need off topic advise..."tree" house

[daaw]

You guys here seem to be a wealth of information and thought I would ask the forum for idea, and thoughts.

I have decided to build my son a tree fort, but I don’t have a tree in the ideal area of my yard.  With this in mind I purchased a 20’ “utility pole” with the thought I would sink it about 5-6 feet and concrete the hell out of it.  I would then build the fort around the pole.

I started digging the hole and water started filling in at about 36”.  The deeper I dig, the more the water is caving in the hole, making going deeper next to impossible.  

Any ideas on how I can get this utility pole down to the required depth and if I was able to accomplish this I am starting to wonder if with all the water, would my concrete ever cure?

[ndabunka]

Y...The deeper I dig, the more the water is caving in the hole, making going deeper next to impossible....

Sounds like your into water only 3 feet down.  Where do you live,  Florida?  Or did you hit a pipe somehow?  In either case, there are concrete's that can solidify in water.  I think they are polymer-based but have never had any need previously so don't have any specific advice

[daaw]

I will look into that if I can find a way to get down beyond 3'.  

I live in coastal GA, about 100 miles north of FL.

[tanstaafl2]

Maybe put in more poles (three perhaps?) to improve stability rather than depend on a single pole.

[anne]

How about putting in 4 poles, one for each corner, sort of like building a house on 4 stilts, which will allow you to raise it up like a tree house, but still be really stable?  How do people build over swamps? I cannot see stability with only one pole, but if you want the tree effect, you could still have one of those poles go up all the way above the roof of the hose, and maybe have a zip line down, or stuff to hang from, or whatever.  

I'm seeing a 4 sided room with a ladder on one side, a rope with knots (that goes all the way to the roof) on another side each with a doorway, and windows on the opposite two sides?

[H823Putt]

I built a tree house for my kids a couple of years ago. The tree was not the best to use so I built it next to it on stilts. The post are cemented into the ground about 2 to 3 feet.

Here is a pic, not the best but the only one I could find. If you have any questions, PM me.

[IlliniFan]

We built one for our kids.  It had a club house in the bottom with a trap door in the roof with a rope ladder that dropped down.  Second story was a covered tree house style deck with latice.  I would worry about a single pole.