Customer Reviews

Gym Set Auger Anchors, Set of 4

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

These anchors broke in half almost immediately after being inserted into the ground! We tried all four and all four broke. Maybe they would work on extremely soft soil--we live in Kentucky with clay soil. I would not recommend.

I bought this set with some trepidation after reading the other reviews, but I needed something to keep our swingset from tipping when all the neighbor kids played on it. We have a small swingset for our 2 year old, but 3 or 4 neighbor kids play on it daily. We live in an apartment.

I got the set and went out with a hammer, small screwdriver and a huge one. It took a while to install, and a lot of pounding, but once they were in, they were in. The 8 year old was my Official swing tester, and was going almost as level as the top of the swing and the legs barely moved. Before, anytime she would swing, the swingset would threaten to tip. Now it is very stable.

You have to realize that once this is installed, it is there to stay........when the crew comes to cut our grass, they mow around and under it, then use a weedeater to get at the rest. There have been no complaints about that.

This gets an A+ from this Indiana mom.

A few months ago I decided it was time to purchase some type of anchor device for my swingset. My girls were getting older and the "swing tipping" more severe. I had a neighbor who had purchased a set of Auger Anchors and was surprised how difficult they were to install. Also, I was looking for some flexibilty/mobility for my swingset because I have always moved my swingset when I mowed the grass. The Auger Anchor wasn't a great solution for my need for a mobile swingset.

Interesting that the SwingSafe anchoring system was mentioned on this board because that was exactly what I purchased. (by the way, I have a slide on my swingset and I didn't have a problem using SwingSafe).

First time I used these, I was able to get three of the four augers in the ground. The 4th one broke, but I was able to secure it by just hammering it into the ground. But it literally took hours to do this, using the tap with a hammer and turn with a screwdriver method. This held my son's swing set in place fairly well over two years, although it did get looser every year even when maintaining the straps.

However, last week one of the augers broke loose after two years of service. I bought a second set of these to replace the broken auger. It took a couple of hours and breaking two of the augers before I could get ONE into the ground enough to secure the set. Even then, I wasn't able to drive it below ground level and had to build a small mound around the leg of the set to cover the head of the auger.

The auger blades bend too easily in hard soil and the welds break too easily. Try something else.

I live in MI and we have a clay base, so the augers secured solidly in the ground, but these would not work well in sand or rock. I alternated tapping with a hammer and turning with a screw driver wedged in the ring to get it started, and then just turned them down the rest of the way. I made sure I used the tightest holes as possible on the bands, so the bands secured tightly to the poles after tightening the screws. You could also drill holes and screw the bands to the poles, but this was not necessary for me. They give you 2 bands per pole, but I just used one band and wrapped it around the pole and secured it directly to the auger ring on the inside of the pole. They are doing the job for me and I have no complaints. It took me about an hour to install them, and it wasn't very hard. If you have compatible ground, then go for it. Much easier than digging holes and pouring cement. The SwingSafe looks like a great idea, but it would interfere with my slide.

I live in Utah with rocky hard clay soil, so it was difficult to put the anchors into the ground. "screwdriver method"? -I don't think so! I ended up using a "water key" (the tool sold at most hardware stores for turning water meter valves) and it worked quite well. It would be better to have two people, one to turn and the other to guide the anchor, but I did it by guiding the anchor with my foot while turning the key. The anchors plowed around rocks a bit. I didn't get the straps tight enough at first and so I had to go back and re-tighten.

OK. I have read all the sqwaks and complaints about these little life savers.. You have to use common sense though. If soil is hard, water the area before running them in. If you want mobility,, too bad. your supposed to dig and put a block under each leg.. to keep it from sinking. 3" depth minimum. that is why they give you two straps per leg. you pull the leg against the brick and soil. And the tension of the strap should keep it in place under weight. Drill holes to make it tighter if needed.
And mobility.. ha ha... yeah right. you put safety first.. put mulch or bark or wood chips or what have ya to cushion the fall.. that means NO MOBITLTY. then the cushioning material covers the top of the anchors... and if that seems to hard.. buy a dog tie down stake and use it.

I purchased a set of Augor Anchors for my metal swing set. It looked very easy on the box, but the steps for installation were complicated. My soil is very hard and it was nearly impossible to get them into the ground. I have come up with a new solution called, SwingSafe. You don't have to put anchors into the ground anymore.

For a metal gymset, this won't hold anything. The only reason it might, is because they want you to dig holes for the gym legs. That will hold something, but the anchor clamps won't do any good; the gym legs sliding nicely inside the clamps.