What kind of floor material are you hanging over? Is it anything you could and would be willing to sink some sort of eye bolt into? On the side closer to the yard, can you run a line to a stake in the yard, and still be pitched steep enough? But, sand bags sound good also.
One side I have two stakes in the grass. The other side is the patio, same with the doors.
After sleeping a couple times I kinda wish I made the legs just a few inches longer. Not worth spending another $45 though. I'll push the legs a little closer together to get some height.
I have another top rail section that I can cut and add a piece in. I haven't tried to attach either tarp yet, honestly. The weather here has been terrible. Nothing but rain.
I would like some opinions on questions I have about top bars. This would apply to any top bar I think, whether A frame or Spurtle.
1: I suppose that applying force mostly compressing as well as downward on the ends of a top bar, the force applied to the ends acts like a lever? If that is the case, then does a longer top bar act to apply more leverage? Which would mean the longer the bar, the more likely to bend or break, i.e. the less the max load bearing ability?
2: I'm thinking the force applied to the ends will tend to bow/bend the top rail towards the middle, and with the force being below the bar, the bow will be towards the sky. Whatch Y'all think?
Here is why I am asking. I had tornadoes and straight line winds going through, far more than had been forecast. And I had left my tarp over the top rail, and well staked. Tarp tied to A frame on the ends. This was my 10 year old 10X11 sil nylon tarp and boy was I surprised and upset to see that the stakes did not pull out, but rather the tarp ripped along an edge, it actually pulled the corner tarp tie out webbing and about an inch by several feet of tarp out, a long rip parallel to the RL. Trees were coming down all over town. I thought my tree were coming down as well. it all happened real quick. The storm was forecast, but not winds that high.
I suppose the tarp became a sail and somehow pulled this metal A frame stand over(which may be what actually tore the tarp, once the weight of the stand went to work on the tarp) and actually managed to put a very slight, symetrical curve or bow in the longest section of fence top rail. Maximally bent/curved right in the middle. (Only one end of the stand fell over, thus twisting some of the bars)
I put it back up, and used it briefly a few times, got folks to observe with me in it, and they said it did not appear to be flexing with me in it, looked about normal. But it has been making me nervous anyway. But it has occurred to me: since I think that my weight applied to the ends will tend to bow the middle towards the sky, if I rotate the bar so that the slight bend is curved towards the ground, would the occupied hammock now tend to bend the bar opposite the bend in the bar? So unoccupied the bar curves slightly towards the ground, occupied forces it some towards the sky, net result maybe the bar is straighter? Whatch Y'all think? Am I way off track?
Last edited by BillyBob58; 02-12-2020 at 23:04.
My experience, with using a sectioned top rail (4' pieces) has been that they move/bow some, but are more than adequate for "normal" use.
My tarp I always place under the top rail. My hammock straps I always loop around the L-bend elbows on the outer side. The tarp lines go thru my screw eyes and to the ends as shown in picture.
45 mph wind gusts and yes, things moved, especially the tarp. But the frame did great. No warp, no bend, no constant movement. I was concerned that the screw eyes would take some damage but they came thru perfect, really only pressure on screw eyes was the end to end tarp tension, main ridgeline strength was anchored to the ends of the top rail.
Only thing I can think of is your 1) stronger winds 2) strap/attachment placement 3) extra flapping/movement once things came apart, caused your top rail to bend/bow and assume a less than straight shape. I suspect somehow the physics of leverage got you. That fence rail is tough, but not indestructible given enough leverage / weight. If your tarp was over the top rail the wind force was directly applied to your top rail vs the ends, which may have been a little too much force across the weakest point in top rail.
My wife and I sit comfortably and securely in my stand, which is more weight than I'd like to apply to it, but it really doesn't move anymore than when I sit/sleep alone.
Given how many people use these stands, if they were inherently weak, bad design there would be many more stories regarding breakage, bending, slippage. I think you should evaluate your stand, replace the bent section(s) and put tarp under the top rail and see if you have any future problems....
Thanks for th reply, Gregori! Let me clarify: I am not concerned at all with the strength of this stand, it has proven bomb proof for must be a year or two now. As for stronger winds: Yes, we had winds that were bringing down trees and damaging houses all around me. It was the worse wind situation in years, lasting for less than an hour. I did ot intend to have my tarp pitched during that bad storm, but wanted to test for most of the deluge. The severe winds surprised me, if I had thought it was going to be that bad I would have taken down the tarp. It was my fault, I shouldn't have had my tarp pitched in a totally exposed spot in such winds. But, again, I did not realize until it was happening that it was going to be that bad.
The ends legs of my A frame were not staked down. So it appears the wind was able to lift my tarp like a sail, which was tied to my A frame. So, the tarp lifted the(not staked down, and no body weight in an occupied hammock to help hold it down) A frame on ONE end. Which then tipped over. Which finished ripping the tarp. And, the weight of one end falling to the ground, alog with the velocity of falling to the ground, while the other end stayed upright, twisted things enough to very slightly bend the top rails.
Another possibility is that once the sail/tarp lifted the A frame, it separated one of the leg sections, which were not pinned together, and down she went. It is unlikely it would have happened if I had been in the hammock with my 200+ lbs pinning the legs to the ground. Probably, before the tarp could have lifted all of that, it would have shredded totally. Or even unoccupied, if I had the stand's feet staked down.
But, though the winds plus the tarp managed to obviously generate enough force to bring the uoccupied hammoc stand down, and though that generated enough force to slightly bend a top bar, I have no doubt that the stand is more than strong enough to handle any weight I stress it with in normal use.
BTW, here is my stand and me in a WBRR on a peaceful day, no tornadoes in the vicinity!
I replaced my chain with a simple length of cord. Some leftover stuff, similar to zing-it. I find I never change the leg spacing, so a small/light cord setup I never have to remove keeps it really simple.
It seems to me that the tendency for the top rail to want to "bow" upwards is very minimal, and it's not from the pressure of the hammock pulling down on the rail ends. If you think about it, the attachment point for the hammock is basically right at or only slightly past the supporting leg joints. So all the downward pressure there is going straight down those legs. So the flexing of the top rail is just from the forces pushing inward on it. Even with the two-piece top rail, it should not be anything to ever worry about.
How about 12' for the inside top rail and 2' thru the each of the "L" brackets and attach tarp on the ends of the 2' pieces. Looking to start with 7' legs and cut as needed/wanted following some experience with the set up. State Parks in Idaho open soon (with or without masks) so I ordered the Tarpdotcom parts tonight. You folks do a fine job of selling ideas...GREAT work!!
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