Metal Swingset

In my opinion metal swing sets are junk. The reviews are correct. The are not stable, they rust, etc.. I have a 20 month old and a 3 year old and just recently purchased a wood swing set with a little fort. The 20 month old loves it. He climbs on it, slides down the slide, plays peek a boo from the fort etc.Invest the money in a wooden one from the start. The kids will get years and years of use out of it. I purchased mine at Menards and am very happy with it. You can build on to it as money becomes available.( all though with kids money never seems to come available). It is alot more stable and i feel safe with the kids climbing on it. Walmart also has some nice kits. Stay away from play sets from toys r us . They too are pieces of garbage. The bolts are thinner, the brackets cheap. Remember your little ones will be playing on it for years to come. They will get bigger and you want something safe for them to play on.

Before buying a metal set I would check into a wooden sets. Ours is 18 years old and still looks great. We did have to replace the rocket rider last year. I know this was years ago but we saved a lot of money by buying the plans and purchasing the wood uncut seperate. I do not know if you still get this way or not.

We just put up our metal swingset a few weekends ago and OMG, what a pain it was! I think my neighbors all got an earful from my husband while he was doing this and my daughter just learned how to say one of them as well! lol In the end he said it was not that bad though, a few of the bolts broke while doing it (thankfully he is a pack rat and had extras) and the directions were not in the right order. Half way through he stopped and read them from start to finish before going any further so he did not have to re-do any of the steps again. It took him alone to do it 3.5 hours to set up.

It has been well worth it though! My daughter loves playing on it and we have some friends of hers come over for play dates to play as well. She is only 20 months old so we did swap out 2 of the 3 swings for baby swings but otherwise it is great! It is also sturdy and will last for a few years atleast.

We considered the wooden playsets but I just could not see spending that money on it either. We got ours at Toys R Us the day after Thanksgiving for $80 and it was normally $160... Couldnt pass that up!

Like another poster said... check out other places to buy. One place I always see some of the big sets like Little Tikes and the wooden ones for affordable prices is Craigslist.com. They are used but since they are well built they will last for MANY years!

Good luck to you and I hope you get to enjoy the summer outside with your kids!

Try checking Craigslist or garage sales and the paper classifieds for a wooden playset- four of my neighbors have gotten them free or for less than $200 by doing that. All they really needed was to be restained and have the screws tightened up and they look nicer/will last longer than a metal one. It seems like when the kids finally outgrow the swingset, families can't wait to get them out of their yard- good luck!I know my husband is counting the years to get rid of ours :)Good Luck!

We just purchased a used wooden one for $300 bucks! It was great. We did not have to take the whole thing apart to bring it here, so set up was a snap. I highly suggest you check your local paper, the ad we found was in that paper they throw in your driveway, craigs list ect... We are so happy we did! Your kids are young enough that you could look this summer and next...I hear spring and fall are the best times when people want them out of their yard.

Good luck!
K.

Hi, just a quick suggestion. The little plastic ones sound like a good idea while your kids are so young, but, I would keep in mind that if you DO decide to invest in the exspensive wooden type right now, they will grow into it and play with it for years to come. My sister put up a Rainbow Play System and we thought the price was outrageous and did not buy one. When I go to her house, I am able to swing with my kids, it is that fabulous! There is no way I could do that on a metal one. By the way, my kids are 12, 9 and 4 and I am still waiting for my husband to find the money to buy the darn Rainbow. It's already too late for my 12 year old, but my 4 year old is getting the shaft. Looks like another summer of visiting parks. Choose wisely, unless you are in charge of the money!

Good Morning K.

you know, they sell the wooden ones as do-it-yourself kits. They are cheaper then if you hired someone to do it. And they last longer then the metal ones. With your children being so little yet, you will have years with it!

We did get a metal swing set, and the kids love it!! They actually do like it better than the expensive wooden ones. The metal ones tend to have more swings and a better variety of swings. We did get ours from Toys R Us and hired the company that Toys R Us reccomended to put it togther. This was about four years ago and the set up cost was $100.

Just a note about wooden swing sets. Pressure-treated wood can leach chemicals - like arsenic. There is somr new wood treatmeant called ACQ, which uses copper instead of arsenic. Good luck.

K.

I don't necessarily have a response to the metal swing set, but just a tip. I was able to find a used Little tykes swing set for 150(retail 550) and they are sturdy and take the kids up to 4-5 yrs old. some places to look are the sales adds, freecycle.org, and joliet yard sales.com Good luck!

We got a basic metal 150.00 dollar swing set for my 4 year old daughter from walmart and it was not to hard to put together took about 3 to 4 hours to put together but has been well worth it she plays with it every day and loves it,I think she will be playing on it for atleast 4 more years.

Dont do it! I have 3 boys (and finally a girl) and I didnt want to invest in a wooden swing set either. The boys destroyed the metal one in less than 2 summers. Now I am going to go get a wooden one from Toys R Us. The lowest price model is $399. If I would have just spent the money to begin with my daughter would have something to play on. Now we just have this broken up metal death trap in my yard that I'm still waiting for my husband to dismantle. If you have a handy dandy husband (unlike mine) you could get a kit for even cheaper at Lowes or Home Depot.

K.,

The easiest way to get a used metal swing set is to get it for free from a neighbor when their kids have out-grown it, they're glad to get rid of it - then you just get a couple of guys to carry the whole thing down the street to your yard and there's no disassembly and re-assembly headaches. Maybe you could place an ad or put the word out with neighbors, whatever.

f.y.i. WalMart carries the cutest little plastic (but sturdy) swing and slide combination, it's like $35.00 and it's just the right size for young toddlers.

good luck !

I bypassed the metal swingset route, and went with wooden. We used a company called "Detailed Play Systems" you can find them on-line. You purchase the plans, then buy the wood. Here's the nice thing. You can purchase the plan you want for the future, but only put up the swingset portion for now. You select the grade and quality of wood (although they recommend some over others). We built it ourselves and we LOVE it.

Good luck!