Follow along with our total land use/obstacle course project

In an effort to use more of our property we are installing a path and various structures. Follow the adventure here.

A few pics of what's happening right now.

Some more telephone pole pics. I'm going to do a map and some drawings of the plan in a bit.

Husband imagines quite a few obstacles from Full Metal Jacket. Those that the kids aren't able to do will be put off the path.

We have 30 tester trees coming to see if they can survive without watering. No way we can water trees this far from any water source. Have American Plum, choke cherry and eastern red cedar coming. Box Elder was considered but it said it was a major allergen and we already have severely allergic peeps on our property so not doing that.

We decided to plant some allegedly drought hard saplings all along our path and around our obstacles. We planted 25 American plum, one eastern red cedar and 5 chokecherry.

I was digging the holes and the kids were planting the trees. Very successful system. We used daughters little electric car to drive the trees and tools around the path. It was a nice night of planting.

Some of the various trees we planted around the course are doing really well!

Daughter hurt her leg on our walk. Good thing the path is large and my car is small. Hubs came to pick us up.

I convinced my hubs to let me put up a zipline. Waiting for the wire in the mail and then we'll install it between 2 poles that I had intended to put a bridge across. It's going to be a fairly low and short zipline. Hubs is very concerned about safety. I bought the thickest wire our zipline caribiner could handle (1/4") and we'll see how it goes!

I built a zip line- you really don’t need monster cable. I used 10,000# soft steel cable and what are called “dead ends” from an arborists supply place. That and what is called a haven grip to tension the cable and one lag bolt on each side- and then some testing. The haven grip can be used for tensioning and de-tensioning to make it safe-ish. Total cost was about $100 if you already have a haven grip and comeAlong.

Unfortunately I think I am the only one who uses it with adult friends who miss being kids. Same with the tree house which is basically a hunting stand.

The haven grip is handy to make trellises for kiwi and other monster vines. I get free cable and hardware since the utility is burying lines. And poles!

I was going to make a course along the lines of one used in the military that is infamous. I suspect your husband may know which I am referring to... when I was a kid we would have killed to have something like that. Your kids will love it since they are out pretty far. They will soon find out a broken wrist isn’t the end of the world. It’s a good lesson!

Our zip line is on the crazy side at 240’ but I made it on a slope specifically at an angle that matches well- no more than 4’ drop for an adult. For half of it you have to hold up your knees as an adult. Little kids only go halfway with a line block installed as a brake (just two 2x4 with tire slabs and u-bolts to tighten lightly on the wire).

The secret is getting the right tension and that’s why it’s nice to have the haven grip it makes it a fast job. I think I changed the tension four times in an hour.

Tj Jefferson wrote:I built a zip line- you really don’t need monster cable. I used 10,000# soft steel cable and what are called “dead ends” from an arborists supply place. That and what is called a haven grip to tension the cable and one lag bolt on each side- and then some testing. The haven grip can be used for tensioning and de-tensioning to make it safe-ish. Total cost was about $100 if you already have a haven grip and comeAlong.

Unfortunately I think I am the only one who uses it with adult friends who miss being kids. Same with the tree house which is basically a hunting stand.

The haven grip is handy to make trellises for kiwi and other monster vines. I get free cable and hardware since the utility is burying lines. And poles!

I was going to make a course along the lines of one used in the military that is infamous. I suspect your husband may know which I am referring to... when I was a kid we would have killed to have something like that. Your kids will love it since they are out pretty far. They will soon find out a broken wrist isn’t the end of the world. It’s a good lesson!

It likely would have been fine with thinner cable but it makes my hubs feel way safer to have a thicker cable and I don't care so logn as I get a zip line. lol

I will definitely look into a haven grip for adjusting tension. Ours is going to be about 50'. If it goes well we will add a much much longer one to the other side of the property.

Our zip line is probably close to $100 ish dollars. I bought a really big roll of wire because I want to use it on other obstacles so that was about $100 itself but the amount I'm using on the zip line is small.

I put swings up for the kids yesterday. I learned many valuable things for future obstacle coursing. 1, our drill is not strong enough to drill through a telephone pole. MUST BUY STRONGER DRILL. recommendations welcome. Currently have a Dewalt.

2, we had decided the first level of our clubhouse would be 4 feet and the second would be 10. So I put the swings at 10 feet as they'll act as one of the floor joists later. Looking at it up there I think we need to rethink our floor levels. 10 feet is about half our pole I'd say.

4x6x12 is HEAVY wood and putting that brace up there by myself was probably not the smartest thing ever.

Kids love it though.

So, the zipline is up. It needs tightened more. It seemed really tight initially but as the kids use it more it gets looser. I'm not sure what's up with that. It's high enough that the tractor can go under it to maintain the path but low and slow enough that the kids can be out there unsupervised playing on it, which is good, because they do, a lot. They love it.

Husband moved a nice log out there for me to sit on while I watch them and it's been enjoyable, having this path.

Ladder climber mostly up. We can probably go 5 boards higher but we aren't sure if we want the kids to go that high. Right now the top board is 13.5' high. It feels really high when you're up there.

I received a new drill for my birthday and it cuts through the telephone poles like buttah. Really makes a difference.  

I bought 6' threaded rods and cut them to size. Buying them smaller is WAY WAY more expensive than buying a long one and cutting it.

Husband caught me out putting the boards up without sealing them and made me stop. So I did 3, waited and then did 3 more.

The boards are roughly 2' apart. I say roughly because where the hole went the board went and I'm not that precise.