The TurtleDog stand

[old4hats]

For suspension points on mine I drilled 1/4" holes about 2" from each end, slid a short length of strong chain into the end of the rail, dropped a 1/4 bolt down through the chain and added a nut to the bolt. A small clevis attaches the continuous loop at the ends of the hammock to the chain, in which ever link I need to use to get the hang right. Weight isn't such an issue, as I don't carry it on my back, and the plus of a super strong, no slip attachment, no whoopies or straps involved, makes it a breeze to use.

[hppyfngy]

I dunno. I like the end cap solution myself. I guess I should be afraid of the pot metal but I've been using it for nearly a year now.

I pass whoopies through the shackle hanging from the end cap and they meet in the middle via a biner. I did take the time to drill a hole through the top of the cap into the pole and ran a short metal roofing screw through it so the cap wouldn't come off. I like this mainly because it's easy to slip on a different hammock for testing. And I get to play with whoopies a little...

I guess any attachment is just about as easy though. HYOH

[olzeke]

We set up in the backyard last night, to try to beat the heat.This is a pic of the 2 stands, with our WBBBs set up close by. Wife's Lefty and my Righty. I tied off the front stake to the opposite stand pole, giving us better ability to walk around and allowing us to not need to sleep back to back.

[old4hats]

olzeke, now that is right nice. Great looking gear. Thanks for the pic.

[Roadrunnr72]

Isn't the length of the "ridge pole" dictated by the tarp you intend to use? I would need ~12' for any of my tarps. Then, of course, the tripod would need to be taller...maybe a problem for those constrained by available space in their vehicle.

I built one yesterday, no pics, yet. The ridge pole is 12'6" as that my tarp would fit without having to run it over the tripods. I started with my tripods at 8', then hung my hammock. Yes it was way too high, cut 6", was still a little high, so another 2" cut off. May still have to play with the height. I need to get a little bigger hinge as the one I got is a little smaller and the wind took the stand down when I had the hammock on it, twisted the hinge, just a little. I used two prusik knots to hold the ridge pole to the hinges attached using shackles.

I was at Lowe's this morning, looking at fence rails and fittings...I can tell you this: This big boy will not be hanging from a pair of those pot metal rail end fittings.

I saw these and thought the exact same thing. The thud of me hitting the ground is not the wake up alarm that I want. So I had a couple of 1/4 stainless steel pins, hmmmmmm. Drilled a hole threw the ridgepole about 1 1/2" from the end, outside of the prusik. Now I have the prusik on the inside of the pin, and and my hammock on the outside of the pin. Used my whoopies, adjusted all the way up to get the hang I was looking for.

I would like to try one of these with aluminum square tubing, to cut weight, but I need to call my metal supplier and get a price, first. I am thinking that it is going to be too expensive to try. We'll see.........RR

[RePete]

Finally built one for my sons room. Made his tablecloth hammock a few weeks ago. Bought the 6 2x2 today at Menards. I lashed the 6' 2x2 instead of using the hinge only because I am cheap and had rope on hand and no hinges. The ridge pole is an old 2x4 I had laying around. The ridge pole length is only 9'8". We have very limited space in his room. I made 2 12" continuous loops thanks to opies instructions. Those are larks headed onto the hammock and go around the ridge pole which I cut 1/2" deep notches at 9'4" apart. This holds the loops very nicely and the spacing is perfect as the 96" structural ridge line barely has tension on it. I got lucky on that. Now I just hope he likes sleeping in the hammock full time as his bed (junk) has already been taken outside and will go to the trash on Wed. My next stand will be for outdoor use and will have hinges and a modular ridge pole of some type. Not sure when that will happen though. Pictures may come soon of the new stand.

[samsara]

I built one yesterday, no pics, yet.

Finally built one for my sons room.

Welcome to the joy filled world of the TD!

Originally Posted by olddog
The question was posed by old4hats about the number of turtledog stands that had been built. Went back and reviewed a few threads, the Turtlelady stand, the TurtleDog stand and a thread by domromer. Here is what I was able to find and assume that there may be others.

#1- Olddog
#2- flashbang009
#3- hppyfngy, with first angled ends
#4- linuxhack
#5- mys4sllc
#6- samsara
#7- letstieoneon
#8- Cole
#9- Fontana Horseman
#10 & #11- olzeke and wife
#12 & #13- CamRuns and brother
#14- carmen2kayak
#15- Troy64
#16- Throkda
#17- OldMart
#18- Spiffguy
#19- Aven
#20- hppyfngy for nephew
#21- Mundele
#22- meanmoe
#23- Chuck Gravy
#24- spinkid
#25- samsara's daughter, version 2.0
#26- old4hats
#27- CptAhmadKnackwurst
#28- Fish<><
#29- Shortbus
#30- Clarinath
#31- Silvertitan
#32- NoahWhey
#33- trhang
#34- TheKid
#35- Suburban
#36- gp_griz
#37- Sidewinder
#38- wattson
#39- thehappymailman
#40- Datahiker
#41-#43- seadad9903
#44- samsara (another TD 2.0)
#45- Roadrunnr72
#46- RePete (sort of )


If you have built a TurtleDog and are not on the list please feel free to add yourself.

[Datahiker]

Datahiker, great job, I am adding a bit of length to my top rail as well because my hammock wants a little more room and I can't use my rain fly at the 10' I now have. When is your next one? These things work great in pairs for outdoor visits.

Sooner than I thought. As soon as the kids came home and saw it they started taking turns. I wonder if I could just make one more tripod and form a triangle for three hammocks! Getting the poles situated may be interesting, but I have enough toprail to do it.

[Datahiker]

I slept in mine a couple of nights ago and the wind was gusting 20-30 mph so I had to batten down the hatches. With the tarp on the ridgepole it's a lot higher than usual and coverage isn't as good. Luckily it didn't rain - just a lot of thunder and heat lightning.

The tarp helped keep the structure up at that point but it was still swaying the whole thing enough to rock me a little bit.

[olddog]

Sooner than I thought. As soon as the kids came home and saw it they started taking turns. I wonder if I could just make one more tripod and form a triangle for three hammocks! Getting the poles situated may be interesting, but I have enough toprail to do it.

Looking forward to seeing a triangle setup or any other multiple.

Regarding the pot metal end caps. My 8YO Granddaughter climbed into mine with me this AM. My 220# + her 50# and no failure yet, not to say it won't happen, just hasn't so far.