Wood Swing Specifications for Prowell Woodworks

product specifications
PORCH SWING

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PORCH SWINGS SPECIFICATIONS

Prowell's Porch Swing represents the only product that bears some attention to physical liability. Please take care to hire someone sufficiently qualified to install your swing. This would involve accessing the overhead supports for proper load-bearing properties.

PDF Downloads

* Step by Step Full Installation Text

Various Mounting Applications

* Mounting with Chain

*Mounting with Rope

*Mounting to Stand #1

*Mounting to Stand #2

The Front Porch Swing has over the centuries become an icon of American Culture. It represents leisure, associated with conversation and the long warm evenings of a pace often linked with a bygone era. Let's spend just a few moments to insure your Porch Swing is installed safely and your conversations don't risk being truncated with a crashing blow to the porch floor itself.

Prowell's Porch Swings include the following hardware components:

1) A pair of 60" x 3/16" welded, coated chain. (Or optional 1/2" white cotton rope w/brass crimps)
2) Six Clevis Pendulum Connectors
3) Two Heavy duty Swing Springs.
4) Two Optional swivel mounting brackets (depending on your framing configuration)

CHAIN SUPPORTS

Coated Chain with Clevis Pendulum Connectors and two 6' lengths of uncoated chain. The chain and connectors arrive fully assembled and require only a connection to the springs and swivel-mounts on the ceiling beams.

Typical connection at the Y.
Stainless clevis pendulum connector

The swings with chain supports arrive with the chains bundled and fully assembled. Requiring only the connection to the overhead springs and swivel mounts.

SWIVEL-MOUNTED PLATES AND SPRINGS

Bolts or Lags not Included

The swivel mounting plates are primarily applicable to those sites with appropriate framing specifications. They provide a little extra swing ease, and are best utilized when the swing is parallel to the overhead mounting joists. Because every site is different, with some requiring lags and others machine bolts, as well as the widths of various framing members, the type and specification of the actual mounting bolt is best left to the installer's discretion.

ROPE SUPPORTS

Rope supports are an optional application, relegated to Porch swings.
Outdoor Swings, fully exposed to the elements, are better served with the coated chain supports

Cotton Fiber Rope and Brass Crimps. For Porch Swings preferring rope instead of chain, Prowell provides 40 feet of 7/16" diameter fiber fabric white rope, shown to the left, in addition to the Clevis Pendulum Connectors connecting the rope to the swing itself. All connections are shipped or delivered so that the rope simply loops onto the spring that mounts from the ceiling connection.

rope

Rope supports for porch swings

Brass Rope Crimps

The Crimps are best crimped with a vise or large vise grips.
If they are crimped to a rope diameter less than spec'd, the brass may crack.

The crimps are sourced through local horse and saddlery shops, where it is used for leader-rope to withstand 650lbs of pressure drawn potentially by, well . . . a wild, full-grown horse.

ROPE ILLUSTRATIONS

The swings with rope supports arrive with the rope bundled. The connections to the I-Bolts on the swing is made easy with the Clevis Connectors provided and in place. The connection at the ceiling requires crimping the provided brass crimps, securing the rope to the overhead connection. This often can require either a bench vise or large channel locks.

Foregoing the green swivel mounts to secure the spring directly to the ceiling framing. The rope is a continuous loop, crimped about 12" below the spring to prevent an unchecked pivot.

Rope supports are often a single loop to the ceiling mounted springs, forgoing the swivel mount.

custom wood porch swing with cotton rope

ropes and springs to hang wood porch swings

llustrating a few basic principles regarding installation of your Porch Swing

Chain Supports
(PDF Download)

Rope Supports
(PDF Download)

Prowell's Swing Stand #2
(PDF Download)

Porch Swing Installation Guide

Always measure your porch or patio ceiling for height. This is to determine the length of the swing chains. Choose a wide area for swinging back and forth. Be sure to set the bolts with enough clearance from your porch rail to avoid striking the railing.

A standard is about 12"-16" from the railing. Locate a solid overhead beam and install two bolts or lags spaced 3" further apart than the width of the swing to hold chains (this is to insure the chain or rope does not burnish against the side of the swing). If using lags, drill pilot holes slightly less in diameter than the lags. This not only prevents the wood from possibly splitting, but insures the lags have a good thread purchase into the wood.

When setting the Porch Swing in place, there is plenty of forgiveness to adjust the eventual height by simply moving up or down the length of the chain. A average height from the floor to the seat of the swing would be about 17 inches.

If you are using rope, the rope will ship already mounted to the swing in two lengths per each side of the swing. These two lengths are commonly tied off at the brackets or spring within the overhead framing. It is acceptable for each rope to tie off individually to a pivot or carabiner, but being careful to insure the lengths of each rope make for a balanced swing.

Check that your hardware is installed correctly before testing your swing.
* DON'T leave children unattended in a swing or let them stand up on a swing.
* DON'T hang or support swings from brick or masonry.
• ALWAYS hang the swing from solid framing.

A typical 60" swing will weight approximately 80 lbs.

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