I have two big trees in my backyard that happen to be about 5 feet apart. I wanted to rig up about an 8' high swing between these two trees using a 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" horizontal beam (in a vertical position for better strength) and then hang the swing from that using two swing hooks with lucite in the middle that are made for this purpose.
I've already constructed the seat part, 3' wide by 11" deep, using four planks. Now I'm ready to hang the swing and I was wondering what would be the best way to anchor the supports for the beam into the trees.
I was thinking about using two 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" supports for the beam, about 9 inches long. Drill a hole in each of them, then nailing them into the tree with about a 5 or 6 inch spike. Then put two braces on either side of the horizontal beam so it wouldn't come off the bottom support.
Does this sound workable? I want to make sure I get the beam up securely, because if it fell down on my head it would probably kill me, lol.
Oh yeah - the ridges of the bark on these trees are pretty deep, so I need something that will go pretty deep into the trees.