Your monkey bars will be 12 feet (3. 7 m) long, 7 1⁄2 feet (2. 3 m) tall, and about 3 feet (0. 91 m) wide when you’re finished.
You can buy a post hole digger at a hardware or outdoor care store. if you don’t have a post hole digger, it’s okay to use a shovel instead.
You will need about 3 cubic feet (0. 085 m3) of gravel total for all of the holes. Gravel also helps improve drainage so water doesn’t cause the posts to rot.
Look for the straightest posts available so your monkey bars are less likely to bow or bend. Avoid using posts that aren’t made for outdoor use, or else they could rot when they get wet.
Check the specific instructions on the bags of concrete you’re using to see if there are any special mixing instructions. Wear safety glasses and a dust mask when you’re mixing the concrete so you don’t get any of the powder if your nose or eyes. Do not use monkey bars if they haven’t been stabilized in the ground since they could easily tip over while you’re swinging around.
If you need to, lean board, sticks, or stones against the side of the post to keep it in position.
Both of the short ends will be about the same distance apart so you only have to measure one side.
Save any scrap wood you have left since you may be able to use it later in the build. You’ll need approximately 18 feet (5. 5 m) total for your steps.
You can adjust the distance between the steps if you need to. For example, you may shorten the gaps if you’re building them for smaller kids or make them larger if you’re building them for yourself. Just be sure you can easily reach the top of the post when you stand on the top bar.
These pieces will help support the weight of the horizontal runs and make them easier to install.
Always check that the supports are level, or else the horizontal runs won’t sit evenly on them.
Ask a helper or two to hold the boards in place so they don’t move around or shift. You don’t need to cut the 2 in × 6 in (5. 1 cm × 15. 2 cm) board unless you shortened the distance between your posts.
If the board doesn’t press against the post tightly, try using a C-clamp to hold the pieces together while you attach the screws.
Monkey bar kits usually cost around $30 USD. You can use any style as long as they mount to a flat surface.
For example, if the horizontal run measures 144 inches (370 cm) and you have 9 rungs, your equation would be 144/(9 +1). Simplify the divisor: 144/(10). Solve the equation: 144/10 = 14. 4. So the distance between each bar will be 14. 4 in (37 cm). This is only a recommendation so you space your monkey bars across the entire length. Keep in mind how far you or the person using the monkey bars can reach since you may need to get more bars and set them closer to each other.
You will not place bars at the ends of the runs, so you will have to reach out for the first one from the top step.
Some monkey bars come with screws that require a star-shaped bit, so you may need to buy one if you don’t already own it for your screwdriver.
