I'd consider one diagonal under the slide to act as a shear wall for
that axis. Less nice would be a sheet of exterior plywood. If it
were bolted in a number a places, it wouldn't have to be full height
allowing a crawl through or look through...
Martin
Martin H. Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
"Our Republic and the Press will Rise or Fall Together": Joseph Pulitzer
TSRA: Endowed; NRA LOH & Patron Member, Golden Eagle, Patriot's Medal.
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Originator & Charter Founder
IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member.
http://lufkinced.com/
On 9/18/2010 1:47 PM, Thomas G. Marshall wrote:
I have a Creative Playthings playset with a 9' swingrail. While the
playset is wonderful in many respects, it suffers from the fatal flaw
of just not having enough of the right kind of triangles in the
structure.
Kids get on the swings that are hung from a 9' swingrail and the lever-
arms against the structure are huge. Thing skews back and forth in a
terrifyingly swaying manner no matter HOW much the bolts are
tightened.
I put a big 2x6 overkill diagonal on the thing and it doesn't budge a
millimeter.
Here's the picture. I've kept it at original resolution so that you
can see the bolt placement best.
http://i539.photobucket.com/albums/f...4/IMG_7090.jpg
Notes:
* The 2x6 is from Creative. Their engineers had to approve my
design. I just couldn't find 2x6 cedar anywhere near my house.
* The top and bottom bolts are reusing the existing T-nuts (and
bolt holes) that were there.
* I have engineering OCD so everything within 500' of a drop of
water is stainless. That added a hugely unnecessary cost to this
thing. Just use grade-2 steel. All 5/16ths
* The middle bolts weren't perfectly placed but I was starting to
wear out mentally.
Hope this helps someone. Truly though, a 2x3 stretched from the
topmost left to the bottommost right with a single bolt at each end
probably would have been ok. I was just worried about pushing
strength.
When properly trimmed and painted it loses that "Nazi Watchtower"
look. I think it's ok now.