How to Assemble a Trampoline (Vuly / Springfree style)

By Mick — handyman, Newcastle NSW.

Two people, two hours. That’s the real time-and-effort cost of building a Vuly Lift Pro or a Springfree S132 if you do it in the right order. The instruction manual gets the order backwards — they have you fitting the safety net poles before the mat is tensioned, and you’ll spend 4 hours wrestling against your own work. Reverse the net pole stage and the whole job falls into place.

I’m on my third trampoline build for family — two for grandkids, one for a mate’s tribe of five. Same lessons every time. Read the assembly steps once, ignore the order, then build it in the sequence I’ll lay out below. Especially section 4 (the net) — that’s where every trampoline owner I know has either given up or sworn at the manufacturer.

The Aussie gotcha: Vuly and Springfree both ship with anchor kits in the box, and AS 4989 (Trampoline Standard) requires them to be installed in cyclone-prone zones — anywhere north of about Bundaberg. Most installers (DIY and pro) skip the anchors because the trampoline feels stable on its rubber feet. It is, until a 90 km/h southerly comes through and the trampoline becomes a 30 kg airborne projectile heading for next door’s Colorbond fence.

What you’ll need

• The trampoline kit (Vuly, Springfree, or similar — instructions in the box)
• A second adult — this is a two-person job, full stop
• A 13 mm and 17 mm spanner or socket set
• A rubber mallet (Bunnings $18) — never a steel hammer on the frame
• A power drill with Phillips bit
• Anchor kit — usually included; check before you start
• A spirit level
• A measuring tape
• Optional: knee pads — you’ll be on the ground a lot

Step 1: Pick the site — flat, drained, 1.5 m clear all around

Pick the site before you open the box. Trampolines need flat ground (within 50 mm across the diameter), drainage (don’t site them in a low spot that pools), and 1.5 m clearance to fences, trees, and Colorbond walls. Branches above? Cut them — 5 m vertical clearance from the mat surface is the AS 4989 spec.

Avoid Buffalo grass — the trampoline shades it and kills it inside two months. Couch handles shading better.

Step 2: Sort all parts before opening any bag

Lay everything out on the lawn. Frame tubes (legs, top ring sections), springs, mat, safety pad, net poles, net, anchor kit, hardware bags. Count against the parts list. Twenty minutes of sorting saves an hour of “where’s that bolt” later.

Vuly kits are particularly good at labelling parts (A1, A2, B1) — Springfree uses colour-coded zip ties. Either way, don’t open hardware bags until you need them, and lay each component on the bag it came in.

Step 3: Build the top ring flat on the ground first

Top ring is the round frame the springs attach to. Connect the curved tubes into a complete ring on flat ground. Snug-fit only — don’t fully tighten any bolt yet, you’ll need wiggle room when the legs go on.

Use the rubber mallet to seat tubes that don’t fully push together by hand. Never a steel hammer — it’ll dimple the powder coating and rust will start in 6 months.

Step 4: Attach legs while the ring is flat

Each leg has two attachment points to the top ring (W-shaped legs on Vuly, U-shaped on Springfree). Bolt them on but again, only snug-tight. With all legs attached and the ring still flat, you’ll have a wide low frame.

Step 5: Stand the frame upright — two-person flip

Two adults, one each side, lift and flip the whole frame onto its legs. It’s awkward but not heavy (35–50 kg). Once on its legs, walk around and check each leg sits flat on the ground; shim with timber offcuts if your lawn dips at any one leg.

Now go back and fully tighten every frame bolt — top ring joints first, then leg-to-ring bolts.

Step 6: Fit the mat — opposite-spring-pair method

The mat goes on next, before the net poles. This is where my order differs from the instruction manual. With the net poles still off the frame, you have full overhead access to stretch springs.

Springs go on in opposite pairs, never sequentially. Put one spring at 12 o’clock, then 6 o’clock (opposite), then 3 o’clock, then 9 o’clock, then halfway between each, and so on. This keeps the mat tension balanced. Sequential one-after-the-next will pull the mat sideways and the last 10 springs will be impossible to stretch on.

Use the spring puller tool that comes in the kit. Don’t use a screwdriver — you’ll bend the spring and slip and skewer your hand.

Step 7: Now fit the net poles — after the mat is tensioned

This is the order reversal. With the mat fully tensioned, the top ring is now stiff and dimensionally stable. Net poles bolt to the frame brackets without flexing the ring. If you’d fitted the net poles first (as the manual usually says), every spring you stretch would tug the ring and bend the poles.

Step 8: Fit the safety pad and net

Safety pad is the foam/PVC ring that covers the springs. Velcro or tie straps to the frame — colour-coded on Springfree, numbered on Vuly. The pad has a top side (logo) and an underside (drainage holes); don’t put it on upside-down or rainwater pools and rots the foam in 18 months.

The net hangs from the top of the net poles down to the mat edge. Most modern systems use a spring-loaded toggle at each pole — feed the net loop on, spring snaps closed.

Step 9: Install the anchor kit (mandatory in cyclone zones)

The anchor kit is 4 corkscrew ground stakes plus 4 ratchet straps. Screw the stakes 300 mm into the ground at each leg position (or every second leg on a hexagonal frame). Connect the strap from the leg base to the stake top, ratchet tight enough that the strap is taut without lifting the leg.

In Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, anywhere north — the anchor kit is non-negotiable under AS 4989. Even south of the cyclone zone (Sydney, Melbourne), I’d still anchor — 80 km/h gusts happen everywhere and a flying trampoline is an insurance claim and a coroner job rolled together.

Step 10: Test bounce and lock-off the entry zip

Before letting kids on, do a 5-minute adult bounce test (gently — you’re not a kid anymore). Listen for any creaks, watch any frame flex, check no bolts have backed off. Re-tighten anything that’s moved.

Springfree has a magnetic safety net door, Vuly has a zip — show the kids how to close it properly. The closed-net rule is ironclad; the rebound off an unzipped net opening is what causes most trampoline injuries, not the bouncing itself.

The Mick rule

Springs before poles, anchors mandatory north of Bundaberg, never use a steel hammer. The instruction manual is a guideline, not a rulebook — the order they specify costs you 2 extra hours and a sore back. Two people, two hours, 30 mostly easy steps if you sequence it right. And the kit’ll outlast the kids’ interest in it; mine is on year 8 and grandson #2 is just hitting peak trampoline age now.

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