How do I fix this swingset?

the rope was attached to a disk that the kids sit on and swing. it was on the open eyelet

then 3 or 4 of the legs of the set have rusted off. id consider sistering a pipe but problem is someone put them embeded in concrete so you cannot put a newpole in the ground there.

 

I'd imagine the seat could be fixed relatively easy with a new rope.

As far as the legs. The only thing you can do now is to measure the diameter of the pipe (across the pipe) and buy pieces of galvanized or black iron pipe that would fit snugly inside. That looks like 2" tubular steel pipe. A schedule 40 1-1/2" pipe measures 1.9" OD and would fit snugly. The tricky part would be being able to lift the swingset up high enough to get a decent length piece of pipe in there. You could even fill the hole with cement and push the pipe in so that the cement held the pipe in the ground. Then a bolt could be used to hold the swingset leg to the new pipe.

Looking back on the leg again..... that tubing looks to be in pretty bad shape. It may be tough to get a piece of pipe to even slide in there.

 

You should be able to unbolt that leg to get the clearance needed to slide a smaller pipe inside of it. It's probably not as big a deal as you think to dig up that concrete and install a new leg.

 

with a new rope do you have to take the metal binders off the old and wrap them like the new? i'm not confident how to knot the rope to take the force of the kids flying as high as they want to.

 

You need to look into rope weaving. You can actually weave both ends for a more professional and reliable knot. The metal rings were used to secure the free end of the rope knot. The link shows a knot that can be used there..... you tube/watch?v=1x4x11tYn74

 

i watched the vid but unclear on something. would i made that knot while the rope is through the eyelet hanging down from the wooden support?

i didnt even study the disk but assume i put the rope through it and just make that big knot so the rope doesnt slide back through the hole

 

The video shows exactly what I would use as far as knots, except for two things. I would use a bowline at the top, but a traditional one. I have never heard of a double bowline as she referred to it, and after watching the video and then grabbing a piece of rope to try it I do not see any advantage to the double bowline over a traditional one. Second, I do not see any advantage to running the rope through the bowline knot over simply tying the bowline directly to the eye. A bowline knot may be a little tricky getting it adjusted to the length you want, but the nice thing about them is that they come back apart when you want them to so it's easy enough to start over until you get it where you want it, But it doesn't need to be precise, just make sure it's not too long, leaving the loop too low for the kids arms to get tangled in. After that's in place it will be easy enough to adjust the disk where you want it with the overhand knot on the bottom. The thing I look at though on something like this is that it is not the knot that will fail; it's the rope itself being bent at a tighter radius than intended where it passes through the eye at the top. Not that it can necessarily be avoided, and there are lots of them out there just that way, but that should be your main point to keep an eye on, watching for excessive fraying, etc.

 

im' unclear if you are advocating for the knot in the video being used at the eye vs 'simply tying' as you stated. because i dont know what simply tying means. i may have a different definition. i looked up a pic and and overhand knot is what i call simple. but thats definitely not good for the eye tying

i dont mind trying the video knot up top if it's going to be sturdy. how do you avoid it breaking? should i introduce a carabiner? the tire has 3 of them and is still in good shape.

 

In the video, you see how once the knot is tied it makes a loop at the end of the rope, and she passes the other end of the rope through this loop and through the eye. By doing this, I think you are adding unnecessary kink points in the rope, increasing wear. Try it, and I think you will see what I mean. So what I would do is pass one end of the rope through the eye and then tie that end back to itself, using a bowline. This is a much cleaner configuration, and, as you will see if you try it both ways, is no worse nor better than her way in regard to where the rope will wear on the eye.

 

Forgot to mention, but you'll find plenty of illustrations on the internet for tying a bowline. But your kids will get a kick out of it if you remember it this way. Hold the rope in your left hand, with say maybe 16" of one end toward yourself and the rest of it away from you. Where you left hand is, use your right hand to make a counterclockwise loop on the top side of the rope. Then come from the back through the loop around the back side of the rope, and back into the loop. And the way to remember this last step is "the rabbit comes out of the hole, runs around the tree, and jumps back into the hole". That's a bowline, which is very simple, strong, and versatile. It's taught as retrieval because properly tied the loop holds but does not tighten on itself like a half hitch or whatever else you might use.

 

How about getting 2 buckets; filling with quick set cement; tilting swing set; putting in legs of swing set and done. looks bad but done. basically the legs are still touching the ground as they were but at the bottom of the bucket in the cement now.