New Folding Hammock Stand Idea

Hey all! Man, I have been seriously BITTEN by the hammock bug!

I wanted to make a stand for my daughter's so they could sleep inside if they chose, or take them outside on the deck during the summer...

I looked at all the folding stand ideas, and all the rest of the stand ideas on here, and came up with this. Please let me know what you think, how it could be improved, etc.

It's made from 3 x 8-foot 2x4s... 1 is left whole as the base, the other two are cut into 3.5-foot lengths for use as the arms and the legs. A total of 10 eyelets were used, and 2 x 3/8" carriage bolts (3.5" long). Took about 20mins to put together. I sat in it (180lbs) no problem. Right now the legs are screwed on, but I think I can use the carriage bolts on them also so they spin into the same oreientation as the body.



Fully setup (notice the purple fabric/ropes - this daughter loves purple, other loves orange, so that's next :) )

http://www.grumpytom.com/temp/Hammoc...ngHammock1.JPG

Arms folded down:

http://www.grumpytom.com/temp/Hammoc...ngHammock2.JPG



Closeup of small block to keep arm in place until everything is strung up:

http://www.grumpytom.com/temp/Hammoc...ngHammock3.JPG

I love it!!

Nice. Looks great. I need to make one of those.

I like the idea of using the cord to stabilize the "uprights" vs a bracing board inside, which is what I did.

Looks great! Do you think it could support a 225lb adult?

Um, I think with correctly rated line (550 cord) it would support a full size adult. I'm 180 and it wasn't the structure that i was worried about, but the cordage (it's cheap poly cord - only purple I could find - it's only rated to 75lbs).

obviously the dimensions would have to be expanded to accommodate a full-size hammock (this one is only 8 ft total length).

a lot of stands work this way- we own two of them- but some wonder if it might be nicer to have two centre beams so that if you fell, you'd land on the floor, not the beam. Looks nice!

totally agree on not wanting to fall on the beam ;) but adding a second beam would increase the weight, kind of defeating the portable aspect i was going for.

A hefty layer, or two, of CCF on that center beam would certainly reduce the ouchie if someone did fall on it.

I have been sleeping in my hammock regularly for almost a year now, haven't fallen out once so I don't think that is much of a problem. I would think that one would be more likely to fall to one side or the other than dead center anyway.

If I did fall out I'd land on the board no matter where it was :)

75 lb. cord is safe for your daughter if she weighs 15 lbs. or less. Suggest you change it.

I'm sure this is temporary or designed for much smaller folk, but keep in mind weight is very much increased when hanging. 75lb rope shouldn't be used for adult weight, neither should 550, it will break.

CCF on the cross beam will cushion the impact, but so will a helmet if you run into the wall. It's still going to hurt, and you don't want to mess with your tail bone/spine.

I know the intent for this was to be portable, but you could still achieve that with a small "deck" built ontop of that cross bar. That would spread out any impact should something fail.

It is awesome your kids are into it though and you have hooked up some awesome colors!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WV

75 lb. cord is safe for your daughter if she weighs 15 lbs. or less. Suggest you change it.

---

Beat me too it Dave.

Have already changed out the cordage - no sense 'skimping' on my kid's safety right?? ;)

And the hammock is hung so that they are within an inch or two of the bottom, minimizing getting hurt. Now that i've tried the TurtleLady stand i'll probably switch to that for any more portable stands i make...

hi, i saw your post w/your hammock stand design...very nice. i was wondering if you've ever seen something like this:


http://www.manufactum.com/south-amer...austria-c-250/

i've been looking for such a long time for an american made product that folds up and stows, is easy to take places, etc. what do you think of it? also, are yours for sale?:)

I just found a youtube video that shows a DIY folding stand very much like the manufactum posted above. I especially like the absence of a back-breaker rail, and the base looks quite stable. I'm thinking about making one like it out of 2x4's for a friend, but taller for a Brazilian hammock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGplOvin4Dk