E-Z Frame Brackets for Swing Sets

A few years ago my husband and I decided to spend the money and build our own design of swing set for my daycare children. It is large, with four swings, a rope, and a fort area built next to the swings.

We had never attempted to build something like this before, and we aren't super handy with a saw, but after checking out the Swing N Slide website, I knew that the hardware was available to help us build what we wanted, requiring much less work on our parts.

The E-Z Frame bracket, also sold at Home Depot stores, what exactly what we needed, and it is worth it's weight in gold!

Description

The E-Z Frame Bracket comes two to a package, one is a right brace and one is a left brace. It is a large piece of galvanized steel, and looks like a triangle with the very top cut off, then bent over.

It has 11 holes for screws to hold the frame securely to both the legs and the center beam. Our bracket is a kelly green color, and is powder coated to make it rust resistant.

What It Does

Our biggest concern was how to get all four legs of the swing set put together at the same angle. This bracket takes almost all of the guess work out of the job.

When the legs are attached to this, they are automatically all on the same angle. There are no miter cuts needed, this assures us of a proper A-frame angle.

It also improves the strength and integrity of the swing set, something that is very important when little ones are going to be using it.

The frame bracket will prevent the legs and top beam from moving, no side to side movements to worry about.

Price

Considering the time and headaches these E-Z Frame Brackets saved us, they were well worth the money. I think we spent around $20 for the set of two brackets.

Thoughts

If you are ever considering building your own swing set, I highly recommend that you try to find this kind of bracket. It adds strength to the swing set, and it automatically gives your legs exactly the same angles, so when you are done you have a professional looking job.

It is very strong and secure. There are four screws that go into each leg, and three screws, (two small and one large) that go into the top beam.

Our swing set has three sets of legs, and this bracket was used for the center portion of the set. We used other shaped brackets (also found at Home Depot) for the end legs. Of course, we also cut out long wood braces which we secured to both the top and bottom ends, the kids like to hang on the lower ones, kind of like a monkey bars.

After we had our legs put together, we cemented them into the ground, something that was required by my daycare insurance company at the time (State Farm). This is one sturdy swing set! And honestly, I don't know how we would have been able to figure out how to build it if we didn't have something as simple and easy to use as these E-Z Frame Brackets!

Our neighbor (at the time) is a contractor, and he actually built our home. He was very impressed at the quality job my husband and I did on the swing set. Coming from him, that's pretty high praise. His daughter, son-in-law and grandkids live here now, and they are currently enjoying our home built, professional looking swing set.

Unfortunately, the state decided that my daycare kids can't use it because I don't have any pea gravel under the swings to cushion any falls. So we paid $600 for a swing set that my daycare can't even use! At least the neighbor hood kids enjoy it.

To conclude, this bracket is such a simple piece of equipment, but it made all the difference in our ability to build our own swing set. It has been through several Alaskan winters, and true to form the brackets have no hints of rust on them.

To get a good view of it, go here:
http://www.swing-n-slide.com/products/ne%204467-1.htm