The TurtleDog stand

[hppyfngy]

For those of you getting two top rails for that reason, do something like cutting one 6' and 4' and the other 7' and 3'.

That offers you a lot of variety in setup lengths. 9', 10', 11', 13', 14', etc...

[drichi]

I found this to be excellent advice. It gives me the ability to hang just about any kind of hammock with the different length adjustment.

[Gorilla-Z]

I just joined the club.

[Birch]

Sweet set up. Do you notice how much better the beverage tastes.

[Jsaults]

Hey Birch.....

I am a bit concerned that you are loading your carabiners in such a way that they were not designed for. Might result in gate damage, but I doubt that the 'biner body would fail at hanging stresses. I use a short loop of 1" tubular webbing over my ridge pole and clip my biners to the loops.

Just worrying about your safety!

Jim

[Gorilla-Z]

I'm now the proud owner of two turtledog stands. The wife couldn't stand it and sent me back up to the hardware store that night to build the second set. Finished building the stand at 11PM so she could sleep in the backyard with me... Now the three year-old is mad at me because she doesn't have one. Her HH Cub arrives today, I might just run back up to lowes and make another top rail rod and try a triangle configuration. As fun as these are to build I'm broke now, especially with the wife now wanting a KAQ for her setup.

[raleighbuckner]

I helped the scoutmaster in my son's troop build one of these this past weekend during a camp out after he saw mine. Almost everyone in the troop uses a hammock, so we'll probably be building quite a few to take to events like camporees where there aren't many trees.

[hppyfngy]

You know, with all of these stands being deployed it might even trend toward more parks being more tolerant of hammocks.

[TechTherapist]

Finally pulled the trigger. This thread has been super helpful.

I didn't get the supplies I had hoped. There weren't very good 2x2's at my town's Home Depot. Plus I liked the idea of treated wood so I can leave the stand outside if I need to, so I went with 2x4's. Because of the bigger boards, I needed a bigger gate hinge - 10" seemed to be the best fit (albeit heavier and more expensive). I went with two 6.5' pieces of fence top rail, and decided to use rope to connect the pole to the quick links/hinges. I was itching to get a functioning stand, so I made some sacrifices. It still worked out well, I'd say. It's pretty darn solid.




Next time I plan to get either 2x2's and stain them, or go with the aluminum pole route so it can be more portable and a lot less heavy. I also have amsteel laying around somewhere to use instead of rope. I would also like to do the varying lengths of top rail for more options. It was a lot of fun making this, can't wait for the next one. Thank you all for your help and suggestions.

[Surfdog]

After reading all the pages regarding the Turtledog stand, I decided to make one for myself.

First stop was the Orange big box, the lumber selection was pitiful with nothing but crooked and cracked 2X2's so I decided to try the Green big box. Much better
lumber and I was able to pick out 6 decent 2X2's and all the hardware.

Spent yesterday making and tweaking the stand.

Tried it with the 8' sections uncut but it was too tall. Cut all to 7'.
First set up the stand with the solid 10' top rail and poles cut to 7'.




Used paracord to get the initial setup and everything seemed OK but I knew I was going to need a longer toprail.




Today I cut two top rails to make a 13' section, picked up some 4 mil line, webbing and beeners.

I feel like the length is just about right, possibly could cut it down to 12?




Used the webbing with a couple slip knots (from Dave Canterburys Hammock Quick Release vid on Youtube) to give some adjustment options.





Eventually I will add a line limiter to the legs.

What a great community!
Until a couple months ago I didn't even consider hammock camping or just hanging out in my back yard. Now I'd rather be in the hammock than in my bed.

Thanks to all for the info.