Make Your Own "Tire d" Swing

Last week, we were blessed to make some new friends. These girls were the ages of my girls. After playing some games, they went out to the yard to play. While some jumped on the tramp, one of them decided to swing in our tire swing.

The girl's father had come to help me work on my computer. As we looked out the window where we were working, his daughter (who looked asleep) was gently gliding back and forth as the wind was rocking her. It brought to mind the lullaby "Rock a bye baby, in the tree tops, when the wind blows the cradle will rock."

This nursery rhyme had a happy ending however as in a few minutes she came in a bit shy and admitted she had fallen asleep in the swing.

Being single, I wouldn't have thought to put up a tire swing or even known how. My best friend's husband put one up in his yard one day and all the children would wait to take turns on the swing. I had a similar tree and asked him if he would show me how to make my own swing.

I was surprised at how easy it was. So, here for everyone to see how easy it is, are the instructions.

Get a large tire. I used one I took off my Suburban. Most people don't want to pay the dump fee so getting an old large used tire is the easy part. Any tire store would probably be glad to give you one.

Pick a tree. Find a branch that is strong enough to hold several children at a time as I have seen 4 larger kids on it several times. Make sure the branch is not too close to the trunk or they will hit it when swinging. Also, there can't be any lower branches that the swing will hit or it makes the swing lurch and hurts the tree and possibly your children.

Find a thick rope. The length depends on how high the tree branch is from the tire. I used three ropes so you would measure how close to the ground you want the tire up to the height of the branch and give a foot and a half for tying knots on the tire side and depending on the diameter of the branch you are putting it around, 4-6 more feet to tie it onto the tree.

Once you know how thick your rope is, get a drill bit as close to the size of the rope as possible. One bit size bigger than the rope is best. Next, drill three holes at even intervals around the top of the tire. These holes are for the rope to go through.

Next, take a smaller drill bit and drill holes every 4 inches or so around the bottom of the tire so that the water that will collect from rain or sprinklers will be able to drain and not be a nesting ground for mosquitoes or murky water getting your children wet when they swing. We didn't make enough and collected leaves and a small amount of water when the swing was level.

Cut one third of the rope off and leave the other 2/3rd in one length. You can climb the tree and shimmy up the branch. (I can't suggest that because if you fall, you could sue me so here is what I suggest.) You get a really sturdy ladder and have 4 people hold the base while you climb to the tree branch. Fold the longer section of rope in half and hang that loop over the tree. Tie a large knot in one end of the shorter rope and hang the knot through the hanging loop in the center of the longer rope. Then, place the two loose ends of the longer rope through the center of the loop on either side of the knotted end of the shorter rope. Pull tightly. This is where you get creative and make a few more amazing knots and make sure it looks just like the picture. (ha ha) Really, we just kept making knots. We didn't want the rope to rub the bark off the tree killing the branch so we tied the rope to itself.

Next, we stuck the tire on a table while we put the rope through the holes. We stuck tape on the ends of the rope first making it like a shoelace and it was easy to thread through that way.

Then we made sure that the lengths were even and tied knots once the rope was threaded through the top holes. We made the knots big enough they wouldn't pull through. Remove the table and the next thing is VERY IMPORTANT. PLEASE DO THIS!!!! I noticed after a day that the kids would stand on the swing and one would twist it around and around and the child's head or arm/hand could get caught in the ropes! I took some copper wire covered with plastic and wrapped it down low enough on the rope that the three ropes didn't have enough play to get anything caught when they twirled around. If you have a tall tree, those ropes could easily choke a child. (The nurse in me is always thinking.) So, please wrap a wire or another rope around the three hanging ropes low enough to keep there from being ANY chance of a child getting hurt. Another thing is make sure that the swing will not hit any other branches or the trunk of the tree before you make the effort only to find out you wasted your time and money. Also, make a test run yourself before allowing any children on it. Make sure the ropes won't pull through dumping a child on the ground. Take the swing out several feet and walk it around in a circle to ensure it isn't hitting anything on the lawn or the tree.

The last thing, large children tend to like to get on the swing in two or threes and push off etc. This causes the tire to rip and the rope to pull out. I limited the swing to one child over about age five at a time. Because of that problem, I had to retie the knot on one side of the swing. This caused it to recline. The kids actually like the swing better at an angle and it drains much better. Either way, it has brought years of fun to our home. You can tell just how much use it gets by looking at the grass below it in the picture.

So, if you want a rest, our "tire d" swings the best!