Trampolines are fun and engaging structures for children to play on. They provide a great incentive to get children out of the house while also helping them do some exercise. If you are thinking of purchasing a trampoline, you might be wondering if your trampoline will be easily moveable. Here’s the answer.
Trampolines will fit inside of cars, trucks, and moving vans when disassembled. Tramps are meant to be easily taken apart, and when disassembled, they do not take up much space. Setting up and taking down a trampoline is not hard, but can be time-consuming.
Let’s take a look at trampolines, what they are made of, and how to take them down. Some smaller models will fit in the back of a pick-up without needing disassembly.
What Makes up a Trampoline?
Before we discuss how to take a trampoline apart and how to move it, first let’s discuss the parts of a trampoline. Knowing what makes up a trampoline will help when it comes to disassembling it.
- Trampolines are fairly simple pieces of equipment.
- Though they vary in size, structure, and shape, they are built with the same basic architecture.
- The trampoline frame is made up of metal bars that slide into one another to hold up the net and provide a solid base.
- The net is connected to the frame via dozens of strong springs that slide into holes in the frame and rings on the net.
Depending on what type of trampoline a person has, there might be other components as well. For example, many trampolines have bars that extend upwards from the main frame that support a safety net that keeps people from flying off of the trampoline.
Other trampolines have covers on the springs, which protect the springs from being stepped on. This cover also keeps children from falling between these holes and getting injured.
In addition to the main body of a trampoline, trampolines often come with cement settings or sandbags that weigh down the trampoline and keep it in place.
These serve to keep the trampoline from bouncing around while in use and keep the trampoline from being blown about in the wind. Trampolines are vulnerable to the wind because of their light weight and large surface area.
Disassembling a Trampoline
Now that we understand more about trampolines we can get to the good stuff—taking them apart.
One of the nice things about the structure of a trampoline is that each of the pieces is easily disassembled.
Overall, the various springs, bars, and nets are light and easily handled. Though a trampoline takes up a lot of space while it stands, the pieces of a trampoline can be compacted down to a large box that can fit in a car’s trunk, a truck’s cab, or a moving van.
In order to disassemble a trampoline, the first thing that you should do is remove the cover from the springs (if you have one). Untie the cover easily from underneath the trampoline. Once the cover is untied, remove the cover and fold it up.
After the cover is removed, take down the poles that hold up the protective side net (if you have one) and detach the poles from the net. Most nets are attached in some way to the elastic net of the trampoline, so you can leave the net on top of the trampoline to be folded later.
- Once the poles and protective net are down, you can begin removing the springs.
- You can use one of the springs to hook onto another spring and pull it out of either the net’s hoops or the frame’s slots.
- Store the springs carefully in a box as you remove them.
- Be careful not to pinch your fingers in the springs while you do this.
- Once you have removed the springs, you can fold up the trampoline nets.
Once the net is removed, you can disassemble the trampoline’s frame. Most trampoline frames are secured with screws, which you will want to remove and store in a bag.
Once the screws have been removed, you can begin to separate the top ring of the trampoline frame from the legs of the trampoline. Do this by stepping on the bars that go between the legs and lifting up on the top ring. Once the top ring is removed from the legs, you can store all of the legs.
The final step in the disassembling process is to separate the pieces of the top ring. You can then pack away the various poles and pieces with the folded nets and cover. Whether you are intending to transport the trampoline or if you just want to pack it away for the winter, you should now have a trampoline ready.
Transporting a Trampoline
You can collect all of the various pieces of a trampoline into a large box or into a few garbage bags. These bags should fit nicely into the backseat or the trunk of a car. Though the pieces can be heavy, none should be too difficult to lift or manage.
If you have sandbags placed around the base of your trampoline, you will want to bring those with you as well. The combinations of the sandbags, poles, nets, and springs might all add up to a large enough size that you will want to use a truck rather than a small sedan to carry around the trampoline. However, you should still have enough space for the pieces as long as you are not carrying too much else with you.
To have the most space possible, a Uhaul or other moving van would be great to transport your trampoline. However, even if you have a small trampoline and a large van, you should still disassemble it before loading it.
Moving a trampoline while it is still assembled can damage it or loosen the parts, making it unsafe to use when you set it back up.
- To reassemble the trampoline at your final destination, you simply need to assemble the top ring and place it on the metal legs.
- Once the legs are on, you can begin the long process of hooking each hoop on the net with a spring and attaching the spring to the frame.
- Once that is completed, you can add the poles that hold up the outer net in order to complete the structure.
- Finally, place the sandbags that you may have on top of the bars that connect the trampoline’s legs and reattach the spring cover.
All in all, trampolines are simple to assemble, disassemble, and transport—though it might take a considerable amount of time to deal with all of the springs involved.
As long as the pieces are carefully kept track of, you should be able to keep your trampoline useable and with you for as long as the frames last and you continue to replace the main net when it becomes worn.