Outdoor Living & Lifestyles - Restoring a "Hedstrom" Playset

I lucked out (mostly) and I need some help.

A nearby neighbor was getting rid of their back yard playset and offered it to us, which we happily accepted as my two year old loves being on a swing. It's a metal framework with plastic trim. It's not in bad shape but all of the bolts are rusted solid, and it needs a little TLC.

My IDEAL plan is to disassemble it, remove the surface rust from all the rails, give it a fresh coat of paint, and reassemble it using stainless steel hardware. (Happily, my local Ace Hardware has a wide assortment of stainless hardware.) The problem is many of the existing bolts are so badly rusted that I'm unable to tell exactly what size bolts they are.

So then I thought, "I'll just look up the product on the internet and see if there's a PDF owner's manual. The assembly instructions always contain an inventory of hardware, which I can take to Ace and get replacements." Except that I've spent a fair amount of time looking for this information online and I've hit a dead end.

The playset appears to have been manufactured by a company called Hedstrom. There are no stamps or markings on any of the metal pieces, but the plastic pieces have "Hedstrom" moulded into it. There's no model number on it; the set consists of a central tower about 4' square, with the platform about 5' off the ground and capped with a triangular roof made from a mesh-like material. One side of this tower has a ladder, the opposite side has a slide, and there are (naturally) openings in the 'walls' to allow entrance and exit. The other two 'walls' are closed. One of those sides has a couple of swings, and the opposite side has a rocking horse-type thing and a metal swinging bench. The playset is probably about 10 years old. (I can post pictures later tonight.)

Does anyone have ANY idea where I can find a manual for this?

Hi Sgodun,

I did a google search for Hedstrom and it appears they have basically gone out of business and been taken over by a Chinese company. I did find this recall that you should be aware of and suggest you search for any others for this company before your kids use it.
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml01/01165.html

The company does have distribution centers in several US cities and they may be able to help you with whatever you need. Here's their contact info and locations.
http://www.hedstrom.com/contact.php
http://www.hedstrom.com/about_toys.php

I would also suggest you take any screws you salvage to the hardware store where they should have a guage they can use to measure the size of the bolts.

I also found this by searching with 'Hedstrom gym set replacement parts' at Ace Hardware.
http://www.acehardware.com/sm-hedstrom-auger-anchors-4-247--pi-1287609.html

Newt

Thanks for the response. I emailed Hedstrom awhile back and finally got a response; they confirmed the out-of-business story that you've related.

The info on the recall doesn't affect me; neither product on that page is on this swing set.

Almost all of the bolts and screws and such on the set are so badly rusted that I'm not sure they can be removed. I may have to drill them out just so I can install new hardware. I think this is going to be a combination of lucky guesswork and trial and error. *sigh*

Sorry you didn't get better news. I would still call the Ohio plant and see if anyone there knows the size of the bolts.

Good luck!
Newt