If you use a cross bar you don't need to go real deep and you can use pipes only.
If you use a cross bar you don't need to go real deep and you can use pipes only.
My mom has three pressure treated posts in her backyard for hanging multiple hammocks, in conjunction with one tree. The posts have been used lots over the last three years. She's had as many as five hammocks in use at once using those three poles and the one tree.
I built an arbor a few years ago. It is now covered with wisteria...an amazing place to hang.Originally Posted by MrGhoti
Dave
"Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self."~~~May Sarton
I checked the Tractor Supply websites near me and found some of these that might work. They are a lot cheaper than 6x6 posts and the round post should be better for my straps too! Thanks for the suggestion.
I want to build this style one of these days.
http://www.manmadediy.com/users/davi...-hammock-stand
The pergola stand sounds excellent. The extra shade on the afternoon might make it a favorite reading spot
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I have finished the project.... finally!
After posting this thread and seeing all of your responses, you guys convinced me to go for wood instead of steel pipe/cement combos. Special thanks to danah. for the suggestion in this thread regarding the 5-6" posts available at Tractor Supply.
My wife and I stopped by Tractor Supply to pick out some posts and we were initially going for the 5-6" posts. However, despite having 3x the amount of posts in that size vs everything else, we were simply not impressed with the quality of those posts. Large splits running down the whole log, warped logs, chunks of wood ripped out, etc. deterred us from going that route (I definitely recommend going in person and picking out your posts. I would have been very unhappy if I had received any of the other posts that were available). We took a look at the 6-7" logs which look a lot bigger despite just being 1-2" bigger and were able to find 2 straight posts with minimal defects that looked great to us. We went with the larger posts and decided since they were a little bit bigger, we probably would not need to set them in concrete. These were all 8' posts and cost $14.99 each + tax.
I enlisted the assistance of my brother to dig some holes and oh man. I knew it would be tough here in the Phoenix metro soil but this was ridiculous! My brother had the excellent idea to dig at night since the daytime temps are currently hitting 115-120. Using shovels, hoes, and the back end of a hammer to loosen the soil, we successfully had 2 holes about 1-1.5 feet deep (and a nice slice in an irrigation PVC pipe, d'oh!).
Beginning to lose hope that we would ever finish this job, I started pondering what else could be done to speed this process up. Our holes were only about 1.5 feet in diameter and the shovel and hammer were nearly useless at digging any deeper. After 2 hours of digging through the rock-like palm tree root-infested top soil, the last thing I wanted to do was expand my holes by a couple feet to allow me to dig deeper. Cue the drill!
I took my electric drill and using a 1" woodboring drill bit was able to reach down in the hole and break up the soil. I used a small "silver" bowl that I usually use for cooking to scoop the dirt out of the hole. Using this method, I quickly dug each hole to 3 feet deep. I intended to put the posts 2'8" in the ground (1/3 of the length) but accidentally added 1" too much of gravel and by this point was too exhausted to care. I inserted the first post and added dirt back in 2 shovel fulls at a time, making sure to tamp it down as I went. I used an old 2x4 I had in the garage to tamp the soil down. After a total of 4 shovel fulls, I made sure the post was perfectly level and continued to add dirt in this manner until the hole was filled completely up, periodically leveling just to be safe. By the time I was halfway done filling the hole, the log wasn't budging and I couldn't have made adjustments leveling it if I wanted to. Due to the 1" too much of gravel mistake, this post was 2'7" in the ground.
The other post was near the water pipe that I broke so that would have to wait until later in the morning (it was about 2:30 AM when we stopped) when I could go to Lowe's for some supplies and repair it. This second post is on a part of my yard that slopes up slightly so I while I didn't measure how deep in the ground it was, I estimate it was about 2'9". I used a line level to ensure the posts were the same height.
Once I had each post hole filled, I took some stain from a prior project and rubbed the posts down with an old white t-shirt. I absolutely love the look of the stain and it makes this job look 10x better.
After a good couple of hours relaxing in the pool, the stain was dry enough to hang my hammock up! A few strap adjustments later and I was done! I had initially wanted to go 15' apart with the posts but due to the layout of our yard and some future projects, moved them a little closer to where they are about 13'4" apart from the middle of one post to the middle of the other.
They work wonderfully! I only intend to have them hold this exact hammock up (I have another when this one gets destroyed by the sun, and will purchase more over the years as needed) and it does the job to perfection! I had the same hammock between the two palm trees you see in the picture for the last month (we just bought this home at the beginning of May) and they were just way too close for it to work well. The posts barely move when I get in the hammock (maybe 1cm at the top) and they spring back into place when I get out. My wife and I both got in as it is a 2 person hammock and they moved about the same distance. I feel very confident that this setup will hold and last for a long time.
Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions in this thread and forum. I was especially surprised how well posts hold in dirt with no cement, and am glad I went that route as future removal will be much easier someday. I hope you enjoyed my writeup!
P.S. You may be wondering why I didn't do a 1 post setup and use one of the existing palm trees. As part of a large scale future yard renovation, I intend to remove the left palm tree and plant a larger privacy tree to block my neighbors 2nd story window. I didn't like the post location to use the right palm tree, so it was deemed better to just put in 2 posts and have complete control over the location of the hammock.
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Last edited by channtheman; 06-24-2017 at 20:32.
I live in Az and I just sunk two 4"x6"x10' pressure treated (brown ones from HD) into the ground, 17 ft apart (that's where it ended up), no concrete needed. Line up the 4"to each other, that's the strong side. Did a few sample hangs to get the angle along with the calculator, and attached some anchors to attach a carabiner to, works great, no issues.
I thought that if I ever did this....
I would create a pair of post sized holes out of concrete, possibly lined with sheet metal, so that the post can be placed/removed/replaced as needed.
If the hole is deep enough there would not be a problem with 'slop'.
The posts would not be in the way when not in use.
A Shop-Vac can easily clean the hole.
I collect vintage camp stoves.
I roast coffee at home.
How deep did you dig the holes?
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