rosolam
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Subject: Should/Can I redo this support?
I started building a tree house last year that I plan to come back around to in the spring. I am not 110% confident on the approach used for the support on the tree and am considering reworking.
Attached is a picture of the supporting brackets. The horizontal beam(s) you see are connected through the tree by a single 3/4 deep-threaded bolt. My father used them frequently in a similar fashion setting up construction scaffolding for bridgework in the past and felt that this was a tried and true approach.
I am concerned though about having a bolt that is in a tension configuration as a single point of failure. I would much have preferred to use a single oversized welded 4" channel iron T bracket perpendicular to the joists where the lag bolts would be under shearing pressure instead.
So, should I leave it as is or should I consider welding and bolting in a T-Bracket (8' horizontal, 4' vertical, with 45deg knee braces) and remove the existing supports? If I bolt a T-Bracket in it is more than likely that the lag bolts I use will be at the same elevation as the bolts on the current bracket just 90degrees around the tree from them... will this compartmentalize and seriously injure the tree?
Thanks,
Michael
Attached is a picture of the supporting brackets. The horizontal beam(s) you see are connected through the tree by a single 3/4 deep-threaded bolt. My father used them frequently in a similar fashion setting up construction scaffolding for bridgework in the past and felt that this was a tried and true approach.
I am concerned though about having a bolt that is in a tension configuration as a single point of failure. I would much have preferred to use a single oversized welded 4" channel iron T bracket perpendicular to the joists where the lag bolts would be under shearing pressure instead.
So, should I leave it as is or should I consider welding and bolting in a T-Bracket (8' horizontal, 4' vertical, with 45deg knee braces) and remove the existing supports? If I bolt a T-Bracket in it is more than likely that the lag bolts I use will be at the same elevation as the bolts on the current bracket just 90degrees around the tree from them... will this compartmentalize and seriously injure the tree?
Thanks,
Michael
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