We have our very own playground in our home's backyard! Hedstrom Somerset Swing set
Written: Aug 08 '02 (Updated Aug 08 '02)
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Pros: Swings, rides, bars, and slides! Oh My!!
Cons: You need to have help to put this together
The Bottom Line: You will have a swingin' good time on this swing set!
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| ariel10575's Full Review: Hedstrom Somerset Metal Gym Set |
After years of weekly trips to the park to play on the playground, my mom and I decided it was high time to find a swing set for my boys to play on outside! They need to fresh air, sunshine and activity more than once a week. The biggest selling point was that they could be outside, and not in my home, wreaking havoc, sending things into disarray, and even running marathons around the house freaking the cats out.
It just worked out that in the Sunday paper was an advertisement from Toys 'R Us (my favorite toy shop, since I'm a Toys 'R Us Kid myself!). In that ad was two pages all about swing sets. They were on sale! Time to shop!
My mom is a kind, loving mother and grandmother, and she agreed to purchase it for us. We just needed to figure out which one we would get, and the price had to be within reason. After reviewing all the sets, we went with a metal one due to cost. Now, we had a choice of 4 to pick from. We thought about going to get one a Kmart, but decided to go with the purchase at Toys 'R Us because we could get help through them to set it up.
We decided to go with a set that had everything that we were looking for, and a bit more, and the price was not the most expensive, but middle of the road at a sale price of $150 (retails for about $180), and just within reason for our modest budget. Now the fun begins!
How do you get it home? Ack! How do you get it setup?!?
This would have been a disaster if Toys 'R Us did not have a plan for those of us without trucks or the necessary tools, height, and strength to get it together! We asked before we purchased it if they had a plan, and sure enough they did! They gave us a brochure for a local company that specializes in this sort of thing!
Once we purchased it, we gave them a call, and Toys 'R Us was ready for them to come pick it up and deliver! In a few days (after some rain too), two men came to my home and asked me where I wanted it! Within two hours it was all done! They assembled the entire set, dug holes, put on extensions, poured the cement, and stuck it in. All I had to do was watch the kids in the house, and before we knew it, it was all done. We had to wait 3 days before they could use it, but that is a small price to pay for the safety of having it cemented in the ground.
Note: This service is not part of the purchase price! This is something you have to purchase separately. The price depends on what make and model you have purchased, and which company you use. They charge extra for installing anchors or cementing it in the ground. It was around $100 for the whole deal for us, including the cementing of all 6 legs, but I do not remember now exactly how much as my mother paid for it.
If you are planning to set this up on your own, the box you will receive is 96.5" x 18.25" x 78.0" (measurements courtesy of www.amazon.com). Make sure you can fit this into your vehicle first!
Why did we get it cemented?
For one simple reason - safety! After seeing other swing set with multiple kids playing on them, and the sides moving, creaking, and the whole thing tipping, I was nervous. Then a member of my son's playgroup told us what her husband witnessed the previous day. He was a police officer with the LAPD, and went on a call. When he got there, a 2 year old had been swinging, and the set fell over and crushed her head - she was dead. With two young small children and knowing we would have many children over to play, I am NOT going to take any chances. It cost $10 a leg to get it cemented, but I am more than willing to pay it to assure that it is not going to move unless I want it moved.
This also meant that I had to be sure where I wanted it as it could not be moved around whenever I wanted it. This whole thing before the cement weighs 131 lbs (from Toys 'R Us, not my scale!), so it is light enough to be lifted by a couple of people (or more depending on how strong you are), and I've seen small children do enough damage to even make wooden sets move! Importantly, you should note that each swing as a 105 pound weight limit. The frame is made of cold rolled steel.
What does this set come with? What does it look like?
This set comes with 2 green 'comfort swings' with what is called 'Safe-T touch swing chains' that is from looks a sort of green plastic that encases the chains. I do not know about you, but when I playing on my swing set growing up, I had numerous bruises, blisters and scrapes from the chains on my swings.
There is also a 2-person lawn swing - which is perfect for the littlest riders. It is at a good level to crawl up onto and with a seat and backrest it is great. Plus, a big and little one can go together, with just the bigger one keeping it rocking!
The last fancy swing is the 2-person Rocket Rider. This one is like you are rowing. You are sitting on what is essentially a pole between the front and back faces. You have your feet on the bottom rungs of a face, and hands on the top of it. It can go with either one or two riders really. You just push and pull, and before long you are swinging! It takes awhile to get the rhythm going and momentum built up, but you can cut some time with a little push!
Then we come to the bar. It was funny how for the first several months we owned this swing set, all that my son wanted to do is go out to play on the bar! My little one likes it also as he is going to be either an Olympic Gymnast or a monkey! You can remove it and put another swing on it also, but since everyone likes it so much, it is staying!
Last, but not least, is a green slide. The slide has steps up to the top, and is half the height of the entire set itself. I've considered measuring the total height of it, but I cannot reach that high! It is probably about 6' tall or so, as I am only 5'3" on a good day with shoes on! So I would estimate that the slide is about 3 feet off the ground, and a bit longer than that as it is angled down and a bit wavy. The slide can also go on either side of the set depending on how you want it all set up. Ours is actually on the side with the lawn swing instead of how it is pictured next to the Rocket Rider.
Update: After doing some more research, I have found in my owner's guide that the slide is 5 1/2' long. The whole set when it is setup is 15'6" x 9' x 6'4".
My Recommendation
If you have a child, and you have room in your backyard, you need a swing set. Big or small, they need something to climb, swing, slide, and play on. The time outside in the sun and fresh air is great, and will hopefully keep them both happy and healthy. Just be sure it is the right fit for you, your child, your pocketbook and your backyard before you get it!!
And being outside, be sure to give it a wash down every so often, since birds do seem to love it sometimes! It is easy to wipe down and keep looking like new, as long as it incurs regular use and not being beat up with tools or things that cut metal. I doubt highly anyone would be doing that though! I have had 3-4 boys playing on it several times a week, besides my 2 boys playing on it other days of the week, and it still looks great and works correctly. In the future, I will ask the company that set it up to come back and give it a tune up to make sure everything is tightened and in good working order. This will be for my peace of mind, unless I think something really is wrong.
Finally, I can not tell you what is best to do with your backyard lawn should you have one. Ours has always been weeds, and currently has a few weeds and dirt. Nothing much more. Hopefully in the future we can have sprinklers installed, place rubber mats under the swing set, and have the rest of the lawn seeded, or put in sod. Until then, dirt will do!
So if you need to get your kids out of the house, and out in the fresh air to run off some energy, think about adding a swing set to your backyard! It will be a great addition to your kid's life!
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For more information on products from Hedstrom, go to:
http://www.hedscape.com
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): gift
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years
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Epinions.com ID:
ariel10575
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Member: Rebecca Murphy
Location: Granada Hills, Ca, USA
Reviews written: 117
Trusted by: 62 members
About Me:
I'm back, and getting ready to write again. :)
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