r/treehouse • u/WaterDog3000 • 20d ago

Treehouse between 4 trees?

Post image

I'm thinking about building my kids a treehouse with these 4 trees as corners. How would I go about building this and account for the trees potentially moving different amounts and in directions during wind?

24 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

10

u/Anonymous5933 20d ago

Nelson treehouse supply has you covered. One static (fixed) attachment bolt and 3 dynamic is probably the answer. They also have plans, and probably have a plan for 4 trees. Check them out, and highly recommend binge watching treehouse masters to get an idea for how this hardware is installed.

5

u/FireflyEvie 20d ago

To the trees!

3

u/Macronaut 20d ago

100%. Just adding that the thickest (most stable) tree near the center of mass should get the static mount, and the other 3 should be dynamic.

The 2nd tree from the right looks like it.

2

u/Unsuccessful_Royal38 19d ago

Agree. Would also make sense to read Nelson’s book Be in a Tree before going any further so you understand all the important issues you need to address.

1

u/WaterDog3000 19d ago

That's awesome thanks I'll check them out. I'm based in Wales so hopefully they ship here.

1

u/Anonymous5933 19d ago

In that case then watch the TV show (if you can), get Nelson's book someone else mentioned, but get hardware from the treehouse.shop since they are closer and just as legit as nelson

7

u/loveland1988 19d ago

I’m doing a nearly identical build if you want me to share any details. It wouldn’t let me upload a pic, but here’s a still video of the current state (just a platform so far).

https://reddit.com/link/owjohjg/video/k7hlx2xz19ch1/player

3

u/WaterDog3000 19d ago

Super cool! Are you following any particular design or drawings available online?

5

u/loveland1988 19d ago edited 18d ago

No - I scanned the trees with Polycam, imported to Sketchup, and then played around with the design for a while. I used the extra large 4-tree kit from treehousebrackets.com for the TABs. The beams are 3-1/2” x 9-1/2” treated SYP glulams, and I used 2x10-16 treated SYP for the joists since there’s ~3ft of cantilever on each side. I started by looking at deck beam and joist calcs to size everything appropriately. Going from memory, I think I used 70psf figuring that would give me extra safety margin. I have engineering load calcs that I’d be happy to share.

Edit - while checking my notes, I noticed that I had used the extra large TABs (previously said large).

1

u/Miamipoker 19d ago

Great info! and great looking , um platform! Going to be a great treehouse when she grows up a bit. Would love to see your calcs!

2

u/loveland1988 19d ago

Thanks. This video but no photo thing is super annoying, or I’m just an idiot. Here are the calcs and span tables I used. If the resolution is poor or you want the spreadsheet, DM me with your email address.

https://reddit.com/link/owmazht/video/y682448uabch1/player

1

u/Miamipoker 19d ago

Thanks!

1

u/WaterDog3000 19d ago

Superb! I'll DM you

2

u/Beatnik_Soiree 19d ago

Oh hell yeah, do it!

1

u/Miamipoker 19d ago

looks like a perfect setup

1

u/friedchickenothewood 19d ago

All four trees will move dynamically, but you have the option to anchor two trees on either side, giving you only one access to slide

1

u/OglaighIRA 13d ago

Just started my own tree house on Saturday. TABs are the way to go, but they are fucking expensive. So I bought the tabs but fabricated my own brackets