The "Tire d" Swing Tries to Re-Tire

Two years ago, I posted about making a tire swing and how I did it. Here is the link to that post.

Last week, we had four little girls over to visit and they all climbed on the swing at the same time, and when I went out later, the tire swing was on the ground. I guess the wear from the weather and the weight of all the girls was more than the "tire d" swing could take.

You can see in the pictures how the tire ripped allowing the knots on the ropes to pull through. I had to cut out one of the other knots to get the tire off the ropes.

Because the swing gets used each time we have company, I didn't want to remove it from our yard. I thought I may have to start over but didn't have the desire, tire or time. I didn't want to go get a new tire from the tire store so as I was pulling the old one off, I had an idea. I wondered if I could re-use the tire by flipping it over and drilling bigger holes in the bottom where I had drain holes drilled and reuse the same rope that it was hanging on before.

This turned out to be harder than I would have thought because the ropes after years of tight knots and weight, got really stiff. I finally took a knife and cut through the knots and put duct tape on the bottoms so I would be able to re-thread the rope through the new holes.

I took a 1 plush inch drill bit and drilled the bottom holes where I had drain holes to make them bigger so the rope would fit through. When making your hole, you need to take into account how thick of a rope you will be using on your swing and use a drill bit that will be just the size of the rope so that when it is knotted, it won't pull through or rip.

I drilled the holes and then had to use a chair to hold the tire up so I could thread the rope through the holes and tie the knot.

It was hard to get the old rope to curl enough to knot but with time I was able to do it. I wondered if I got it wet, if it would have been easier to tie. I didn't try it but once I got the knots tied inside the tire holes, I then jumped on it dry to make sure the knots would hole some serious weight. (Yes, I did the jumping :0)

I then got the knots wet to set them. I had Princess number five jump and swing to set the knots and make them secure. I also tied some rope around the knots making them a bit bigger as I didn't want any question that it would hold two or three children as they always swing in groups for some reason. Lastly, I put some duct tape around the knots to make sure the edges didn't fray.

The new swing has been used and enjoyed in its first week.