HI I am new to this site, building a zip line sometime soon

[akidatheart]

I will introduce myself. My name is Mike, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I have a project I will be embarking on to entertain myself, my two boys ages 12 and 14, their friends and any other adults who might find interest in riding my zip line on my property. Longest run of three should be around 130' with others in the 100' range. This should be a pretty fun ride once completed. Property is a half acre with elevation differentiation of about 20+ feet from the top back of my property to the lowest area in the orchard.

Sooo, I would like to get started planning, and engineering a safely built mini theme park... LOL This multiple zip line and tree fort(s) would be for the purpose of playing "Commando" with Air Soft guns. The boys and I envision teams of 8 kids each on each team, some on the ground forces and some snipers from the forts and zip lines...

Would I need to sketch a set of drawings for someone to evaluate what size cable, pole diameter, depth, length of run, etc? I presume so. I would first like to say that it might be cool to have cable strong enough for the zip line so that two kids could ride simultaneously or, one large adult could ride at a time, say a rating to accommodate up to 375 lbs? This would be for the two growing boys at 185lbs each over time, of course. The adults would be no more than 250lbs I would imagine.

 

[berkeman]

I will introduce myself. My name is Mike, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I have a project I will be embarking on to entertain myself, my two boys ages 12 and 14, their friends and any other adults who might find interest in riding my zip line on my property. Longest run of three should be around 130' with others in the 100' range. This should be a pretty fun ride once completed. Property is a half acre with elevation differentiation of about 20+ feet from the top back of my property to the lowest area in the orchard.

Sooo, I would like to get started planning, and engineering a safely built mini theme park... LOL This multiple zip line and tree fort(s) would be for the purpose of playing "Commando" with Air Soft guns. The boys and I envision teams of 8 kids each on each team, some on the ground forces and some snipers from the forts and zip lines...

Would I need to sketch a set of drawings for someone to evaluate what size cable, pole diameter, depth, length of run, etc? I presume so. I would first like to say that it might be cool to have cable strong enough for the zip line so that two kids could ride simultaneously or, one large adult could ride at a time, say a rating to accommodate up to 375 lbs? This would be for the two growing boys at 185lbs each over time, of course. The adults would be no more than 250lbs I would imagine.

Welcome to the PF, Mike.

One of the rules here is that we don't discuss potentially dangerous activities. We get requests like this all the time here, and TBH, it is just not a smart thing to be getting your safety advice over the Internet. It's better to consult a local expert about how to build in reasonable safety factors.

Best wishes with your project. Stay safe!

 

[akidatheart]

Okay, I understand, I will consult here locally. Good advice for sure. Might someone be able to assist me later with questions relating to excavating under my home to create a wine cellar / game room?

 

[berkeman]

Okay, I understand, I will consult here locally. Good advice for sure. Might someone be able to assist me later with questions relating to excavating under my home to create a wine cellar / game room?

Since that is structural, you will need a building permit from your local Building/Planning department. They can point you to design services that can meet your local building codes.

 

[Evo]

Also, this section is for introductions only, not for asking questions. If you have questions, you must post them in the appropriate forum, but the same advice goes for excavating under your home, that is not something you can be helped with online, you would need to have professionals come out and evaluate your situation.

Thread closed. Please read the rules and instructions posted on this site before posting.

Thank you.