My Zipline adventure
So we bought a property with 5 acres far out from the city. Since I was a kid, I had always wanted a zipline. I even tried it once when I was young. I fashioned a rope from our porch to a tree in our yard and thought, I could use a metal hangar to effortlessly glide down. Needless to say I ended up on my rear falling over 5 feet. It was an epic fail.
Fast forward about 30 years and I decided to make one for real. Now I had been reading up on how to make one, best methods and the physics of it all. The problem I had was, I live in the desert and my property is all dirt and no trees. You see most of the examples I had seen were people with big massive trees on their property. So I had to find another way.
The Plan
I read and read and researched and finally came up with a plan. I had calculated the distance, height and method to address the tremendous cable tensions (for someone weighing 160 lbs, its about 2500 lbs of force on each post). Below was what I ended up with for a plan, but took some tweaking along the way.
I started hunting for parts. Here are the main parts I needed:
Posts
Originally I was going to get some 4x6 posts from Home Depot, but instead I was able to get some old well casings from a neighbor that were 20 ft and 10 ft long and an 8" diameter 1/4 steel. Since I was going to set these posts 3 ft into the ground that would leave me a height of 17 ft at the start down to 7 ft at the end. That unfortunately is too steep of a grade (~8%) and too low at the end. So I decided to cut 2ft from the 20 ft casing and weld it to the 10 ft casing. This would give me 18 ft and 12 ft which then translates to 15 ft and 9 ft once in the ground. This is a bit less than 5% grade which was perfect for the speed I was looking for.
Post Braces
I was able to also get some old metal fence posts that were about a 2" diameter pipe once again 1/4 in steel. My original plan was to just have these as a brace in front of the main pole to withstand the force. Long story short once I got all the poles placed I tested it and pulled the big poles out of the ground a bit. That is when I learned I need the tension cables going back into a ground anchor as I show above. Was a bit of a setback, but I kept going.
Platform
I needed some type of platform and had planned to build one, but my wife ended up finding a cool old rustic play structure that was perfect. We got it for a bargain and head to pick it up one night. We took it mostly apart except the main structure. We loaded that heavy sucker onto my trailer and drove it home.
Steel Cable
Once again my awesome neighbor had some leftover cable from building some fencing and let me have it. Otherwise you can get some off amazon for like $60. The cable he has was slightly bigger than 1/4 in, I believe it's around 3/8 which I thought was better anyway for more strength. Downside is it is a bit heavier, but not an issue. Had to use my kids 125 4-wheeler to haul it from the neighbors place... lol
Cable Anchors
I first tried some 1000 lb anchors I got off Amazon, but because the eye loop screwed in to the shaft of the anchor, they broke on first test. So I got some casted anchors I got from Lowes that could handle 2500 lbs each and I put 3 on each side.
Turnbuckles
I found some heavy duty 5/8" 12" long turnbuckles on Amazon. Each could support 3500 lbs. Maybe a bit overkill, but after doing my calculations I soon learned there is a lot of force on those poles and cables.
Cable Clamps
Got some cable bolts, nuts and clamps off Amazon. I put 2 on each fastened location.
Stopping Mechanism/Brake
I needed to find a way to bring the person to a slow stop. I first added a spring on the cable I got off Amazon and this worked well, but older bigger kids came to a jerky stop and was a bit scary.
So I found a better way which is a stopper with a bungee tied to an anchor in the ground.
Cement
Got lots of quick set cement from Home Depot
Putting it all together
Ok, so now I had all my parts and it was time to start putting it all together.
Setting the main posts
First of I had to dig all the holes. Once again I called on my handy neighbor who had an auger attachment for his skidsteer. So he came over one day and drilled my main post holes. He was able to drill the main holes and the post brace holes. Even with that I still had to get all the lose dirt out and make the hole a bit bigger since his bit was 9" and the poles were 8". I had to dig it out to be about a 2' diameter hole so it would have enough of a cement anchor. Needless to say I was tired after that even with the help of the post hole auger.
Finally I got the holes dug and set the main posts and post braces into the holes. My neighbor once again helped me with his forklift. Man its nice to have awesome neighbors! The big pole was easily a couple hundred pounds so standing it upright would have been a challenge without a forklift. I poured in the cement and then poured in the proper amount of water and let it set. It's really handy to use the quick set post cement as you don't need to premix it. Just put in the cement and add water.
Then I set the post braces in place and cemented them in. I had finally got all the posts in the ground. Now the challenge was I needed to weld the braces. Unfortunately I couldn't use my neighbor this time since he was out of town. He was going to help but I wanted to get it done. So I broke down and bought me a welder. I figured with 5 acres of metal fence, it's probably needed for repairs. So I got my welds done. I also had to weld cable guide on the top of the poles which was not easy task since they were now 9 and 15 ft in the air... I am by no means a professional welder, but I think I did ok considering I hadn't welded in 20 years since high school.
Putting the Play Structure in Place
When I set the poles, I had the main play structure piece in place. Now it was time to put the rest together. Attach the swings, slide and stairs.
Attaching the Cable
With the poles securely in place and the play structure all assembled, it was time to finally string up the cable. As I said before my first attempt failed an pulled the poles out of the ground. I had to fix it and add a tension cable behind. In the below video, you can see the cable go lose and I end up touching the ground :( lol
Basically I anchored the cable on one end and then strung it over to the other end. I used a 4-wheeler to pull it up and then connected a come along to pull it tight and hold it while I secured it with the cable bolts
.
Fast forward about 30 years and I decided to make one for real. Now I had been reading up on how to make one, best methods and the physics of it all. The problem I had was, I live in the desert and my property is all dirt and no trees. You see most of the examples I had seen were people with big massive trees on their property. So I had to find another way.
The Plan
I read and read and researched and finally came up with a plan. I had calculated the distance, height and method to address the tremendous cable tensions (for someone weighing 160 lbs, its about 2500 lbs of force on each post). Below was what I ended up with for a plan, but took some tweaking along the way.
I started hunting for parts. Here are the main parts I needed:
- Tall posts
- Post Braces
- Platform
- Steel cable (1/4 minimum)
- Cable anchors
- Turn Buckles
- Cable clamps
- Stopping Mechanism/Brake
- Cement
Posts
Originally I was going to get some 4x6 posts from Home Depot, but instead I was able to get some old well casings from a neighbor that were 20 ft and 10 ft long and an 8" diameter 1/4 steel. Since I was going to set these posts 3 ft into the ground that would leave me a height of 17 ft at the start down to 7 ft at the end. That unfortunately is too steep of a grade (~8%) and too low at the end. So I decided to cut 2ft from the 20 ft casing and weld it to the 10 ft casing. This would give me 18 ft and 12 ft which then translates to 15 ft and 9 ft once in the ground. This is a bit less than 5% grade which was perfect for the speed I was looking for.
Post Braces
I was able to also get some old metal fence posts that were about a 2" diameter pipe once again 1/4 in steel. My original plan was to just have these as a brace in front of the main pole to withstand the force. Long story short once I got all the poles placed I tested it and pulled the big poles out of the ground a bit. That is when I learned I need the tension cables going back into a ground anchor as I show above. Was a bit of a setback, but I kept going.
Platform
I needed some type of platform and had planned to build one, but my wife ended up finding a cool old rustic play structure that was perfect. We got it for a bargain and head to pick it up one night. We took it mostly apart except the main structure. We loaded that heavy sucker onto my trailer and drove it home.
Steel Cable
Once again my awesome neighbor had some leftover cable from building some fencing and let me have it. Otherwise you can get some off amazon for like $60. The cable he has was slightly bigger than 1/4 in, I believe it's around 3/8 which I thought was better anyway for more strength. Downside is it is a bit heavier, but not an issue. Had to use my kids 125 4-wheeler to haul it from the neighbors place... lol
Cable Anchors
I first tried some 1000 lb anchors I got off Amazon, but because the eye loop screwed in to the shaft of the anchor, they broke on first test. So I got some casted anchors I got from Lowes that could handle 2500 lbs each and I put 3 on each side.
Turnbuckles
I found some heavy duty 5/8" 12" long turnbuckles on Amazon. Each could support 3500 lbs. Maybe a bit overkill, but after doing my calculations I soon learned there is a lot of force on those poles and cables.
Cable Clamps
Got some cable bolts, nuts and clamps off Amazon. I put 2 on each fastened location.
Stopping Mechanism/Brake
I needed to find a way to bring the person to a slow stop. I first added a spring on the cable I got off Amazon and this worked well, but older bigger kids came to a jerky stop and was a bit scary.
I anchored the bungee with these.
I used my impact drill to drive it in.
Got lots of quick set cement from Home Depot
Putting it all together
Ok, so now I had all my parts and it was time to start putting it all together.
Setting the main posts
First of I had to dig all the holes. Once again I called on my handy neighbor who had an auger attachment for his skidsteer. So he came over one day and drilled my main post holes. He was able to drill the main holes and the post brace holes. Even with that I still had to get all the lose dirt out and make the hole a bit bigger since his bit was 9" and the poles were 8". I had to dig it out to be about a 2' diameter hole so it would have enough of a cement anchor. Needless to say I was tired after that even with the help of the post hole auger.
Finally I got the holes dug and set the main posts and post braces into the holes. My neighbor once again helped me with his forklift. Man its nice to have awesome neighbors! The big pole was easily a couple hundred pounds so standing it upright would have been a challenge without a forklift. I poured in the cement and then poured in the proper amount of water and let it set. It's really handy to use the quick set post cement as you don't need to premix it. Just put in the cement and add water.
Then I set the post braces in place and cemented them in. I had finally got all the posts in the ground. Now the challenge was I needed to weld the braces. Unfortunately I couldn't use my neighbor this time since he was out of town. He was going to help but I wanted to get it done. So I broke down and bought me a welder. I figured with 5 acres of metal fence, it's probably needed for repairs. So I got my welds done. I also had to weld cable guide on the top of the poles which was not easy task since they were now 9 and 15 ft in the air... I am by no means a professional welder, but I think I did ok considering I hadn't welded in 20 years since high school.
Putting the Play Structure in Place
When I set the poles, I had the main play structure piece in place. Now it was time to put the rest together. Attach the swings, slide and stairs.
Attaching the Cable
With the poles securely in place and the play structure all assembled, it was time to finally string up the cable. As I said before my first attempt failed an pulled the poles out of the ground. I had to fix it and add a tension cable behind. In the below video, you can see the cable go lose and I end up touching the ground :( lol
Basically I anchored the cable on one end and then strung it over to the other end. I used a 4-wheeler to pull it up and then connected a come along to pull it tight and hold it while I secured it with the cable bolts
Zipline is Done!
That was a lot of work, but so rewarding!!! Years of fun to come!
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