Cables attach at all 4 corners...looped around pipe nipple then back through. Trees allow for almost completely vertical forces. Swinging is dampened by horizontal cable running underneath the platform to two trees...
Thanks for all the help! Trees ended up dictating most of it but I've been up for about 3 weeks and it hasn't fallen yet!http://files.engineering.com/getfile.aspx?folder=c2d87273-06ef-46b0-b777-7bee9f845e64&file=image.jpeg
Keep tension in cables. Be weary of eyebolts. Free body diagrams. Got it!
Earthsuntech-
Thank you for those diagrams-- very helpful to visualize. "Crushed like it was made in tooth picks in heavy winds"-- maybe I'll have to relocate during storms or maybe that's part of the thrill of being...
Earthsuntech & KootK-- ahhh both of these designs are going to help me sleep at night.. While I'm 10' in the air :)!! Earthsuntech, that design was exactly what I had in mind but hadn't thought to run the cables under the platform to cradle it-- perfect. I'll follow one of these concepts...
HouseBoy: Ahh 15" spacing was a slip of the hand-- meant 16" 2x8 might be a little beefy; but wouldn't 2x4 be skimping a little for a platform that big? Maybe I'm mistaken about that but from what I understand 2x6 would be recommended for a "normal" deck of this size. Not 100% sure of cable...
Thanks for the help!
Buggar-- if, instead of tension cables, I ran the cable through both pieces of wood (and steel corner brackets connecting rim joists) at the corners, would this hold it together? Instead of the tension cables relieving stress would the wood just take on a tensile stress from...
I am planning on building a tent platform that will hang from four trees. My plan is a 10'x10' platform constructed with 2x8s with 15" center to center joist spacing. Flooring will be the lightest plywood I can find. Will this platform be structurally sound if hung by all four corners...