diy zipline
 

anyone ever built one? what and where did you get parts? I am not looking for flying over canyons...just looking to maybe add to my yard maybe 150' or so, close to the ground, would prefer just a handle option instead of harness...

My parents built on about 20 years ago for me when I was a kid now my 2 kids are enjoying it. It was about 150 feet long with a swing type seat that worked perfect. It had a handle at first then dad moved it to a swing seat. We got all the parts at a commercial rigging or wire rope supply. At the stop end we put a pvc pipe about 10 feet long and some springs to let the pully hit to soften the impact and to keep you from hitting the tree. I will take aim pics next time I am up there. Maybe this week or next. Where are you located? I will try to find a supplier for you. We are in the heavy construction business so it was easy for us but it want be too hard for you. Oh yeah you will need a large turnbuckle to tighten the line too.

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Yeah pics would be very helpful. I'm sure I can find the wire near, but wasn' t sure if could just find a pulley somewhere and have my buddy weld handlebars on, or maybe just just buy a system somewhere. We were just at Disneyland and they had a tire zipline in California Adventure. My kids loved it and I was bummed because I was too big and too old to use it, so I'm gonna build my own....who needs Disneyland anyway? :)

Me and my brother built one. We used a rope, a pulley we found in grandpa's barn, a stick for a handle, and no way to stop at the end. We had a blast until mom shut those schenanagans down.

Safety 3rd

I am going up there today. I will snap some pics.

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Here is a couple pics of the stop assembly and the pully. Take into account this thing is 20+ years old and now my kids are enjoying it. Be sure to get a good quality cable. I think ours is a brain cable. If you tell the supplier the span and loads they can suggest the correct size. I know the 1st cable dad put up years ago was cable from phone company that they use for guy wires. It only lasted a month and we wore through it. So get a good one 1st time. They should also be able to get you a pully. We made ours but u should be able to buy one.
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Do some online searches. They make pretty decent kits for a few hundred bucks. My kids built one in our front yard with just rope, some tie-downs and a pulley from the local hardware store. It's only about 50, but sure does keep them entertained!

http://www.backyardziplines.com
http://www.ziplinegear.com

yeah, i've been pricing out some of the stuff from the local hardware store and it almost might make sense just to buy one of the kits...they are actually not that bad priced.
Trent, that looks like your parents have some cool property to work with. That's about what I was envisioning. I was told to do some sort of spring like you got, or suspend a beam between 2 trees and have the pulley die into the beam so you don't fly into the trees. Did the spring seem to do the trick?

I think the idea is to set it up so that the slope in the cable/rope is such that you'll actually be going uphill for the last 1/4 or so of the zip line and this will slow you down toward the end. As a safety precaution, you can do something like the spring above or just tie a knot in the rope that prevents the pulley from passing that point. That's what we did with ours.

The spring did the trick. On very long commercial line you do start to slow down at the end, on a small line like you are wanting I would have the line tight as possible with a nice down hill slope. When we were kids hitting the end fast was the best part. If you are holding a handle it may not be so good bit on a seat it was awesome. We would push each other to get even more speed. Even my girls today love hitting the end and swinging up. The pipe or spacer just keeps you from hitting the tree.

I would not use rope of this will be permanent. We wore out a aluminum cable in a month before we went to steel. It is going to be some trial and error so before I cut the excess off the cable I would give it a run or two. We had a stand on the start end to climb up in because the cable was high and as kids we couldn't get in the seat. I will try to vid my girls this week on it for you.

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After looking at the backyard zipline kits this would be the route I would take if doing it today. They look very nice and complete. I like the handle and seat together.

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will post pics soon. I found what I was lookin for at railrunnerzipline.com 200 ft long on a gentle slope has been fun, but unfortunately it isn't quite safe just yet. To accommodate for sag in the line, we are at appx 12' on each end which means we use a ladder for takeoff and someone has to catch the kids at the bottom. Oh yeah, need a brake too because right now if noone catches you at bottom you smack the tree... For the kids tho we just had 2 adults with a water balloon launcher (surgical tubing) slowing them down before they hit. Fun stuff.

Yeah years ago when I was about 10. I made one that goes between two trees accross my property. Needless to say i got stuck on the line for a few hours.

Okay, here are a few links. I don't know how to post them right here (too big) so here are some youtube links. The first is my daughter before we installed a brake and just used the water balloon launcher. The 2nd vid is my son after we installed a seat and a brake at the end. It's been a hit for all ages this summer....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc9y6vSNZsk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbUcxgiY4qA

thought I should post some of our slipnslide too. 100ft w/ sprinkler system. If you can't live on the lake, this is a pretty fun alternative.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtpHhqZwqzc&NR=1

I'm hopin this post works, this is the way the grownups slipslide...

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1957536225125