I created the Adventure Tower for the fun of it. When other parents saw it they wanted to know how to build one themselves so I bought this domain name (AdventureTower.com) thinking I'd sell the plans through the site. Then I spoke with an attorney who strongly urged me not to sell the plans due to liability issues. Turns out there are all kinds of safety regulations for backyard play structures. And the Adventure Tower is definitely NOT safe. There are so many ways for kids to get hurt on this thing. Paying for liability insurance is definitely not the answer (it's WAY expensive). If you know of a way around the liability issue please contact me. I'd like to see more people building Adventure Towers in their backyard.
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If you really want "to see more people building Adventure Towers in their backyard." I think it's simple. Don't sell the plans, give them away.
Hey, if the BUG guy can give away CAD drawings of Ultralight Gliders, I don't see why you couldn't give away playset plans...
http://home.att.net/~m--sandlin/bug.htm
Congratulations on the spot in MAKE anyway.
Can you at least divulge the angle the uprights lean in, looks to be about 60 degrees to me. A few close-up pictures of the joints would be nice too.
Have a nice day,
Barry
Posted by: Barry Grumbine | November 06, 2009 at 05:37 PM
Tom responding to Barry's comment...
I'll add some new photos of the Adventure Tower brackets in a couple of days.
Barry asks about the angle of the uprights - - I don't know what that angle is. I can tell you how it's made though: connect three 16 ft long 4x6 beams at one end and stand up like a tripod. The base of that tripod will be 12 feet long on each side (12 ft long 4x6). If I knew how to use Google Sketch Up (http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/) I bet I could figure out the angle measurements. Any Sketch Up experts out there?
Posted by: Tom Heck | November 06, 2009 at 09:56 PM
Saw the piece in Make. I'm inspired. Can't wait to see the photos of the custom brackets.
Posted by: Geordon | November 14, 2009 at 07:31 PM
Tom, Looks like your kids have a blast on the tower. Half the fun is trying to figure some of the plans myself.
Did I read it here or in Make that you had an engineer friend design the brackets? Do you know what gauge steel they used? Was the choice based on potential load of half the neighbour kids on the tower at the one time? I have a neighbour who is a blacksmith so I am going to see if he can knock out some brackets. Otherwise I am thinking a 60 degree miter cut and a 10" or 12" bolts will get the tripod base and platform joists attached to the legs. Did you already try that and did it fail?
Would giving away the plans with a suggested donation get around hte liability issue?
Posted by: Peter | April 09, 2010 at 07:14 PM