Tips To Make Your Trampoline Last
Will your trampoline survive the elements?
So you’ve finally bought that trampoline that you’ve wanted since you were a kid. Maybe you’re like me and first had the idea after watching Tom Hanks bounce on one in the movie Big, or maybe it was something else that made you really want to have a huge trampoline to just jump on for hours. Whatever the reason, you finally bought one and realized that you couldn’t fit it anywhere inside the house, so you now have it in the back yard.
The problem is, often large trampolines can be expensive, and having it exposed to the elements means that you might end up with a broken product sooner rather than later. While it is inevitable that things outside will break, you can do quite a bit to lengthen the life of your outdoor trampoline without making very much effort at all. Here are just a few tips that will help you get more life out of your trampoline.
- Cover It When Not in Use – The easiest, most obvious thing that you can do is cover your trampoline when you’re not actually using it. Covering everything keeps rain off, hides it from the hot sun which can dry out a number of parts, keeps dirt and leaves from landing on it, and generally just provides a little bit of protection from the elements that can add up over the course of years. It takes a matter of seconds to put a tarp over your trampoline and secure it, especially if you get one fitted to your make and model, but it will keep your tramp in the best possible shape.
- Keep Moving Parts Moving – Many trampolines have a certain amount of moving parts to them. At the very least the springs have to move to make it work. Similarly, many of them have legs that fold on themselves or screw onto the main frame. Every week or so, make sure you actually move these things. Unscrew the legs, collapse the frame, apply pressure to the membrane if you don’t have time to really bounce. This prevents dirt, water, and corrosive elements from building up in joints and connections, slowly eating away at the metal. Moving those parts allows those corrosive elements to be released.
- Don’t Leave it Out During the Harsh Seasons – No matter how well you maintain your equipment, winter is going to be a hard time for it outside, especially if you live some place where snow and frost are common. Similarly, the height of summer in humid places like Florida is not the best time to have that out. You won’t want to use your trampoline in extreme weather anyway, so it’s best to disassemble it during the harsher seasons and put it away rather than just leave it out not being used during blizzards.
- Fix Small Damages Quickly – If you have a trampoline and use it enough, it’s going to tear a little. When you’re keeping it outside, there are a lot more factors to consider that will cause it to break further. That’s why you want to repair any problems you find as quickly as possible rather than continuing to use it. If you can’t repair a piece, it’s best to replace it quickly so that everything around it doesn’t break down making up the extra effort. Trampoline pieces are pretty cheap and it’s relatively easy to repair most problems you’re likely to encounter. Fixing small stuff will keep the larger things at bay.
- Protect the Metal Pieces – The hardest pieces to repair or replace are the metal ones unless you happen to be a welder. For most of us that means we have to keep the metal in good shape. Fortunately, that’s fairly easily done by getting a good metal protectant. Most of these can be sprayed or painted on and put a waxy coating on the metal that keeps out moisture and other corrosive elements. It needs to be reapplied periodically and can’t be used on the springs which move too much, but it can keep a lot of the parts to your trampoline in good shape for years.
It’s not always easy to keep anything stored outside in high quality condition, but if you pay attention and make the small effort to keep up with basic maintenance, you should have no problem enjoying your large, outdoor trampoline for years to come.
