When you purchase your trampoline you will spend much of your time thinking about safety for the bouncers, making sure to get a net, the area is clear and more. What many don’t realize immediately is above ground trampolines have a possibility of being thrown with more ease than you suspect.
What Can I Use to Hold a Trampoline Down? There are typically two different solid choices for anchoring your trampoline, anchors and sandbags. Both are solid options and are capable of holding your trampoline in place through windstorms without issues in most circumstances.
To kind of showcase this issue in a much more impactful way the video below shows what can happen to your backyard when not prepared properly. It doesn’t take a hurricane or tornado, just enough winds at the right speeds, make sure to anchor your trampolines!
Video Of Wind Issues
Sometimes pictures or videos are worth thousands of words, so I wanted to present the below video to help you see how simple this can occur.
That was quite powerful to see and I hope it puts an exclamation point on preparing yourself and to ensure you have made your trampoline prepared!
How Much Wind Will Lift a Trampoline?
If like me you are thinking that you have to have tornado or hurricane class winds to lift and toss a trampoline but this is actually incorrect, this is why many don’t anchor their trampolines. Not out of a lack in preparation or safety, but typically due to a misbelief that if you don’t have very high winds you don’t need to anchor down.
There are plenty of trampolines that have started to shake and move at as low a wind speed as 40mph.
How to Hold Down Trampoline in Windy Conditions
For your normal day to day winds and gusts, the small U-ring loops will be enough to hold most trampolines in place without much issue, barring very loose soil. These are just basic anchors which don’t hold much weight so take it for what its worth, I would instead jump to the heavy anchor kits.
Additionally, any surrounding area which can help function as a windbreak will help you in wind control. Having a garden area or some small trees in the area can help break the wind flow helping you out in your control.
How Do You Secure a Trampoline For a Hurricane?
Unlike most events, a hurricane is a blend of massive rainfall along with the violent wind that comes in and throws EVERYTHING not anchored. I know as during Harvey most of my backyard ended in my pool, I learned a good lesson during Harvey to not be unprepared next time.
If you live in any area which experiences hurricanes then you MUST purchase and anchor your trampoline immediately, you don’t want the risks and property damage penalties that could be incurred.
Outdoor Diversions
When you know the hurricane is coming should be when you are preparing your family and house, not your trampoline. Your trampoline should be done the day you installed it, make this your mindset, they are a formidable weapon when they get moving and can cause a lot of damage.
How To Secure a Trampoline to The Ground
The best method is to use anchors to secure your trampoline to the ground, they hold the most weight and will suit 99% of all needs when trying to secure a trampoline. When the ground is incredibly rocky and unable to twist in full-length anchors you can look to sandbags as a second option to provide a stronger ground connection.
Using Anchors to Secure Your Trampoline
The most common way to firmly anchor your trampoline to the ground is not with U-Rings, but with actual sping into the ground, screw-in, anchors. These help you from dealing with very little weight and wind speed to being able to hold large weight in place through high winds.
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Are Trampoline Anchors Expensive?
Overall most trampoline anchor kits are priced around $10 up to $50 all of which depends on the size of your trampoline and the brand of the trampoline.
Below we have a few of the trampoline anchor kits that are available online:
- UltraSport Spiral Ground Anchor Kit
- SkyBound Heavy Duty Trampoline Anchor Kit
- Zero Gravity Tie Down Anchor Kit for Trampolines
Using Sandbags to Secure Your Trampoline
While sandbags are an option they are definitely the second choice, not only for the lesser ability to hold an object down but as a visual detraction to your landscaping and another thing to clean and maintain so it doesn’t break down over time.
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How To Secure a Trampoline on Concrete
I took a little bit of time to look into this as it felt like something which happens more than I expected, trampolines on a concrete surface. In my research I see that a lot of people with large concrete backyard patios will sometimes have their trampoline put there, nice and close for use.
What I found as a majority of the answers were direct from concrete masonry sites (example) was to either use sandbags (most painless but least anchored) or you would need to install lag bolts and a band to cover over the trampoline leg.
The core reason against lag bolts was more centered around selling the house down the road and then having to patch the concrete, this is a very small issue for most.
Final Thoughts
No one said owning a trampoline was going to be simple or easy and this is one of those things that may have blindsided you in your ownership. While it sucks at least it is a pretty inexpensive fix if you start before the first winds hit, it’s more to protect the investment you made.
I hope I filled in a bunch of missing information that helps you to be a better, more knowledgeable trampoline owner. Each little nugget you learn will enhance your ownership and experience as a trampoline owner.
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