Swing Sets, Playsets and Trampolines: Breaking Them Down

Kids outgrow the backyard faster than the backyard outgrows the equipment. A wooden playset, a rusting metal swing set or a trampoline the wind has folded twice are all common trailer loads across Tampa Bay, and all three are far more about volume than weight.

Wooden playsets

A big-box wooden playset with a tower, slide, swings and a climbing wall looks like a lot, and assembled it is. Broken down it's a stack of lumber, a plastic slide, some chain and a bag of hardware.

1. 1Take the swings, slide and accessories off first. The slide is one piece and goes in whole, along the side of the trailer.
2. 2Unbolt the roof and canopy, then the platform, then the posts. Most of it is carriage bolts — a socket and a wrench, not a saw.
3. 3Cut any pieces longer than about 11 feet so they lie flat on the trailer floor. The trailer is 12 feet long inside.
4. 4Keep the hardware in a bucket. Loose bolts in a driveway find tires.
5. 5Stack the lumber flat and tight, plastic pieces on top.

Most playset lumber is pressure-treated. It goes in as general debris, but it should not be burned or reused for anything that touches soil or food.

Metal swing sets

Old tubular steel swing sets are quick: pull the legs out of the ground, unbolt or cut the top bar, and stack. It's all scrap metal, so keep it separate from the general load — it has value and it comes out of your disposal weight. Cut the chain off the swings and scrap that too.

Trampolines

The frame is the bulk. Springs come off with a spring puller or a pair of pliers, the mat and netting fold into a bundle, and the frame sections pull apart into legs and ring segments. All the steel is scrap. The mat, pad and netting are general debris — a surprisingly small bundle once the frame is gone.

If a storm has already tangled the frame, cut it into pieces with a reciprocating saw rather than fighting it. Bent trampoline steel is sharp; gloves and eye protection are not optional.

Sandboxes, ground anchors and the patch left behind

• Sand from a sandbox is heavy — a few bags is fine, a full box counts as heavy material
• Concrete footings around swing set legs are heavy debris; dig them out or cut the legs flush and leave them
• Rubber mulch and wood chips can go in as yard material
• The bare patch under a playset recovers quickly with sod or seed in Florida sun

Pair it with the rest of the yard

A broken-down playset fills a small fraction of a 10-yard trailer, which makes it a poor reason to rent one on its own and a good reason to finally do the whole backyard. The rental covers a week, so use it:

• Old fence panels and posts, which stack flat with the playset lumber
• Brush, palm fronds and the pile behind the shed
• The shed's contents, or the shed itself if it's going
• Rusted patio furniture, which is scrap and stays out of the general load
• Concrete footings from the swing set legs — heavy material, low on the floor, within the 5-yard limit

Load the heavy items and the lumber first, then fill with brush and light material on top. A trampoline frame, a wooden playset and a yard's worth of trimmings is a typical single load for a Pinellas or Pasco backyard, and the whole thing goes in one free pickup.

Frequently asked questions

Will a whole playset fit in one 10-yard load?

Broken down properly, almost always, with room for the rest of a yard cleanup. Left assembled, no.

Do I need to cut the lumber?

Only pieces over about 11 feet. Most playset lumber is shorter than that.

Can your crew take it down?

Yes. Dismantling and loading is $48 per man-hour with a 4-hour minimum. Send a photo for an estimate.