Hanging 100lbs punching bag
Hello... looking to hang a 100lbs heavy bag in my basement (with regular wood-stud walls). I've researched various options and have gone down all sorts of engineering rabbit holes, including pull-out strengths of various sized lag bolts, horizontal load maximums of different kinds of wood, etc. I've perused various marketplaces for various types of mounting solutions and such. The problem with standard DIY wall mounting is that it doesn't come off the wall far enough.
I'm wondering though -- and it seems simple enough of a solution -- why the following wouldn't work:
An 8-foot span of 2x6, turned "vertically" so that the top and bottom faces are the 2" edge, affixed 45 degrees to the studs. ASCII art not-withstanding, it's just an isosceles triangle, where the 8-foot hypotenuse is the lumber, and the "height" of the triangle is 4-feet. It would seem 2 brackets (the kind used in making decks) on each end, screwed into the studs would be suitably strong.
The "Sagulator" (google it!) seems to think that such a setup would only experience a total 0.01in sag in the center of the span.
The heavy bag would just hang from this with a strap that loops over the beam.
An 8-foot span basically means I have a lot of clearance on either side.
I suppose I could just go right into the ceiling joists, but with my proposed setup I can slide the bag to one end or the other and create a bit more of a dynamic setup (albeit it looks a bit more unsightly).
Thoughts or suggestions? Or am I crazy?
I’m having trouble picturing what your plan is, and don’t see any ascii art. The name for the brackets you are looking for are “joist hangers”. Yes that is within the load limit of most joist hangers (2x6 is 400 lbs min usually), as well as a 2x6 8 ft span on edge (424 lbs), but double check your specific materials. Also FYI joist hangers need to be nailed into both the joist and the header.
Thank you. The ASCII art was a fail. Just picture two walls (90 degrees), and the 2x6 put in diagonally.
Basically looks like this: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c4/e5/05/c4e50532b483b8f57bae301c5a900589.jpg
But a longer span to give more room around it, and instead of the long pieces on the walls, I would take two 20" lengths of 2x4 and put them each across two studs on the walls as headers/ledgers. Use 45 degree bent joist hangers onto these, and then the 2x6 goes on the joist hangers. Just a triangle.
That way the joist hangers are hanging onto wood that is supported across a total of four studs, and the 2x6 span just basically connects the two 20" lengths.
If you rest the diagonal beam on top like is shown in the picture you linked, I think this is pretty sound. In that configuration, the deck brackets are basically keeping the top bar from sliding off, so even if they get loose from the lateral loads, you should know before it collapses.
Couple of things to note:
Wow ok thank you. Clearly as a layperson I had a lot more to think about. "Screws will snap" is something I never even considered; I always wondered why framing used nails.
Of the two punching bags I've had, one was hanging from a 6x6 beam across the room, in the middle of the room for access to all sides. Which is what I thought you were asking about here.
The other was on a stand in the corner. Which is effectively what you're making here, only also screwed into the walls.
So the question is, why not just get a punching bag stand?
Thanks. Seemed like a bag stand didn't provide a lot of access from the sides.
Ah, side access isn't their priority, but not all that hampered in my experience either. Just depends why you're trying to get side access. If it's to practice footwork, then yeah the stand would get in the way.
I'm not a structural engineer or framer, but my intuition is that the weakness here would be the bag swinging and loading the 2x4 sideways, perpendicular to its length, and also torsion. It might help to use a 2x6 with a 2x4 bolted down the center in a T shape with the bag bolted through both. Maybe you could rest the 2x6 on top of a top plate with the 2x4 hanging down and bolt it through, maybe with a joist hanger too. I'm not sure how happy a joist hanger alone would be with the lateral and torsional load of that bag swinging. I don't think they're designed for that.
That is super information. Didn't even think about the dynamic load. Thank you!
Thank you. Joists aren't exposed and we have I-beams so we can't attach directly to the side of the joist.
OP I'm afraid I can only offer thoughts: please try this and report back