Building a Swingset - Weight Capacity Question.......

My son is growing up fast and is starting to enjoy swinging around. I have two sturdy trees 10' apart that I plan to put a 4x6 in between at a height of 7'.

I was hoping to put three swings hanging from the 4x6. 10' is just perfect for 3 swings but my concern is weight. Ideally my wife, myself, and my son will be swinging at the same time. As he grows up that could easily be at 400lbs.

Will a 4x6 handle that?

Also, what is the strongest way to mount the swings? Threaded eyebolt through the 4x6 with a nut and washer on each side? Or one of those mounts that use a couple small lag bolts?

Thanks!

 

Personally I wouldn't use trees (not because I'm an environmentalist, I'm not). Trees (not knowing what kind of trees you are using) can have many impacting veriables and over time, will grow with this attachment embeded or sunken into the bark.
I would suggest going with a tripod leg arrangement, with your 4"x6" or 2 2"x6" sistered.

Sticking with the original tree plan... There are many different rigging setups we use for hammock hanging/camping. Almost all the ones I've used are good for 400lb plus. I would set your weight requirements to 800lb plus. When you are swinging, you're applying much more force then your body mass.

What kind of trees are you planning to use?

 

Thanks for the reply! After I got home from work yesterday I measured the spacing in between the trees. Its closer to 9' so I'm just going to go with two swings.

The trees are sugar maples and are about 14" in diameter at the ground and about 12" in diameter at about 8' up.

I've thought about the traditional tripod type of swingset but real estate is precious in our yard and these two trees seem perfect for it. Sure it may not stand the test of time.....but I don't think it needs to. 5+ years out of it is probably plenty.