Questions for my first DIY stand. (Turtledog)
My husband and I want to try switching from our bed to hammocks. I was originally going to hang them on the walls but after moving into the new rental house I'm thinking I really don't trust the construction here. So this is my plan now. I've been reading all over the forums for information. I'm ordering two of these babies tomorrow http://www.mayans.com/jumbohammock.php Does anyone have any experience with these? Would a jumbo size be overkill for a bed for one person? (we are about 5'10 and 200 pounds each.) Are they comfortable enough to use for a full time bed?
I think I figured out that a turtledog stand would work with a Mayan hammock so I'm planning on building two this weekend. Although I did come across an interesting idea of using three tripods with the two poles sharing one tripod and the other two angled so that we could hang fairly close to each other. I haven't figured out how it would work with two poles on one tripod without them knocking up against each other. Does anyone have any ideas for me there? Otherwise I will just make two full stands and overlap the legs. We have a fairly large bedroom at about 15' by 15' and 8 foot ceilings so I should have plenty of space. I do have some questions on the Turtledog stand;
I would love the option of having my husband climb in the hammock with me, and maybe a toddler or two, plus baby. Because we both weigh about 200 and our kids are big toddlers at 35+ pounds each I'd need to make sure it could hold quite a bit of weight. Is there a way to do this safely?
I've never really done any kind of building project so bare with me here. I don't care about portability as once it's set up it's not likely to go anywhere for a long time.
I was wondering if I could use 4X4s and if doing so would make sure it could accommodation 500-600 pounds or so?
Are there none treated 4X4s?
Would the hinge and crosspipe, I think it's called the ridgepole (plus other hardware accommodate that much weight? If not is there a modification I can do to ensure it?
Having little kids around I am far more concerned that it's super safe then how it looks or how big it is. On that note, would it be a good idea to screw in 2X4s from tripod leg to tripod leg to ensure it doesn't fold in or slide out?
My other question is on the height and width I would need to make the stand. From their website the specs for the hammock is
■ Body length = 2.20 meters / 7.21 ft
■ Body width = 3 mts / 9.84 ft
■ Hammock length = 4.3 meters / 14.10 ft
I was looking up the hanging calculator but I'd have to already know the distance between the tripods and that's one of the things I am trying to figure out. I also don't know what hang angle I need or even what sit height to put in. Will it matter that most of the time there will only be 220 pounds in it but some of the time there will be double that? I think I read on a post that with the Mayans the hang angle works differently than a camping hammock so as to get a flatter bed when you lay diagonally. On yet another post I read that with the Mayans you want to slightly raise the head side. I'm not sure if I am remembering that right.
Any help with any of these questions (or things I'm not thinking of) would be absolutely great. Thanks in advance. I'm getting excited and so very much want to get started.
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