Hey all…
Looking for a recommendation for a good quality playset / swingset for the kiddos. I looked on the web, and the first one I found had two ratings…4 stars and 1 star, and I realized I had no clue what to look for in these things. So, parents, any ideas? What’s the best bang for the buck out there?
Thanks…Spot
What are you looking for? Just swings? Swings, fort, climbing wall, and rope ladder? You want to have it magically appear in your yard ($$$) or do some work($)? I did a ton of research on this last year
I’m happy to put it together myself…I just don’t want to have to go buy lumber and cut it all to length, etc. Looking for more than just swings…I need a variety of activities to help my developmentally challenged 5 year old develop core strength, plus be just plain fun for him and his 8 year old brother…
Spot
Not that I was taking the cheap way out, but I bought plans and hardware, then lumber, then beer. I had a few friends come over over a few weekends and help. Each had a bit more carpentry knowledge than I had. It turned out well and the kids love it. I saved several hundred dollars in the process as well.
You could do something like this, or skip the work in the backyard by paying someone who is handy with a saw and a ratchet set.
I wouldn’t mind taking the cheap way if I had some sort of decent way of getting the lumber to my house. But I figure by the time I bought all the lumber, rented some kind of trailer to get it all there, and messed around measuring and cutting, I could have put up 3 swing sets and probably not saved that much money.
Spot
Spot,
7 years ago I built one for the kids. If I remember correctly, for something to be called a “swingset” out of the package it adds about $500 to the price tag. For this reason, we bought the Skyfort 4000 kit (tornado slide, monkey bars, pirate ladder, 2 levels swinging rope) for cheaper than any of the swingset kits. I then spent another $100 and bought a straight 16 foot 4X6, 2 swings, an a set of rings. I built an “A” frame out of some 4X4’s, levelled the 4X6, and attached it to the Skyfort. Voila…swingset/skyfort. It has been very sturdy and a lot of fun for the kides and their buds. Of course, it has rarely been used as intended.
Bernie
I wouldn’t mind taking the cheap way if I had some sort of decent way of getting the lumber to my house. But I figure by the time I bought all the lumber, rented some kind of trailer to get it all there, and messed around measuring and cutting, I could have put up 3 swing sets and probably not saved that much money.
Spot
We bought a Play Star system from Menards. It’s not a Rainbow, but more then plenty for the kids. I bought a kit, and then picked the lumber right from the yard. Cut sheet was great, less then a trash can of waste on a large swingset. I bet then can deliver or they rent truck fairly cheap. It did take longer then the directions stated, but very pleased with results.
Spot, go check out Costco. They’ve got “Sunray” units that have a great price and lots of fun for the kids. I bought one two years ago, it’s got a slid, rock wall, ‘fort’, monkey bars, jacobs ladder, three swings and a trapeze bar. The materials were good and the lumber was cedar. It took a week end to put it together (air tools speed the job up).
I think we paid $1200 for it.
Take Care,
Scott
Good to hear you like the sunray set I just picked one up, now if the ground will thaw I can put it up.
Ben
costco used to carry some wood package kits that were pretty nice.
After looking at many places last year I was about to give up. The ones at Home Depot/Lowes were inexpensive, but didn’t have too much to them. The ones at specialty places selling swingsets, gazebos etc…were outrageously priced, up to $4,000-5,000 or more.
Then, my mother in law was at a Sams Club and told us to go there as they had a nice one. I got this for right around $1,000 and it has everything you need. Comes in 4-5 big heavy boxes and everything is pretty much pre-cut and pre-drilled. Took me and a the family helping 2 solid days to put it together but for the $$ I haven’t found anything even close to this in value.
Ditto on the Menards. If you’re half handy with a saw, have a power screwdriver and can get one or two people to help you with the final assembly it’s a piece of cake.
As far as hauling the lumber, rent the truck from any major lumber store. It’s like 24$ an hour. Unless you’re miles away from the store you should easily be able to load the truck, they don’t start the clock until you leave the yard, drive to your house, unload and back in less than an hour.
What I did was assemble all the piece pretty much on location…requires a long extension cord and decent set of saw horses. Mine was made from 3 main portions. The play house, the monkey bar and ramp and swing area.
I cut and assembled all that by myself in a couple night after work. Probably 5-6 hours total. They provide decent instructions, and as long as you can kinda read a blue print you should be golden.
Then on the weekend my brother-in-law came over and in probably an hour and half we had the whole thing put together.
For me the actual swing to far less time than the actual ground prep. The area we put it was at a slight incline and since I have a boy that is a bit “rambunctious” I wanted something he could fall on his head off the top and only suffer from minor brain damage :-).
I ended up bringing in a BobCat and evened out the ground. I sunk some railroad ties as a boundary and another boundary in a corner as a sand box. I also sunk a tractor tire vertically so I had to dig a pretty decent size hole, which took a while. I then laid down some matting and filled the whole thing with 3/8" pebble river rock. I think I probably spent 2X as much time on the boundary and border than I did on the actual swing set.
~Matt
Awww, this is a cool thread.
When I was little we had a metal-frame swing set. I remember 2 swings and “trapeze” bar to swing on. My littlest brother, 9 yrs younger than I, got a nice wooden swing set with a sand box, a slide, and 2 swings… I don’t think he ever used it though.
There’s always the playground 
that’s so much fun.