How to Make an A-frame Swing

Build an A-frame swing set in a few hours with the proper materials.

You can build a custom A-frame swing set in your backyard that your whole family can enjoy. The structure of an A-frame swing set is designed for safety, durability and play. You can customize the swing set to meet your needs by adding more swing seats or full bucket baby swing seats. You can build a wooden A-frame swing with pressure-treated wood and other materials.

Things You'll Need

• 12-foot long, 4-by-4 pressure-treated wood posts (6)
• 12-foot long, 4-by-6 pressure-treated wood post
• Children's full bucket swing seats (2) and full bucket baby swing seat
• Swing chains (supplied with the swing seats)
• Metal post brackets with hardware (4)
• 3 A-frame brackets
• Cordless drill with battery and magnetic screw tip
• Circular saw
• Drill bits
• Level
• Post hole digger
• Nail gun
• Power miter saw
• Power router
• Safety glasses
• Socket set
• Concrete

Instructions

1. Lay out the design of the swing set on the ground with the materials in place as they will be assembled: posts, children's full bucket swing seats, full bucket baby swing seat and chains. Make sure there is proper space between each swing. There should be no more than 10 feet between each post.

2. Dig a 12-inch diameter hole 18-inches deep for each wood post.

3. Prepare the wood posts. Draw lines on each end of four of the 4x4 posts where they will join to form the A-frame. Cut notches on the lines for the 4-by-6 top rail with a circular at a 12-degree angle.

4. Assemble the A-frames. Cut cross braces from the remaining two 4-by-4s with a power miter saw set to 12 degrees. Clamp the notches of the A-frames together and use a nail gun to secure the frame.

5. Use a power router to smooth the edges of the A-frames. Mark the locations where each swing will be placed. Drill holes at these marks.

6. Secure the posts into the holes that you dug in Step 2.

7. Use the A-bar swing set bracket to join the posts together. An A-bar is the steel frame bracket for the swing beam that joins the top part of the posts into an A-shape. Place the top rail in the bracket and join the top bracket to the top rail with a bolt. If needed, add a diagonal corner brace for support.

8. Pour concrete into the holes with the posts. For this step, you will need another person to hold the posts in place while you add water and mix the concrete inside of each hole.

9. Drill holes through each side of the posts into the cross braces and secure the braces with screws.

10. Screw in the swing hooks and hook on the swings.

References

• HGTV: How To: Building A Custom A-Frame Children's Swing Set

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish