The TurtleDog stand

[DivaB]

This is why my pole is 13' long - tarp goes completely on it and I tie to the end caps of the pole so it does not pull on the tripods at all. Leaves me about 6" on either end for my prussic slides to center the tarp.

Lowes always seems to have dinged poles that you could get around 50% off so buy two and cut them 6'6" long and they fit insdie your 6'6" tripods when they are folded up. (I actually cut the pole 6' 4.5" long because the endcaps add 1 1/2" to either end).

Now I want to design a silnylon rainfly to enclose each tripod for equipment storage! Maybe attached to the tripod like someone mentioned in an earlier post.

FH

13' would be great!! I also would love it if you'd take the time to put things together as a plan.

[CamRuns]

If you could do some drawings and angles for the top pieces I would appreciate it - that is where I messed my first one up and now have to take it apart and re-cut.

Thx, FH

not sure when I'd have time to do it, but for the front two legs of the tripod we cut 15 degree angles and for the back leg on the swinging hinge, we cut it at 25. These worked out well for us.

[olzeke]

Pictures of my stand set up in the back yard. 15 ft of pipe, both amsteel lines are 10 ft end to end. 2x2s were cut to 7 ft. to better store in my garage. I used mule tape I had on hand to larks head the SS clevis, and then used a familiar work knot (Clove Hitch) to tie up the pipe. Stained the 2xs with left over stain from the front gate. Wife likes it since they look like they go with the house.

[olddog]

Great looking stand olzeke! Does the 15' toprail flex much when loaded?

[olzeke]

Here it is with my 215 # butt in it. I'd say not much flex there.

[Cole]

Olzeke,

Looks great! I am waiting on my wbbb to arrive. I was planning on adding a third link of pole in the middle of my 10ft pole. So good to see 5 ft pole would not be a problem. From your pics, it looks like it works great!

[olzeke]

You know, I was eye balling the clear cedar 2 x 2s, but they were 4 x the price of the cheap ones. $1.50 vs $6 per 2 x 2 had me thinking about who would notice after the stain. I will give these a season or 2 testing, then decide if I need to go to the clear cedar. They would save the stain step, as they should not need any further cosmetics.

[FontanaHorseman]

I really cheaped out...bought #2 Pine studs for $2.63 each then ripped them in half with table saw. $1.31 each! Got hinges at Harbor Freight for $2.87 each. $13 total for two poles and end caps. U-pins at Harbor Freight for $1.90 each. (bolts I scavenged in my workshop) Total cost so far $30.43.

Will add another tripod @ $8.70 and two more poles at $15 (I kept the excess cut off first two so these poles will have three sections to make up 13feet each). Extra amsteel for continuous loops left over from other projects.

Total cost of three hammock tri-tripod will be $54.13 or $18 per hammock! Not bad for a free-standing easy-to-set-up hammock system!

FH

[carmen2kayak]

Built my own Turtledog stand today. Cut wood and top poles at 78". Tried both of my hammocks. Success!!! Still need to stain the pressure treated lumber. And sew a bag for ease of transportation and storage.

Thanks to everyone who contributed design ideas and especially the pics. Couldn't have done it without you.

Will be camping all next week. Guaranteed hang. No need for a backup tent. Yippee!

[olzeke]

Wife developed a bad back this week, so finally tonight she agreed to try her hammock. This is her first night in her WBBB 1.1 dbl, LEFTY! She wanted a dbl so she could use a pad occasionally, even though she has a Yeti. This is a 12 ft top pole, set up in the living room. I used 11 ft of Zing It! for her tensioning line on the bottom.