Any happy *metal* swingset owners?

[brittone2]

<gasp> LOL.

We are in the market for a swingset for DS but due to DH being stuck in grad school right now, Cedarworks and Rainbow are out of the budget. We're leaning toward DH building a cedar set himself, but that's a lot of work. I don't need/want a huge set, pretty much just space for 2-3 swings and a slide for now. I'd like some sort of fort, which is why I lean toward wood, but I like the price of the metal sets ;) I also like that they don't take up an enormous amount of space. We have a big backyard but I don't want it completely taken up by a swingset as our doggie needs room to play frisbee ;)

So...I'm open to considering a metal one, but I am looking for something that will last 4-5 years and isn't going to turn to total rust after one season. I was wondering if anyone has one they'd recommend?

I'm not interested right now in the big plastic sets like Little Tykes 8 in 1. I'd rather spend the money on a more advanced set for DS or go the cheap route and go w/ a metal set.

Anyone have one they like?

[dules]

We had metal growing up and I lived to tell about it. :) I think it was the same one that held up for about 10 years, and we lived outside of Boston so it was wet, cold, hot, etc. you name it.

I wanted to suggest also checking yard sales, Craigslist etc. for some of the big Little Tikes sets. We got the large sized climber cube last year for $25. It was a bit faded but sturdy and DD likes it just fine. Just a thought!

Good luck!

Best,
Mary

[brittone2]

Thanks, Mary! My former neighbors had a really cute metal set and their kids loved it too, so that has made me think about it some more.

Growing up I had a good old handmade by my dad pressure treated set with just a trapeze and swing, and still had lots of fun :) I keep telling myself DS really doesn't *need* a huge set, but of course *I* would like one LOL.

[schums]

We got a metal set for DS (and now DD). We've used it for about 3 years (in Indiana and Michigan). It's a little rusty, etc. but nothing that a new coat of paint couldn't fix. I'm just lazy. We've been really happy with it and it was the cheapest set we could find (I think at Wal-mart for about $100). Next summer, we're planning on building a bigger wood set for the kids, but DH, his dad and my dad will be building it to save $$. I purposly bought a metal one for the first swing set because 1) it was more "little kid" sized (i.e. they wouldn't kill themselves playing/climbing on it) 2) it was closer to our budget at the time and 3) I wanted to only build one big wood playset and it seemed to me that if we built it for DC when they were toddlers, it would either be outgrown in a couple of years (if we made it toddler safe) or it wouldn't be safe for the kids for a couple of years.

HTH,
Sarah
Mom to Alex (3/2002) and Catherine (8/2003)

[tjham]

My main concern with metal (which I am also considering) is that it has to be cemented into the ground, doesn't it? That involves digging holes. Then what happens when you don't want it anymore? Is digging up the cement a pain in the neck?

[schums]

Ours is not cemented into the ground. There are stakes you can get that basically anchor the set into the ground (and keep it very stable) but still allow easy movement (once the stakes/anchors are removed). We just put the anchors in at the end of last summer. Before that point, the kids just weren't active enough to get it to move much.

Here's a link to the anchors:
http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/jsearch/product.jsp?pn=163558

Here's a link to a new type of anchor. It goes over the legs of the swingset and fills with water. According to the reviews and online info, it keeps the swing set as stable as the anchors or cement.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000096QUG/sr=8-1/qid=1142522109/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-0527424-7926419?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance

HTH,
Sarah
Mom to Alex (3/2002) and Catherine (8/2003)

[ilovetivo]

bump...any other comments?

[brittone2]

we're still using ours! DS just turned 4 and is finally more into sliding, climbing, etc.

DH just built them a separate big fort w/ a slide (working on turning the portion under the fort into a playhouse w/ a little mailbox, doorbell, and a "storefront" type of awning), but for now we're keeping the metal swingset for the actual "swings". DS seems pretty satisfied with that, and DD is enjoying swinging and she enjoys the smaller slide on the metal swingset.

[ilovetivo]

we're still using ours! DS just turned 4 and is finally more into sliding, climbing, etc.

which one did you get? and where?

thanks!

[deannanb]

we have had our metal swing set for at least 9 years.
it was staked into the ground until 2 years ago when we redid our backyard.
now it is just sitting on the ground - no stakes
It is pretty safe - seeing as though my 12 year old will swing as high as he can and the set doesn't move.

some rusting and some broken plastic parts - but after 9 years that is pretty good.
The brand we have is not in business any more (I think the brand is hedstrom)

[brittone2]

which one did you get? and where?

thanks!

Flexible Flyer from TRU. It says made in the USA on it I think.

It is green/cream so it is fairly tasteful IMO for a metal set. It has a carriage style swing (where two kids sit on seats and face each other), two regular swings w/ sling seats (we have a baby swing on one of those spots), a teeter totter type of swing (for two kids where they face each other and sort of rock the thing back and forth), a trapeze bar, and a slide. It wasn't the newest model when we got it. It was in stock at TRU but a previous year's model so cheaper.

eta: ours is similar to this one:
http://www.willygoat.com/catalogsingle.asp?productID=32672

[Sugar Magnolia]

We have one and love it. My mom bought it for Christmas a year ago and it is still in very good condition. I am really glad we have one. My dh is a grad student as well and we are not in our "forever" home, so I will not feel bad when we move and leave it or sell it.

[Moneypenny]

We also have a flexible flyer that we got on clearance last year from a hardware-type store. It went together easily, is blue and cream so doesn't look too garish, and has everything DD needs.

When we moved into this house last year there was already a metal swingset here which I'm told was at least 7 years old. It was in great shape except where a tree branch fell on it and crushed it, lol.

[Tondi G]

If your Dh is thinking about building one himself check out this site... they have a great looking smaller wooden setup based on what you said you were thinking of

http://www.byoswingset.com/marsrover.html

I would suggest checking craiglist for used sets. we got a decent one for a couple hundred bucks and it's still going strong. Probably not redwood/cedar but it serves it's purpose!

[HIU8]

We got one from Toys R Us. DS loves swings but we couldn't afford one of the wooden sets yet. So far ours is in it's second season and DS and DD love it. We used stakes to keep it in the ground and it does wobble (but it is going to with stakes) and it makes me nervous. But a 3 yr old and a 10 month old should not be able to knock it out of the ground. Eventually we are going to replace it with a nice wooden set (saving up for that) though.

[ThreeofUs]

We're leaning toward DH building a cedar set himself, but that's a lot of work.
We had a neighbor who decided to do this. He built a fort, a couple of swings, and I think a slide. We asked him how it went, and he said he would never do it again.

Why?, we asked.

Well, he's a weekend handyman and he liked the work - even though it took a loooonnnnggg time - and it wasn't hard. But, the price of wood was such that he actually spent just about the same amount of money (over $2k) as if he had bought the thing from Rainbow and had it assembled.

So, if you are seriously considering this route, be sure to price out the materials first!

My craigslist has these sets frequently and inexpensively. You can also get Rainbow (at least) to take a set down, transport, and set up in your yard for I think about $450. Might be a better option for you....

[brittone2]

Oh, in our case it is almost done. DH just needs to do the roof but the structure itself is done (a *big* fort). The slide is on, the ladder is up, etc.

It actually didn't take DH that long at all but he's very handy and my dad helped him a bit when he needed extra hands (my dad is very handy too). That was with DS's help too (age 4) so that slowed them down a bit, but I think DH really enjoyed it. I can see why some people wouldn't, but it was a fun family project for us.

We had the option to buy my brother's large, large Rainbow set for $1K, but opted to build on our own. I really wanted a big fort so the kids could sleep out in it eventually and stuff like that. We have loads of cedar trees so the uprights are all cedar logs from our property (cemented into the ground several feet). We used Trex for the "deck" portion. The railings, base for the Trex to lay on , and the upright balluster type things for the railing came from a local cedar mill (and that was all fairly reasonably priced). Where we live there is a LOT of cedar, so that may be a factor (of course, apparently pea gravel is insanely expensive where we live because that cost more than the play structure itself).

DS really enjoys stuff like this, so I think DH is happy that they did it together. I can see that wouldn't necessarily work for every family though.

We watched on craigslist, etc. and had the opportunity to buy my brother's set, but this just ended up being our best option.

ETA: this thread may have been confusing because my OP was from quite a long time ago. Someone bumped it up asking how our metal set has held up and asking if anyone else had gone w/ metal. So we have our swings, etc. still on the metal set, but we may add them onto the big fort/slide structure DH build eventually. So we did go w/ metal, and a year or so later we opted to build our own fort/slide structure in addition to the metal set.