Assembling a hammock stand from a www.hammocks.com hardware only kit.

**Ramblinrev** · 07-24-2009, 09:25

One more point for you folks just in the process of setting this up. I found that I needed to hang higher off the floor than I had anticipated. Where I would normally be fine with the weighted hammock being 6-7" off the floor those 7" are now occupied by 4 x 4. Just a wrinkle I ran into that I didn't anticipate.

**attroll** · 07-24-2009, 09:29

Thanks for the advice again. I hang in the house with my I-bolts 5 feet from the floor and my hammock is a good 16 inches off the floor with me in it.

**Ramblinrev** · 07-24-2009, 09:37

I changed a lot of my stuff over so the learning curve was steeper for me. I went from my HH to a top loader with a ton of sag. I am a full advocate of HYOH.
Whatever works. I'm just sharing the surprises that caught me off guard.

I'm actually thinking of taking the top loader off at times and using this as my test stand as well. I'd like to see how my HH and my wife's bridge hang on this. Just out of the "I got it... I want to play" factor.

**Clumseybear** · 07-24-2009, 18:43

Again Thank You Rev, and with the anticipation of my kit arriving today (which it did) I stopped at the Home depot to get the 4x4's.2 8's and 2 6'. I got the salesman to help me pick out two of the 8's since they are heavier than the 6's. And as I was rolling away with my lumber and the shims I asked him if he would be able to cut one of the 8s in half for me. He did. Great customer service from Home Depot. Got home and the kit was on the front porch. But can't get it together tonight, there's a big storm a brewing so I will leave it for tomorrow.

I do have a question and should have asked before. Do you think I will have any problems with hanging a Clark NA? I know it won't matter because I will go ahead and put this together anyway and give it a try.

**attroll** · 07-24-2009, 18:56

I stopped at The Home Depot tonight and got my 4x4's also and just got done putting mine together. Works great for just the hammock. If you try and string a tarp then your going to have a problem though. Even with the shims the beams pull in a little and this causes the tarp to sag. I found a solution though. I put a ratchet strap across the top and pulled the ends in enough to keep it tight and then I could use a tarp.

**Clumseybear** · 07-24-2009, 19:19

Attroll,
Not picturing what you're saying. Can you provide a picture?

**attroll** · 07-24-2009, 19:48

Originally Posted by Clumseybear

Attroll,
Not picturing what you're saying. Can you provide a picture?

It is to dark to take a picture now. What I did was put a ratchet strap across the very top most part of the polls and and tightened the strap until it was tight. This will pull the beams together and get ride of all the slack in the stand.

If your not going to use a tarp you will not need to do this.

**Clumseybear** · 07-24-2009, 20:09

I think I understand, I will be using a tarp some of the time so I will see how it goes and may try your suggestion. My daughter just called and asked what I was doing and she is on her way over to help me get this thing together. My husband is spending the summer at Summer Camp teaching Shooting Sports Merit Badges and the few hours he gets on Saturday evening I hate to ask him to help me. So he will be surprised when he comes home tomorrow and he won't have any "honey doos" to do. The weather is still bad here, thunder and lighting and light drizzle but maybe when she gets here things will slack up some. I'll hang the Clark and Speers tomorrow and add pic's.

**attroll** · 07-24-2009, 20:20

If you can find a way where it will not bow in without using the ratchet straps please let me know.

**Ramblinrev** · 07-24-2009, 20:59

Originally Posted by attroll

If you can find a way where it will not bow in without using the ratchet straps please let me know.

You _might_ try putting the shims on the outside or back of the of the socket. That will force the support to the more upright position and the force of the hang will not compress the shim. If you are using typical cedar shims they are pretty soft and compress quite easily. I have no clue if that would make any difference but I suppose it might. I thought about doing that way when I put mine together but wasn't real motivated to make that choice. It kind of went together by default.