That is a cool looking stand. Need to build me one so I an hang inside.
That is a cool looking stand. Need to build me one so I an hang inside.
How level does the ground need to be for the TD stand? I have been using the YATS 2x4 stand (from Ultimate Hang and this forum) for the last few years but setup takes me longer than I'd like. The beauty of that system is I could set it up on a grade and it didn't seem to effect it. Would love to hear from anyone one with experience with the TD stand.
My question is about frame height and length. As for height, I've seen very short stands that leave the hanger inches above the ground. I know my hammock needs to hang from about 6' to be at chair level. Do these short stands work because the ridge pole is cut to the length of the hammock ridge Line and there is no need for any additional hang height?
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I used 6.5' 2x2s and my pole length was 12', which allowed my 11' under it. The height is good for me.
I like the head a little higher, but wouldn't go too uneven
The weight will pull the pole off the the side, and it should be strait up and down under the tripod
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I also did 6.5 foot poles but that was mostly because I wanted it to fit in the back of my truck without issue and that was the longest I could go and have things fit without laying them at an angle in the truck bed. It works well for hammocks up to 11'. At times it would be nice to have slightly taller tripods but it's not a deal breaker. And yes, how close the ends of your hammock are to the ridgepole will effect the length of the ridgepole needed as well as how high the hammock sits off the ground. It's kind of something you have to play with and figure out what works best for you. At this point I've made 3 turtledog stands just playing around with different pole lengths, rope lengths, stand height, etc. Once you have the hardware, it's fairly cheap to play around with the rest of the parts and dial it in for your needs.
I would try to keep things as level as possible. Some wiggle room is possible but dynamic side loads can be pretty strong if you flop around much or get in/out without care. Also, you are putting lots of stress onto fairly small poles and if you start getting uneven then you will no longer be spreading out the weight evenly between all three legs and inviting failure. The goal is really to get all of the weight pulling in a straight line down from the location of the hinge and then spreading that weight out evenly to all three legs.
I would build it as tall as possible (keep your boards as close to 8' as possible), dial in your top rail and hammock and then after that you can start making decisions on shortening.
Gluing pieces back on is *ahem* less than optimal
The best things in life aren't things. -- Art Buchwald
I don't know if anyone has used a the YouTuber reallybigmonkey1 twistlock disc as a method to make the tripod to hang the top bar from. I took screen shots of his disc but I don't think I have picture posting privileges. He has a wooden one but also made some out of aluminum. But maybe one made out of stronger thicker metal might work? Thoughts? Thanks IMG_1635.jpg
Hi everyone,
Long time hammock lover, first time poster here.
I was thinking of building a set in the coming weeks and I had a question in regards to the ridge pole and whether or not it is completely necessary. From what I have been reading it is meant to help keep the 2 tri-pods from collapsing in on each other and to set the distance between them. My thought was why not put a brace system built into the tri-pods so that they can be locked into place with a pin in the middle and prevent the legs from moving at all. Would this accomplish the task of stabilizing everything or am I completely out of the ball park? My other thought was to put mounting plates with stakes on the bottom of each leg so that they can be staked to the ground.
I am thinking of making my set with both of these modifications in place of the ridge pole (would probably use a ridge line to hold the hammock taught).
Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
Thank you
The ridgepole is definitely necessary. The turtle dog stand effectively separates the forces that would normally be pulling from the angle of your suspension so that the tripods support the weight of gravity and the ridgepole supports the tensile forces pulling horizontally. For most people that's like 200lbs horizontally. I'm guessing on the amount of course but I believe the hammock hang calculator can show you the exact weight of you go to the ultimate hang website. Don't try it without a ridgepole, it won't work.
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There are portable hammock stands without ridgepoles available to buy: See how they support the forces. You mention mounting plates, so I am guessing you are doing some welding. I have thought about this also, and if you make tripods, the inner 4 legs could be staked down with simple tent stakes and I believe these will have a lot of compression force driving the legs into the ground. The outer two legs that will be trying to pull from the ground will need much better stakes. I was thinking that those "corkscrews" to tie up dogs in the yard might work. Or I thought I saw something similar for big tents. I would use at least three through the plates of your outer legs. You could also dig and pour concrete (I would use 10"x40") with j bolts and attach the plates. I have not tried any of this and when I see something that I think will work , iwill build it.
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