The TurtleDog stand

[Tacoma96]

The parts are all as described in previous posts except that I had to spend twice as much for the tripod legs to get anything resembling knot clear and straight grained.

I went to three different hardware stores in the area looking for straight 2x2s with no luck. Finally decided to buy 3 2x4s and rip them. So instead of having the 1.5x1.5 I have 1.5x1.75 legs.

[Tacoma96]

Looks much like mine Dennis. Glad you got the fun of making one but I should of given you one of mine.

I had to experience making one myself. I can now fit both the WBBB and WBRR on this stand. (Not at the sametime)

[Talox]

here's the 1st of 2 that I'm making....

In mid-September Me and the misses will be participating in an overnight at the Dalles Mountain Ranch located in the Columbia Gorge in Washington state. I don't believe there are too many trees to hang from in the area were staying at so i decided i put together an insurance policy.

I think I ended up making this one a little short, as the 2x2s are cut at 6 1/2 giving me about 5 1/2 feet at the eye hook. The top rail is 138 inches and my hammock is 11 ft. I'll make the next an even 7.

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I still need to add the spread limiters but the stand didn't flinch when i tested it. Well at least not that i could see from my horizontal view.

[gmcttr]

The hammock suspension should be connected to the toprail as close to the toprail hanger as possible to minimise bowing of the toprail.

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[Talox]

The hammock suspension should be connected to the toprail as close to the toprail hanger as possible to minimise bowing of the toprail.

Thanks Gmcttr for pointing that out I modified the Top rails to put the hang point right at the hanger.

[Tacoma96]

Cool, my question is what size of deadbolt did you use. Mine is half inch thick and has a working weight of 300 pounds.

[DannyII]

This is my first post here on HammockForums.net. Hi everyone!

So, I've been a HF member for less than 48 hours, and I already bought the materials and made two sets of TurtleDog stands based largely on hppyfngy's design. The wife and I spent the night in the backyard last night in them. I'm just getting started hammocking, and have been hanging in the garage napping occasionally. This was my first full night sleeping in the hammock, and my wife's first time sleeping in a hammock, ever. I only bought her hammock for her yesterday. I put up a huge 12x16 poly tarp from Menard's to cover both of us together.

Pics or it didn't happen, right:
Hammock Hang on Labor Day Weekend (8).jpg

Neither of us is very big, but I wasn't entirely confident that the little hinge hole holding the S hook and eye bolt and top rail would be strong enough, so I added an Amsteel dogbone (that I' proud that I made) girth hitched around the eyebolt and looped around the tripod as a backup safety device. I used 5" Stanley brand gate hinges that had only 3 holes in the rectangular part for a clean hang. At first, I just used the two lower holes in the long part of the hinge for the bolts, but noticed that the metal was a bit bent after the first hang. So, I used my step drill bit and drilled a hole up top, closer to the hinge pivot. That tightened things up a lot.
Hammock Hang on Labor Day Weekend (20).jpg

Today, I changed the angle on the rear leg to make things more stable, and was very happy with the increased stability. I measured down 2" vs. the 2.5 recommended for the angle from hppyfngy. Man, he put a lot of work into getting people good advice in this thread! So did everyone else!

I bought 2 top rails for each stand and had Lowes cut them to 6' and 7', leaving the tapered end on the little sections, so I can do 9', 10', 11', 13', 14' hangs. For our Grand Trunk Double hammocks, the 9' length was nearly perfect. I just girth hitched another single Amsteel continuous loop (that I' proud that I made, too) onto one of the continuous loops that is already on the hammock as the suspension. Easy on and easy off the bar.

I like them a lot! This is a great forum!!! I am also impressed that in over 2500 posts in this thread, no one was rude, mean or sarcastic. Nice!!!

[oldpappy]

Good job DannyII - the pics do prove that you did it :>) I built a couple using the same basic instructions and they are about 3 years old now - no problems.

[olddog]

Looks good. Like the Dogbone keeper loops. Did your wife enjoy her first hang?

[TrailH4x]

Using your Amsteel keeper idea, the S hook and eyebolt assemblies could be done away with to save weight. A bit more length to the loop would allow you to go straight to the ridge pole with it. Thoughts?