How to Make an Outdoor Pallet Swing. A Step by Step Guide

by Laura Mitran · April 29, 2017

While summer is drawing near, you might consider to get the best out of the nice weather and your backyard. A great facility for enjoying your time outdoors, reading or chatting with friends, is a garden swing, which makes a wonderful decorative piece as well. Here’s how to make an outdoor pallet swing, easy and with very low costs.

For the following design two types of pallets were used: a full one and half one as back support.

How to make an outdoor pallet swing. Pallet recondition

Give your pallets a good sanding to get off as much dirt as possible, apply pesticide and paint them. Before painting, cover the working surface with plastic. Use an outdoor wood paint.

Apply one coat of paint, wait for it to dry completely, then do a second one. This will keep your wood protected and the colour will last longer and will look much more vivid.

How to make an outdoor pallet swing. The making

Once both pieces are dried, line up the half piece behind the full pallet.

Drill holes to joint the pieces using screws and rope. Have the rope gone through both the thin and thick boards for extra support.

Tie the rope tightly into a knot and use a lighter to slightly burn the ends of the rope to avoid edging.

How to make an outdoor pallet swing. The hanging

Start by drilling a hole down through the top board and then one out through the back board and thread the rope down through the top and out the back. Repeat on the other side.

Before hanging the swing, set it on something about the height you’d like it to sit so you don’t have to hold it up the entire time.

Choose a tree with a secure branch and loop the ropes around the branch once. Add the knots making sure there’s enough swinging effect, bring the ends of the ropes through the top and out the bottom and lace the untied ends of your ropes through the holes the same way you did the first side. Make sure they are tight.