Total cost for everything was a bit over $400 with a breakdown as follows: Hardware $148 (cable, eyebolts, cable clamps, thimbles and turnbuckles) Harness, Trolley, Strap and Carabiners $174, Deer Stand $93. Used Lawnmower Tires $0. I had all the tools required except for an 18 inch long 5/8" auger bit to drill through the trees. It set me back may $30 or $40.
I had a hard time finding any info on the proper slope of the line and ended up roughly following a formula someone had posted that sounded good. It called for setting the low end 30 inches higher than the height of the rider and the high end one foot higher than that for the first 40 feet and six inches for each additional 10 feet. My low end is about 8.5 feet and my high end is about 18 feet plus my land drops off about 3 or 4 feet over the run of the cable so I have a drop of roughly 13 feet over a little over 250 feet.
When I set up my next one I think I'll use wire rope slings around the trees (with some treated 2x4 blocks under them to protect the bark) so that I can adjust the height more easily.
Sources were karstsports.com, fehr.com, and sportsmansguide.com. There is a guy that has some video instruction on the setup as well at
http://www.briangreenstone.com/zipline/index.html.-Gary
