Several years ago, when we moved to a new house, I built a swing set for the kids. They wore it out for years, but they've slowly outgrown it, and it hasn't been used in a while. So I got to thinking the other day about giving it away if I could find a young family that wanted it. BUT... I had also been thinking recently about building a backstop for our archery targets. And I got to looking at that swingset the other day and came up with an idea. I could turn it into my backstop.
So, after looking around on the Internet for some ideas, I converted the old swing set into a new archery backstop.
Here's how it turned out.
IMG_3511.jpg
The backstop material is thick rubber stall mats from Tractor Supply. I began with two 4' x 6' mats and then added some smaller ones at the bottom to catch those low arrows that sometimes sneak under the fence and are a pain to retrieve. It was time for a new 3-D target so I picked up one of those, too. My son and I have really enjoyed it.
Ask me how much fun it was lifting 200lbs eight feet in the air :goldtooth:
(94 pounds for each 4x6 mat plus two 8-foot 1x4 boards).
Anyway, just thought it might give someone an idea.
Same concept in my side yard. Tough on arrows if you ever miss the entire mat.
And you are correct - those thick rubber mats from Tractor Supply are heavy!!
Looks great, Brother!!! :laughing: Those mats sure are heavy!! I built one at the old house using a single 4x6 mat. I built a 2x4 frame with a 1/2" plywood face, then lag bolted the mat to it. Lasted 8 years that I know of?? :dunno: When we moved up here, I left it there :thumbsup:
Quote from: woodchucker on July 06, 2025, 10:24:34 PMLooks great, Brother!!! :laughing: Those mats sure are heavy!! I built one at the old house using a single 4x6 mat. I built a 2x4 frame with a 1/2" plywood face, then lag bolted the mat to it. Lasted 8 years that I know of?? :dunno: When we moved up here, I left it there :thumbsup:
I just sandwiched the mats between the two 1x4's using those six eyebolts and let them hang. Since the mats weren't long enough to reach the ground, I added some additional smaller rubber mats to the bottom. But no plywood backing. Working good so far. I've shot directly at the mats a few times as a test, and my arrows don't penetrate.
Fabulous! Well done! :clapper:
Great work! :clapper:
That looks great!
That is pretty awesome looking :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Looks Great! I did similar a couple years ago as well. Had an old swing set the legs has rusted out on. So replaced with some saplingsz bolted 2 of the rubber mats between a couple 1x4s and suspended it form the swingset. I lashed the two mats together as I had some arrows squeeze through the gap a few times. I have some arrows poke through but it sure does a good job of stopping the misses.
Here's the most recent picture I have of my setup
Kyle
You guys must miss a lot !
Oh man this is awesome! Giving me ideas!
I did the same thing with an old monkey bar set. Back stop hangs off the back and bag target off the front