Portable Folding Hammock

Two pressure treated 4×4’s three feet deep set in a fence post mix oughta work just fine until they rot out. In about ten years, depending on your climate. If your worried about tripping, use an eight foot post with a tee post at the top for an awning. Be nice when the sun gets hot!!!

You would be better off posting two steel poles in the ground as the wood from the four by fours would rot in the ground

yea i got my jeep wrangler and my cherokee stuck in the mud while camping and i hung a hammock between the 2 and it worked great

Steel would be alot more durable and mailable. I would not lay on a hammock supported by wood. Steel will not rot bend break snap or expand when wet. But wood can. It can support a hammock but If you use steel it would be alot more safe. If you have children dont let them jump on it or anything. Dont lay on there for more then 3 hours or I guarantee it will break. Steel always better then wood but its your opinion.

Yes,but like the others,I agree steel would be better. But make sure you sink at least 1/3 of the length of the pole into the ground. Hope this helps.

The steel idea isn’t a good one. First, you would need a pretty big piece of steel to handle the bending load – not sure what you would get, maybe like 2" galv pipe? Second, though somebody tripping and crashing into the top of one of the 4×4’s would hurt a lot, a piece of steel is a lot more dangerous.

Pressure treated 4×4’s will last many years in the ground. But, you’ll have top bury them pretty deep – depends on your soil, but 3 feet at least, could be 4.

only if you put the 4×4’s in at least 4 feet of concrete min the deeper the better for support

Wow! There’s some amazingly uninformed advice flying around here. Let’s see, we build houses, decks, patio covers, fences with wood, but it won’t support a hammock. Let’s ponder that for a moment, shall we?

Okay, now for some reality. Pressure treated 4×4’s (so they don’t rot), set in concrete, 10-12" in diameter, 3′ deep Dig the footings so the posts are leaning away from each other at about a 30 degree angle from vertical. This is both for esthetics, as well as to better carry the load. If you’ve got loose/soft soil, I’d intentionaly widen the trench in the vertical axis (along the lower edge, not the upper edge), so it’s more of a slot than straight post hole. Drill/drive a couple 12" pieces of 3/8" rebar (you can get short pieces at HomeDepot) into the lower face of the post, to tie into the concrete. This fan shaped footing will resist the lateral forces of the hammock and make the posts extremely stable. Mound the concrete up so it stands about 4-6" above the ground. This will help prevent water from pooling at the base of the post.

To dress up the posts and hide the pressure treated lumber, I’d wrap them with 2"x lumber. This both gives the posts more visual mass, and lets you do something interesting with shadow lines. Try 2×4’s on opposite faces, and 2×6’s on the other two faces; this would give the appearance of a 6×6 post with rabetted corners. Or maybe 2×4’s and 2×10’s. This would cause the 2×4 faces to be inset about 3/4". For the wrap, you could use douglas fir and paint or stain it, or for something more attractive, use redwood with a transparent stain. Just be sure to paint or seal it for a long, attractive life. Oh, and don’t forget to put some kind of a cap on the posts. You can fashion something intersting with scraps of the 2x lumber.

This will make solid and attactive posts for your hammock that will last for many years.

Thanks JeffeVerde, I was reading this and hoped I would run across someone that knew what they were talking about.

I would mound the concrete quite as much as you suggested, although the principle is sound and very advisable. The only reason would be trimming it out with the additional wood would be a little harder for a DIY’er to finish. One other suggestion would be to put an eye bolt through the center of the 4×4 so attaching the hammock would be easier and you wouldn’t need to wrap your rope around your nice looking post.

Good luck. Just don’t use a metal pole.