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I built a simple swing set for my toddler daughter. I just want to make sure that the beam can hold up for the two swings. I have two 6x6x12 post set 3 ft deep at 23 inch apart for a slide. Than I ran a 6x4x12 beam across the top of the two post. On each side of the post I have a swing. I will be adding sport 4x4 post connecting the 6x6 to the 6x4 on each side (drawn in red). Any support would be great. Used #2 pressure treated wood.

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Travis
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  • Please fix your sideways image. That's rather jarring to your readers. – isherwood Jun 02 '21 at 16:50
  • It looks like your beam is flat (oriented horizontally). Is that correct? Also, I don't understand your statement about adding support. Please revise to clarify. – isherwood Jun 02 '21 at 16:51
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    Experience tells me this is likely to work for a toddler, for a while, until larger children (cousins, etc) come to play. Stabilizing with an A-frame on the end of the beam is a must, sooner or later. – Fredric Shope Jun 02 '21 at 17:03
  • Any way to support the beam without adding A-Frame? – Travis Jun 02 '21 at 17:15
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    Cross-brace the two poles to provide rigidity from skewing from side to side. Also use the slide to provide front-to-back bracing by planting a post in concrete under the bottom end of the slide and screwing the front lip of the slide to it. If the slide isn't strong enough to provide bracing, run a diagonal beam directly underneath it, from the existing verticals to a new post in a concrete bed under the front lip of the slide. If you do all that, and you stick with the plastic swings and nylon ropes, your structure won't be the weak point. – jay613 Jun 02 '21 at 17:36
  • I agree with @FredricShope -- A 150+ lb teen swinging enthusiastically on the blue swing could take this beyond its limits. IDK if those limits are the ropes, the hardware, or your structure. – jay613 Jun 02 '21 at 17:39
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    With time, the free end tends to deflect downward which renders the swing uncomfortable or unsafe. Also, you need to make sure the posts are buried deep enough to resist the force caused by the swing. Travis has a good point. – r13 Jun 02 '21 at 17:41
  • 1) Three feet deep is not going to withstand the bending moments when the kids get older. That's the **minimum** for 6' fence posts, which have considerably less loading than this will. 2) The strength of the beam to carry gravity loads comes from it's height, so a 2x10 will be considerably stronger than a 4x6. Additionally, it seems you put the 4x6 horizontally rather than vertically, the stronger axis. 3) Do the math before building, not after. – whatsisname Jun 02 '21 at 20:56
  • _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ – Jasen Jun 03 '21 at 05:50
  • @fedric shope make that an answer I agree as others do. I built similar out of conduit in the past the slide created part of the A frame support not sure if the plastic slide will do but we added a cargo net with a pole that met at the center top going down to the ground at ~30 deg the cargo net was the ladder to the slide, I think the kids played on the cargo net more than anything. The conduit did twist with big (over 100 lbs kids ), that was 4’ in the ground and the holes were 12” in diameter concrete filled. The cross bar was about 6’ off the ground. – Ed Beal Jun 03 '21 at 07:33
  • If I add A Frame support to the ends should be fine correct? – Travis Jun 03 '21 at 13:15

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