The TurtleDog stand

[hppyfngy]

I plan to build a stand this week. Only part I still need is long support rod. Looking at getting 2 of a 1 3/8" x 10 ft 6" 18 Gauge galvanized steel chain link fence top rail. Will cut down so over all length is 12 feet.

My question is, will this be strong enough to support my weight of 275 lbs ?

Ridge pole doesn't really "support" your weight. If you do everything else right, that piece should be fine.

Good luck!

[Grizhicks]

I plan to build a stand this week. Only part I still need is long support rod. Looking at getting 2 of a 1 3/8" x 10 ft 6" 18 Gauge galvanized steel chain link fence top rail. Will cut down so over all length is 12 feet.

My question is, will this be strong enough to support my weight of 275 lbs ?

No problem at all; I'm about 330, and that's what I'm using. If you have not cut them yet, here's what I did:

cut each pole in half, 5' w/ swagged end
cut a piece about 2'
put both swagged end into the 2' piece (which is in the center)

Good Luck...... Grizhicks

[novascotia-hanger]

Tarp hanging over the ridge pole or under the ridge pole?

[EleazarCrusader]

After reading through this whole thread and gleaning lots of great ideas... I finally made one.

I needed it to be a little more portable and I wanted to be able to stretch my tarp over the top.

Here is the quick video I did of putting it together. Let me know what you think.



Seriously, thanks for everyone who posted all the great ideas and feed back. It was a long read but a totally worthwhile one.

[skwatupu]

Innovative

[AaronMB]

After reading through this whole thread and gleaning lots of great ideas... I finally made one.

I needed it to be a little more portable and I wanted to be able to stretch my tarp over the top.

Here is the quick video I did of putting it together. Let me know what you think.

Seriously, thanks for everyone who posted all the great ideas and feed back. It was a long read but a totally worthwhile one.

Great job. Your TDS looks great.

The t-nuts are a good idea. How long are the legs?

And...welcome!

[EleazarCrusader]

Great job. Your TDS looks great.

The t-nuts are a good idea. How long are the legs?

And...welcome!

Thanks. The legs are 4'. I cut the 8' 2x2 in half. I only need to buy three 8' 2x2s that way.

[momtaxi]

So I have a number of pieces of 1" and 1 ½" conduit that I have been using as a stand. They are cut to 6' long. I therefore have some 2' long conduit scraps. I wonder if I could use a piece of the 1" scrap to put inside the 1 ½". It would bow a bit because it is smaller so may not look as pretty but would it be strong enough to use for this? It would be nice if the two stands could be combined for different situations.

[momtaxi]

So I have been thinking about this... there are 220 pages and I have not read all of it, just a few and then done a search for conduit. Please forgive me if I am stating what others have said multiple times before.

I'm guessing folks are using this two ways. Either attaching the hammock to the ridge so its ability to not bend upwards and fail is what would be important, the stands would just hold the pole up and resist the downward component of the force but it would be the ridge supporting the hammock. Alternatively you could attach the hammock to the stands and then the ridge would serve to stop the stands toppling inwards in which case the important part of the ridge is no longer whether it flexes but if the two ends of the joined ridge could slip past each other and how to attach the ridge to the stands (it can no longer just hang down, it needs to resist inward motion).

If you use the second way of attaching it, the join in the ridge wouldn't have to be too strong, it would just need to hold it in place, correct? A pole should be very strong in compression that way.

[BEAR-85]

I'd previously posted that I'd completed a turtledog stand (I'm #153), but hadn't posted any pics yet.

One change I did was to add some ranger bands on the top rail to protect the hammock suspension from the edges of the nut/washers...had some concern that this might cause some fraying.

As a result...I didn't get a chance to actually put the stand up and test it under load until this past weekend. Luckily, my 3 year old grandson volunteered to help "Poppa" with his "'mocks".

Looks good Owl! I just got a Hennessy Expedition this year it's my first hammock, does your stand work well with your Hennessy? Is 14' long enough/too long? I think I'm going to have to build one of these for my yard as I don't have a single tree on my property.