Natural Playgrounds Embankment Climbing Wall Installation Instructions

NOTES: Before accepting shipment, please check for any damage caused by the shipping company
and take appropriate steps, including several photographs of the damage, to file a claim, if needed. If
you already accepted the shipment, take photos of the damage before unpacking, then lay out the
damaged parts, and take as many photos as possible to attach to the claim.
*Please call Digsafe and check for any underground utilities before digging anywhere.
Materials needed
Level, shovel, carpenters square, post hole digger, screw gun with proper screw tip, hardware/screws
(included), 6 or 8, 2" long sheetrock screws if you are using temporary supports for the posts, 2
1x3x8' strapping for temporary braces (not included), 2 stakes with points made from 12" cut from
each strapping, four (4) 12" dia x 48" long sonotubes, bags of premixed concrete (not included).
Concrete amounts can be easily calculated at http://www.quikrete.com/Calculator/Main.asp. For 50
pound bags, allow 1.5 bags per foot of tube. This allows for the 6" x 6" post occupying some of the
volume. Amount required depends on how deep you want/can get the hole. You will need water to
mix with the concrete, and if you are mixing the concrete outside the hole, you'll need a wheelbarrow
or a concrete mixing trough and a hoe to do the mixing. If you are mixing the concrete in the hole,
scratch the wheelbarrow and the hoe, and replace it with a 4 foot length of rebar or a 6 foot length of
strapping to be used for mixing concrete in the hole.
Instructions
1. Remove items from shipping pallet.
2. Because of shipping regulations, some climbing walls cannot be shipped in fully assembled panels. If the
wall was not shipped preassembled, then assemble/install as follows.
3. All climbing structures, including this climbing wall, need a fall zone surrounding them. Fall zones are
typically 6 feet out from the perimeter of the climbing structure. In this case, the fall zone would be 6 feet to
the left and right of the wall. The wall is also 6 feet wide, so the width of this fall zone is going to be 18 feet.
Then the fall zone needs to be 6 feet out from the front and back of the wall for a total depth of 12 feet plus
the depth of the wall itself, which is 7 inches. The Climbing Wall would be centered in this fall zone area
which needs to be a minimum of 9 inches deep (some people go to 12"). Typically, playground woodchips
are used. Keep in mind that this is a hole in the ground, so it needs to be drained to a drainage system, to
daylight, or to a dry well beneath.
4. The 4" x 6" posts have a slanted top, so make sure they are installed with that top facing the sky. The
boards that make the face of the wall will be a total of 6 feet tall when assembled, although sometimes we
extend those boards into the fall zone. Just make sure that the fall zone material begins at that 6 foot mark,
or the posts won't be long enough.
5. The fall zone would be below that 6' mark, so measure from the top of the peak of the posts down 6 feet,
then add the depth of your fall zone (9" - 12"), and draw a line on each post. This is your ground line at the
bottom of the fall zone material. Your hole for the two posts should be at least 3'6" deep starting at this
ground line.
6. The post holes will be 69 inches on center. Find the center of your fall zone, and locate the centers of the
post holes, then use your post hole digger to dig the two holes large enough for each sonotube. They
should be slightly larger than 12" in diameter..
7. If the holes less than 4' deep, it would be a lot easier to cut the sonotubes to the the length matching the
depth of the hole. Being careful not to disturb the walls of the holes, drop the tubes in to the desired depth.
Embankment Climbing Wall
Installation Instructions
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