Repair-It

The plan

Disassemble this: https://youtu.be/KzehSrFmJAs

And put it here, on the right (background, against the tree line), where all the rock outcropping is: So next week when I am off, and working on digging out the front yard, I will run some dirt back here and attempt to grade it. I should build a box around it also. Then I should put some mulch in there (either delivered or pick some up on the trailer that I'll already have at my house). To say nothing of the swing set itself. Yeah it's going to be a busy week.

Speaking of the swing set.

Has some wood issues in places. But disassembly was reasonably quick with two guys and various tools (impact being one). I'd say maybe 3 hours or so. I put half in my truck and will try to pick up the other half on Friday. Except I think I need a trailer for the main deck of the main structure.

I got most of the rest of it, except for the base which I should rebuild anyway as it was sitting on the ground for 15 years or whatever. Plus I need to get the deck for the tower as it won't fit in the Ranger.

Some measurements for reference.

Well that was a failed experiment.

It never moved from the pile I put it in when I brought the pieces home.

Today I cut up the pieces that I will eventually split into kindling. Also removed most fasteners and metal brackets for scrap.

Probably should have mentioned that I bought one. Should arrive soon. The good news is, it is way better than the one I had in a pile (not even counting condition). The foot print is 22 feet wide by 16.5 feet deep by 12.5 feet high. That'll be....fun to assemble.

https://www.overstock.com/Sports-Toys/B ... dium=email
Used a 10% off coupon, also.

Ordered 6 yards of 1/2" screened fill (basically dirt). Spent the weekend moving it to the back yard with the lawn tractor and trailer. The goal was to add a wider pad on which to place the swing set when it arrives and I put it together. This is just a continuation of what was the first dirt spreading job in my side yard. The first time I had a skid steer loader. This time I was not so lucky. It was hard work, mostly shoveling the dirt into the trailer each time (oh how that Bobcat excavator would have saved so much effort). I did think about trying to have the truck back into the yard but decided I'd be dealing with big, nasty ruts and that would be a different problem I'd have to take care of anyway.

The pile. I think this was after 3 loads or so. You can see what I was doing. These are my Saturday shots. And after I got started on Sunday. After I was satisfied with the swing set area, I spread a little over the area where the swing set was stored, as that was there for my entire side yard regrading job. I spread top soil all over the yard but not on this area obviously, so it was a bit lower here. I filled it in with the remaining dirt. The wood that I kept. I sawed all of this with my Ryobi One+ circular saw. Hopefully most of it will make decent kindling. Of note: Ian lost his first tooth today. Owen likes riding in the trailer.

Estes dropped it off today. We had them put it in the garage because it is raining.

About 24 hours invested so far. Basically two weekends. Maybe could have finished today if it didn't start raining.

Had the afternoon off so I spent 4 more hours on it. Got the swing beam on and the crows nest assembled. I can only have like 1-2 hours left at this point.

Look how many blocks (from Jim's cut up swing set somewhat ironically) I had to put under the swing set support A frame. I don't know what my final plan is yet but as of now it is damn near perfectly level. So far I am still happy with it. I do wish it was overbuilt as far as lumber, instead of strong enough for kids up to age 10. But that would further increase the cost. So I would either design/build my own or buy a used one of the substantial build I want. I think both of those were not happening so here I am.

Several key words came up in the manual during assembly. Here are some from memory:
- Bay windows
- Soffit board
- Floor joist
- Porch roof

This is certainly nicer than anything I had as a kid. Ian thought the crow's nest was really cool. It's kind of like floor 2-1/2.

Everything is assembled. As expected had to dig down for the monkey bars. I didn't achieve a perfect level and decided that is really not an issue for the monkey bars anyway. Much more important for the swing set I think.

Steps remaining:
- Finish attaching all stakes (one hit a rock so I will need to improvise in that spot). I've attached 5 of 8. Rigged up a 1" socket to drive them into the ground with my impact. Because impact all the things!
- Figure out permanent supports for the swing set. That stack of 20 year old wood is probably not the greatest plan. Still not sure what to do yet. Frank showed me these: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Common-7-in-x- ... k/50113084
- Border/enclosure (maybe just 4x4s bracketed together)
- Mulch
- Seal the wood? Ha, doubt it.

Anyway, this is pretty cool. I used the swing (that's right). Nothing collapsed.

kevm14 wrote: ↑Fri May 11, 2018 7:53 pm - Figure out permanent supports for the swing set. That stack of 20 year old wood is probably not the greatest plan. Still not sure what to do yet. Frank showed me these: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Common-7-in-x- ... k/50113084
- Border/enclosure (maybe just 4x4s bracketed together)
- Mulch
- Seal the wood? Ha, doubt it.

So almost 2 years later that stack of wood finally tipped over. Ian was swinging. It put some stress on stuff (lots of creaking) but hopefully it is all fine.

I put the wood back and made sure the beam was mostly level across and also side to side. But I added a few strengthening features:
- I installed two more stakes by threading them into the dirt with my impact. I ended up doing two on the side with more wood. I drove them all the way to the ground, to the last block of wood. Then I drilled a pilot hole, and screwed in a lag bolt through the eye of the stakes on the front and back of the wood stack, to help stabilize it.
- A series of 3" deck screws to keep the wood stack all together at different levels because 3" isn't enough to go through all the blocks at once.
- Several more 3" deck screws sort of toe screwed through the base of the swing set into those blocks

It feels MUCH better. Might just be permanent at this point. Maybe I'll get some pics.

kevm14 wrote: ↑Fri May 11, 2018 7:53 pm
- Border/enclosure (maybe just 4x4s bracketed together)
- Mulch

2 years later....finally did the mulch.

I ordered 9 yards of natural which I assume is just leftover from ground up trees and stuff. $20/yard which is cheaper than anything you can get in bags.

This basically took the entire afternoon, but we got started maybe 2pm and had a rain storm in the middle.

Mulch is certainly lighter than dirt. My tractor and trailer were excellent work horses as usual.

I didn't lay the border yet and not 100% sure what I want to do. Maybe just a single 4x4 on the outer 2 edges. Should be around 30x30.
I think it looks good.