Guide to: Replacing worn swing chains and connectors
Published 17/09/24Playground swings are a beloved feature of many playgrounds, offering children an engaging activity with many benefits for their physical, mental, and social development.
To keep swings safe and to extend the life of the equipment regular visual inspections and maintenance is essential. This involves inspecting the swings for wear and tear, ensuring all components are secure and functional, and addressing any issues that arise.
A common place of wear is the swing chain links and connectors, as they get the most friction. We recommend swing chains are replaced when the chain link cross section reaches a size of 60% of its original size compared to a non-wearing surface. When inspecting chains remember to consider the rate of wear and the time until the next inspection. Special attention should be given to eyebolts welded onto rigid beams, split links, chain swivels and the main connecting links.
If you find you need to replace your swing chains, you will need to measure the length you need, all swing chains are sold in "Cross Bar Heights", so make sure when measuring a dimension, it's taken from the underside of the cross bar to the finished floor level. You can browse our swing chains here.
Now that you’ve chosen your swing chains let's look at what connector to use.
We provide a wide range of shackles and hangers suitable for different types of swings. To help you choose the connectors suitable for your chains we have created the below infographic with the options available for commonly used swing chains, the Anti-wrap chains, Straight link chains, Adjustable and Traditional chains. Browse swing connectors here.
To find out more about maintaining your playground check out some of our Resources including our full Playground maintenance checklist.
If you would like to speak to a member of the team about replacement swings please call 01354 638193 or email parts.