www.NJLanParty.com

Ok, I'm stumped, so I'm reaching out to the most resourceful group of guys I know. I've been building a cedar fort/swing set/command center for the boys. No plans, just some sound structural elements, good materials, and the insane wish list of two "want to be" power rangers. Anyway, part of it includes a crawl tube. I've looked at residential play set parts and it would cost me about $400 with shipping and that isn't happening!! Any suggestions on getting one cheaper? Or a good substitute? It needs to be approx. 7 feet, and something that can stand up to the elements, and the beasties of course.

This is kind of what I'm looking for:

http://spi.superiorinternational.com/ho ... p?PKey=431

I might be able to help. My farm sell play sets and we can get individual parts for them. I don't recognize that piece but I'll have a look through the catalogs tomorrow.

Awesome! Thanks for offering to check Ben.

Only thing I can think of is finding one in a junk yard, thats been thrown away.

Or maybe some well painted oil drums?

Our dealer doesn't stock anything like a crawl tube. But if you willing to make a few calls and go for a drive to Lancaster. I know somebody out there would have one. http://www.davcofamily.com/lcbd.htm This catalog would have the listing for that kind of thing.

As for using oil drums I would have to say thats a bad idea. If it's metal you have to worry about sharp edges. And unless it's listed safe for food storage you don't know what chemicals were stored in it.

Another place to look is at drain pipe. I've had trouble finding PVC pipe bigger than 5 inches but I know you can get it up to 36 inches if you know where to look. Or the regular type of drain pipe you can at a plumbing store. Buts thats going to be black so you'll need to drill large holes for ventilation and paint it a lighter color.

Thanks for your suggestions guys. I've decided to ignore it for now and see if the kids even remember that it's not there! Probably won't work, but what the heck, at least it'll delay my having to make the investment. I ordered the catalog anyway Nill. Thanks for bringing it to my attention! Can never have too much info.

One more thought,

Ya know the big fiberglass molds they use to create support columns for buildings?
Wonder if they can be painted and supported to be used for the playset?

Was thinking of something like this..

http://www.sonotube.com/products/concrete_forms.html

Just a thought...

Even crazier idea, get two cement column molds in consecutively smaller sizes and pour your own. You could pour it with a ton of epoxy resin or use one mold and wrap it in fiberglass.

You'll easily end up with some damaged brain cells from all the fiber or epoxy and a clear habitrail for the playset.