Repurposed Swing Set

[jimmytidmore]

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.



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 
(94 pounds for each 4x6 mat plus two 8-foot 1x4 boards).

Anyway, just thought it might give someone an idea.

[Burnsie]

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!!

[woodchucker]

Looks great, Brother!!! 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??    When we moved up here, I left it there

[jimmytidmore]

Looks great, Brother!!! 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??    When we moved up here, I left it there

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.

[Sam Spade]

Fabulous! Well done! 

[Russell Southerland]

Great work! 

[Wile E. Coyote]

That looks great!

[rastaman]

That is pretty awesome looking  

[Mo_coon-catcher]

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

[Tim Finley]

You guys must miss a lot !

[jimmytidmore]

You guys must miss a lot !

[At Full Draw]

Oh man this is awesome! Giving me ideas!

[Ramjet]

I did the same thing with an old monkey bar set. Back stop hangs off the back and bag target off the front

[Burnsie]

You guys must miss a lot !

It only takes once.