welding on trampoline frame

By andy

Date 07-13-2004 13:37

I've replied to this on UK welder.

By RonG

Date 07-13-2004 13:38

Reinforcement is just that. Not haveing seen the joint I would imagine some one has attempted to prevent a common point of failure.

The material used to manufacture it is as every manufacturer of any thing the most cost effective they can find (the cheapest) and meets the minimum requiments. There is also the fact that we as innocent as we are don't always use purchased items in the manner the designers intended it.

It boils down to how much you are willing to pay or adhear to the designers precautions.

By andy

Date 07-13-2004 13:43

Ron -

Good point well made - I made a lengthy diatribe on this on ukwelder.com. I wish I could have been as succinct in my reply. I am very wary of this indeed. It doesn't sound right, and it doesn't feel right.

Without lots of number crunching and complex calculations you have to go with engineering judgement. If the manufacturers have added reinforcement or even just offer it, this suggest to me either they have had a problem and have a solution (probably) or that they're just not very confident in their design.

By Michael Sherman (***)

Date 07-13-2004 15:42

Just an added thought to this thread, as it relates to my favorite topic: insurance. My home agent drove by my house last year and noticed my trampoline. He called and told us Nationwide Insurance will not insure a homeowner with a trampoline. It was our choice if we kept it and Nationwide. We sold the trampoline. This happened a second time with one of my rental homes and a different insurance company, same phone call and same ultimatum. Apparently there are an awful lot of injuries on these things. Good luck.

Mike Sherman
Shermans Welding

By andy

Date 07-13-2004 15:59

Mike -

I came out in a cold sweat when I read this post. I did a quick google on the web and came up with this:

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/085.html

although I'm in the UK and I don't think we're quite in the same league with insurance problems this doesn't surprise me.

In my opinion I think an activity such as trampolining should be supervised at a gymnasium with safety harnesses and the like. I watched a programme lasty night called 101 things removed from the human body and the number of people that had managed to skewer themselves on railings, bits of wood, harpoons etc was frightening.

I'm not even a parent and I'm ranting about this!!!

By RonG

Date 07-13-2004 19:59

The old addage "You can't make it FOOL proof" applys to trampolines I guess.

When I was a kid there was place that had several tramplines set at ground level (ground was hollowed out under them) and you paid by the 1/2 hour to use them. Not to hard to figure out why they never franchised. I never seen or heard of any one getting hurt on them but my friends and I got run off a few times for not following the rules. Human nature to push it I guess. Damn I miss them days.

By Bill A

Date 07-14-2004 18:47

If you are comparing company "A" product to company "B" product and both are nearly identical designs except one has the welded braces, then it may be safe to conclude that the one with welded braces is stronger (assuming good quality welds). However, if one is made of thin members with bracing and the other is heavy duty, stout members that are unbraced, then it is not a trivial excercise to figure out which will be stronger. Bracing can be a cost effective, low weight method of supplying strength where it is needed most, but it is not the only way, or necessarily the best way to design something to meet required strength. It is also not necessarily an indication that the rest of the design or workmanship is "bad".