Is There Such Thing as a Swing Set That's Too Tall?

[Polychronopolous]

I plan on building a swing set for my daughter, and I always loved the feel of a good tall swing. I like the long range of motion, the nice glide ... but is there such thing as too tall?
I was planning on going about 14' off the ground with the cross beam .. then I figured, well, let's go with 16' ... hell, let's just go 18'!

Now I'm second guessing myself, because I started to think of the physics of the swinging motion itself. First off, will "pumping" on the swing even be effective if the chain is that long? Secondly, now I'm picturing a good range of forward/backward movement, but I'm worried that the momentum would die out before the "swinger" reached any substantial height off of the ground.

Let me paint a picture here to help visualise my concerns ... I'm picturing a 6' tall swing set, and imagining that it's going to be very easy for somebody to pump their way up to the point that their head is at, or above the cross beam. I don't even see that being possible for anybody to do that on a 16' swing set.

So is there a point of diminishing return when considering the height of a swing set? If so, what height do you figure would be optimum? Or should I just go for the gusto, and build a 24 footer? Ha!

Please give me some feedback, I'm excited to build this thing tall, but don't want to shoot myself in the foot and have an enormous swing set that isn't any fun to swing on.
Realistically, I'd like to stick with the 14' idea.

 

[mfb]

You can reach larger speed and larger heights above the ground, that can be dangerous. It also makes the construction more challenging.
Starting to swing should be easier with a shorter swing set.

 

[BvU]

Hi Polu,

Trapeze artists in a circus often have tall swings -- but then again, they work with a huge net !
On fairgrounds in the Netherlands we used to have boat swings approx 16' tall. It was pretty easy to touch (almost ram) the canopy when standing on the thing.
I don't mean swing carousel but these:

 

[berkeman]

Welcome to the PF.

How old is your daughter? How tall is she, and how much does she weigh?

I would just emulate the size of the swingsets in the parks and schools near you that are intended for the age and size of your daughter. There are reasons for their height and overall bracing designs.

 

[CWatters]

I think it's difficult to calculate a max height at which "easy" turns into "hard". You will loose more energy due to air resistance over a longer faster swing and this has to be added by you "pumping" (adding PE) or you will slow down. There is also a resonance effect (eg can you pump in sync with the period of the swing). Too many factors. Someone should write a paper on the subject :-)

Just make sure you fix the thing down to the ground securely.

 

[Polychronopolous]

Thank you for the input, I do appreciate the help from everybody

 

[Polychronopolous]

Welcome to the PF.

How old is your daughter? How tall is she, and how much does she weigh?

I would just emulate the size of the swingsets in the parks and schools near you that are intended for the age and size of your daughter. There are reasons for their height and overall bracing designs.

Although I appreciate the concerns, and suggestions, I'm building this one time, and one time only. I do not plan on adjusting this thing to her age and size as she grows .. ever.