hppyfngy way ...

[hppyfngy]

Oh, bad luck Hangin'J.

I think most people have abandoned using the end caps to attach the hammock as we did in the first handful of stands. Attaching at the very end of the ridge pole like that causes the most deflection of any arrangement, as you discovered.

It works well enough for me with my 10' ridge pole, but I'm only about 180# and I keep my lines that suspend my ridge pole as near the end as I can to reduce that deflection. Heavier hangers, and more importantly, not hanging the ridge pole from very near the ends of the pole will certainly increase the upward deflection.

This is how my first one works, and still works a year later and I use it a lot.



The other way that seems to alleviate the problem is to hang your hammock from absolutely as near the same place as you suspend the ridge pole from. You can do this with lines, like Samsara and others, or with hardware.

A hardware solution being like this:



I don't think 14' is as much of an issue as hanging directly at the suspension points of the ridge pole. I have a 14' setup too and it works fine.

Good luck and don't get skewered!


Good find Dave!

[old4hats]

I changed both of mine to 14 ft. and have no bowing issues at all, I just hang the hammock at the point the rail is suspended at. Actually they are adjustable, 10, 12 0r 14, and I did it to accommodate different tarps.

[hppyfngy]

I changed both of mine to 14 ft. and have no bowing issues at all, I just hang the hammock at the point the rail is suspended at. Actually they are adjustable, 10, 12 0r 14, and I did it to accommodate different tarps.

I kind of did that too. I cut two poles at 6' and 4' and 7' and 3'.

So I could do 9', 10', 11', 13', 14', well, you get the idea...

If I'm doing three pieces, I do like to put the long one in the middle if I can. Keeps the potential deflection away from the mid point.

[Hangin' J]

Thanks alot for the ideas guys. I found a temporary solution before I read your posts. What i did is place a 4' piece of 1.5" schedule 40 PVC over the connection point in the middle of the top rail, kinda like a sleeve. Problem solved. I am going to play around with different attachments instead of the endcaps i do believe. One other problem I am seeing is that my rear end is winding up about 8-10" off the ground when I am in the hammock. I need to figure out a way to improve that also.

The only reason I went with the 14' top rail was so that I could use my big tarp. I will fine tune that also and get my top rail as short as possible.

[Hangin' J]

Hey "hppyfngy". First off thanks for the detailed instructions about cutting the angles to limit the spread of the tripods.

Do you know what the "footprint" of your tripod is? Also the distance from top rail to the ground.

I really like the idea of how this is done, however when I did my first setup it seemed like my tripod footprint was to small and appeared that wind etc. would play havoc with me keeping the thing standing.

[hppyfngy]

Hey "hppyfngy". First off thanks for the detailed instructions about cutting the angles to limit the spread of the tripods.

Do you know what the "footprint" of your tripod is? Also the distance from top rail to the ground.

I really like the idea of how this is done, however when I did my first setup it seemed like my tripod footprint was to small and appeared that wind etc. would play havoc with me keeping the thing standing.

It's been mentioned before and it's in my "disclaimer," but the original stands were designed to be used indoors so small footprint and portability were the key ingredients.

I have used mine outdoors plenty with no problems, but it's unstable if it is windy and must be staked down or, (and I'll repeat my line,) you have a very dangerous kite on your hands.



Getting your tarp staked out is enough to hold it in some wind, and of course when you're in it it's much less likely to blow over, but you are very much correct. The footprint is small if stability is the main consideration.

My original stand's tripods are only 38-1/2" wide. The ridge pole is just under 60" from the ground. My butt is a good 18" off the ground though. I'm not sure why yours is so low, especially with a 14' ridge pole...

Others have made significantly larger tripods with much larger spread and stability. Mine had a specific purpose, but I haven't had a problem using it outdoors. I keep saying I'll build another bigger, fatter, stronger version, but I just haven't.

Did you see this shot? That's an 11' hammock and it looks 20" off the ground there. I dunno...

[Chigger]

As most who have built one or more of these rigs I find I am changing things every time I set up. I first had ropes, chains and more ropes. Now I have a quick link hanging from the middle hole of a 3 hole hinge which is hooked directly, or with another quick link, to an eye bolt attached to the ridge pole. The hammock suspension, closed loop or whoopee, is then looped onto the end of the ridge pole. Rule one in effect, every connection is 90 degrees of the ridge pole. You can use a 6-10 inch chain connected to the first quick link and have adjustability in 1 inch increments. I have pretty much abandoned the chains and adjust height by moving the tripod legs closer together or farther apart. Caution,,,,, not much movement. My stands have made my back yard much more fun.

[Chigger]

And on ridge pole length. I made a 12 foot from two fence top rails. 6&1/2 ft. X 5&1/2 ft. And my 2X2's are 6&1/2 ft. Simple reason, that is the length that will fit diagonally in my truck bed. It works very well.

[Hangin' J]

This forum is great, thanks to all. With the info that you guys have dropped in my lap I am sure that I will get something put together that will work perfectly for my needs. I will post some pics when I get something put together.

The pics in this thread have been a tremendous help.

Thanks again.