Pull-up bar construction?

[stevenhogg]

Looking for advice from anyone who has built their own pull-up bar?

Mine's going to have to be outdoors as there is no room in the house and the garage ceiling is too low (I can touch it without jumping).

I wanted to make it about 6+ feet wide to facilitate doing some of the traversing pull-up styles coach has shown us.

My preliminary plan is to sink two 12’ 4x6’s about 3 feet into the ground and use a 1 to 1 5/8” pipe. I would drill a series of holes to make the height adjustable for my family.

So any advice on what or what not to do would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Adam Steer]

Hey,

I think Anthony posted specs for the bar that he built. Do a search for 4x7 and sift through the posts, you will probably find it.

Cheers,
Adam

[Kathryn Woodall]

Steven,
I believe that Anthony's screen name is ABN. If you can't find the post, you could always private message him for a link.

[KD Jones]

Actually, you can't search "4x7," the system doesn't recognize it as a valid search due to length (which is a major problem, because it also makes it impossible to search or resitrict searches in a multitude of meaningful ways... but I digress).

I used a 6 foot piece of 1.5 inch plumbing pipe. I think you might want at least a triangle made of the fenceposts in order to bear the snap and torque of the Walking Commandos. I was to put them up with a "tripod" assembly of pressure-treated 6x6 fenceposts. (I'll end up doing this when the weather gets a little better here.) I'll be setting the ends in concrete, and using metal joiners at the top.

However, I got in a hurry, and ended up just drilling a hole about 1 inch deep in our house's supporting beam, securing the pipe in the hole, and putting the other end up on a ladder. It's a reasonably industrial ladder, and I weighted the bottom down pretty massively, and HEAVILY bungeeed the ladder end to apex of the ladder.

That was proof of concept. It held up fine for me, but there was just a LITTLE, ITTY, TEENY bit of sag when I started swinging more... but not much. It was sturdy enough, though, that I figured that with a little additional structural strength I could get the bar out to 8 feet, which would make a really nice space for the Walking Commandos (or whatever bar-hanging tricks Coach Sonnon presents to us), and an otherwise useful plaything to hang stuff off of for my kids.

SOOOO... I talked to my nephew who is an aircraft engineer about the best way to maximize the structural strength of a bar, and he said I should run a piece of flat, thick metal through the middle. (They have reinforcing metal strips like this at Home Depot.) I believe he called it a "web." The effect you're after is kinda like a ruler inside a paper towel tube, and of course you'd want the "ruler" running vertically inside the pipe. I'm just going to secure the metal strip inside the pipe with some epoxy at top and bottom.

Based on my experience with the unreinforced 6 foot length so far, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to milk 8 feet out of the reinforced version.

BUT I COULD BE WRONG.

[stevenhogg]

Thanks for the info. I don't have much space, as I don't really have a "yard" to work with, but I was hoping to avoid the triangle by having plenty of post in the ground. We will see.


I used a 6 foot piece of 1.5 inch plumbing pipe...It held up fine for me, but there was just a LITTLE, ITTY, TEENY bit of sag when I started swinging more... but not much.

By the way (if you don't mind), how much do you weigh?

[Edwin]

For me, I used an olympic bar and have it mounted on my garage. I ask my carpenter to do it. It flexes a bit at the start of the pullup but remains straight as an arrow throughout the movement.

[KD Jones]

Thanks for the info. I don't have much space, as I don't really have a "yard" to work with, but I was hoping to avoid the triangle by having plenty of post in the ground. We will see.

Come to think of it, I had neighbors once who put up a swing set like that, and I remember being surprised by how sturdy it was, and it was quite tall. I don't remember how much they'd sunk in, but it was deep, and there was quite a bit of concrete.

I'm wondering... if one were to do exactly this (sink it deep and anchor it like mad), AND angle both the posts toward the center... strikes me that might be pretty solid. Of course the angle wouldn't be so great for the variable height bar...

But, going back to the "deep and solid" idea, the more I think about it, the more I think it might work. At worst, you could use 2 posts on each side.




By the way (if you don't mind), how much do you weigh?

I weigh about 180.



For me, I used an olympic bar and have it mounted on my garage. I ask my carpenter to do it. It flexes a bit at the start of the pullup but remains straight as an arrow throughout the movement.

VERY clever, using the olympic bar, Edwin.

[joelsey]

I did the same as Edwin, except I had a Texas Power Bar. Rated at 1600 pounds, but the knurling is as shard as all get out!

Be careful using Olympic bars of low quality (not that you are, just a general warning). My brother and I have bent three bars, and he completely snapped one. Some are only rated for 300 pounds.

Smiling....

[Adam Steer]

Here's the link from the thread in which Anthony describes his construction...

http://www.rmaxinternational.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13726&page=3

[Joseph David]

Guys, an outdoor post set-up with a bar through it is twice as rigid if you add a third post at a right angle to the primary. the primary can be at a higher hieght for the bigger users and then the second bar can be lower. Add some short posts at the base for steps and it becomes very user friendly.
For the bar, get some black pipe at the hardware store and paint it with some spray enamal, use threaded caps to secure the pipe through holes in the posts.
Hope this helps:)

[Joseph David]

I did the same as Edwin, except I had a Texas Power Bar. Rated at 1600 pounds, but the knurling is as shard as all get out!

Be careful using Olympic bars of low quality (not that you are, just a general warning). My brother and I have bent three bars, and he completely snapped one. Some are only rated for 300 pounds.

Smiling....
Funny,several years ago, I used to use an olympic bar as a cheater on my arbor press. I broke the casting in a few weeks and had to get a more burly press:)

[Jarlo Ilano]

Texas Power Bar. Rated at 1600 pounds, but the knurling is as shard as all get out!


Ahhh... The Texas Power Bar! I had to give mine away when I left Seattle for Honolulu... Loved that thing. No way anybody is gonna bend that sucker. It was a steal at a hundred bucks, in my opinion.

[KD Jones]

Guys, an outdoor post set-up with a bar through it is twice as rigid if you add a third post at a right angle to the primary. the primary can be at a higher hieght for the bigger users and then the second bar can be lower. Add some short posts at the base for steps and it becomes very user friendly.
For the bar, get some black pipe at the hardware store and paint it with some spray enamal, use threaded caps to secure the pipe through holes in the posts.
Hope this helps:)

Mr. Smarty Pants Physics Are My Middle Names And I Have Three Of Them Now Just So It All Fits.

Of course that's a much more elegant solution.

The funny thing is, ever since you showed me the picture of your little futuristic metal rock climbing doodad, I tend to think "now, how would Joseph think about this" whenever I'm doing mind experiments with physical problems (which is more often than I need to).

[Joseph David]

Mr. Smarty Pants Physics Are My Middle Names And I Have Three Of Them Now Just So It All Fits.

Of course that's a much more elegant solution.

The funny thing is, ever since you showed me the picture of your little futuristic metal rock climbing doodad, I tend to think "now, how would Joseph think about this" whenever I'm doing mind experiments with physical problems (which is more often than I need to).

KD, I'm sorry to have missed this bit of banter. If you want, just astrally project yourself and I'll assist you in the physical dimension, if not the problem will just solve itself:)

[KD Jones]

I got nothing but love for you, Joseph. Even though I was being typically, um... is "amusing" the word? Or annoying? ... there's no one whose advice I'd trust more, regardless of your mode of travel.

[Joseph David]

I got nothing but love for you, Joseph. Even though I was being typically, um... is "amusing" the word? Or annoying? ... there's no one whose advice I'd trust more, regardless of your mode of travel.

Love is a mirror my friend, I enjoy looking at you too:)

[KD Jones]

HA! (chokes on tea, sputters, falls off couch)

[stevenhogg]

I guess there's something going on here that I will not understand until I meet you guys. ;)

[Coach Gostnell]

I guess there's something going on here that I will not understand until I meet you guys. ;)

Maybe not even then!! :D

[stevenhogg]

Maybe not even then!! :D

You mean that it's more than just a guy thing? Wow, that's bad!:eek:

[KD Jones]

Nah. You'll know. It's just that he's so darn good looking. That, coupled with the fact that he can't keep from making fun of my extra nostils equals mileage galore.

[PaoloValladolid]

This one looks interesting. Might be a little short for adults, though.

http://www.modifiedpullupbar.com/

http://www.modifiedpullupbar.com/sitebuilder/images/MPUB0001-250x340.jpg

This place sells two models of a "portable chinning bar" - certainly a nice width for the traveling version of 4x7's Commando Pullup, but not sure about the stability:

http://www.onlinesports.com/

http://www.onlinesports.com/images/oly-be106m-3.gif

Not sure about the difference between the $259 and $220 versions

[Aengus]

I wonder if you could use gas pipe from Home Depot or Lowes? Say 1 1/4 thick or, in my case 1 1/2 thick?

[BJ Bliffert]

I read a Steve Maxwell post somewhere regarding the outdoor pull up bar he made.

He basically went to Home Depot, bought three pcs of threaded pipe and two 90 degree elbows. He screwed them together into a "U" and sunk the two legs of the "U" into the ground and used a quick setting concrete to secure them.

The length of the pipe will depend on the height and the width you want.

If you don't want to sink the pipes into the ground. Add a threaded flange to the bottom of each leg and screw the flanges to a couple lengths of 2x10 or 2x12 as feet. Just make sure the footprint provides enough stabilty.

BJ