Thursday, September 18, 2008

Engineering or Art

Yes. Neither. Both. Hey, does it even matter? The following two photographs show the custom wooden bracket attachment to the smaller tree (note the spreader block installed to keep the longer clamp blocks from snapping as the bolts are tightened), and the simple 3/4 inch through-bolt attachment to the larger tree. Evidently the bolt will break at around 14000 lb under tension, so I am guessing there shouldn't be a big problem holding the treehouse up. The wooden bracket on the other hand...... In the spring, I will want about a dozen male volunteers to climb up and walk around the treehouse in a group, and if it doesn't fall down, I thnk it will be fine!

1 comment:

JSRN in The Bay said...

So far so good, Dave. One of problems I encountered with the girls' treehouse was stresses created when the tree added on new growth. It looks like you have researched and considered how to deal with the annual increases in movement and the impact they will have on the structure and the floorboards.