Mega tree advice

Slam

Slam

New elf
Joined
Oct 3, 2018
Messages
24
Hey gurus,

I've bitten the bullet and started work on a mega tree to replace the poor effort I made in the past. The plan is 180 degrees, 32 strands, 100 pixels/strand, 2" spacing. I have the logic sorted and the hardware side is where I need advice/help. It will be 5m high. I have the top mounting plate from Piptree designs and a custom built topper. These together with the string load seem to weigh a lot so I'm looking to try and overengineer this to be sure it's not going to fail (or at least lower the risk as much as I can). The rear guy wires will anchor to those 2 pillars (thinking around the height of the pergola.

I am looking for help around my:
1. Overall design approach
2. Guy wires
3. Top plate mounting

Mega Christmas Tree.jpg

Once settled on the design, I'm also looking for somewhere to help with fabrication. I'm located in The Hills in north west Sydney if you know anywhere.

Thanks in advance for your input.
 
myself i wouldnt want a bit of steel sitting there to trip over or mow around for the rest of the year

round or box steel wouldnt matter ... set in concrete just below lawn level and get a plug made at the same time for when its not being used which will stop the hole filling up

Untitled.jpg
 
Looks neat
I would consider using a single pole rather than joining and due to height of the pole implementing a tilting pole mechanism.

This is what we did last season and it worked ok for our display.
View: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rnv9ub6dpdsinfn/Photo%2018-7-20%2C%202%2035%2055%20pm.jpg?dl=0


Are you going to make the topper able to be winched up and down? If so a simple pulley and winch setup seems to work ok.
 
So, here are a few of my thoughts.

Adjust where you put your guy wires because it looks like one of them will go across a walk way or hinder the front door steps. I'd locate two of them going towards the brick wall and the last one to attach to the roof(?) above the steps. this still gives 3 points and doesn't interfere with possible walking routes.

I was thinking either a pivoting pole or an ASAP setup. The taller the pole and longer the strings the harder it is to put up.

Lastly, if you can think about using 1" spacing. The reason i say this is due to how close the tree is going to be to the sidewalk / street. a 2" looks nice from a further distance but up close some of the details are harder to see. My tree is within 3m of the sidewalk and I am switching to 1" spacing to make me happy. I doubt others will notice but I can see the difference. I was very happy with my tree last year though with 2" spacing.

Dean
 
I have a 6.5 metre 360 degree Mega tree made of 50mm round gal pipe which uses a pulley/winch system to raise and lower the head.
I have 900mm of round PVC pipe embedded in an in ground concrete block with a plastic screw plug to stop dirt and ants from getting in.
The pipe is accessed via a 150 x 150 irrigation valve box, which is obtrusive when not in use.
I have a pivot assy that drops into the pvc pipe. The pole lays down and a single bolt passes through the pole and pivot assy and is secured with a nylock nut When raised, a lynch pin passes through a second hole the pivot assy and pole and is retained by an R Clip.
I use another length of pvc pipe slipped over the pole and sits above my Mega Tree Head to raise and lower my mega tree star

Peter
 
Just an update after a lot of thought based on the advice above and more research. I have changed to 1" spacing which reduces height, loads etc. so will make everything less risky but also improve the visual appearance with audience being 4m-10m away. Thank you for your input.
 
How are people attaching the top connector plate to their poles? I bought the Piptree 64 hole plate but can't work out how to mount to the pole (std 32mm gal fence pipe from bunnings.
d626990a-a2ca-48c1-9a7f-ec7d981db58e.png s296768703236437117_p57_i8_w4000.jpeg
 
I’m assuming you mean how to actually anchor it up there? Im only a newb but was in the same position if that’s where you’re at. As far as I’m aware you have two options

a spigot - which is what I ended up with with my toppers from Paul.

or a pulley system. So you’d need a winch run through a pulley anchored at the top of your pole and then connected to your topper plate
 
Slam said:
How are people attaching the top connector plate to their poles? I bought the Piptree 64 hole plate but can't work out how to mount to the pole (std 32mm gal fence pipe from bunnings.
View attachment 20430 View attachment 20432
Click to expand...
Are you wanting it to slide up and down like the winch method or are you planning to have it fixed?

Mine is fixed and I just used square pipe that fit over the round - you will need some kind of interface (plate) welded to the square pipe to allow it to bolt onto your topper if you did it this way

229451D8-7295-4E3C-BEAD-3BE6A20F337B.jpegAC4A868A-A129-47BC-9C42-52F0AF2BD9F5.jpeg2860DF59-9236-4EEB-8A9B-B5510311CC38.jpeg
 
Last edited:
videoman3857 said:
I have a 6.5 metre 360 degree Mega tree made of 50mm round gal pipe which uses a pulley/winch system to raise and lower the head.
I have 900mm of round PVC pipe embedded in an in ground concrete block with a plastic screw plug to stop dirt and ants from getting in.
The pipe is accessed via a 150 x 150 irrigation valve box, which is obtrusive when not in use.
I have a pivot assy that drops into the pvc pipe. The pole lays down and a single bolt passes through the pole and pivot assy and is secured with a nylock nut When raised, a lynch pin passes through a second hole the pivot assy and pole and is retained by an R Clip.
I use another length of pvc pipe slipped over the pole and sits above my Mega Tree Head to raise and lower my mega tree star

Peter
Click to expand...
Any pics of your setup videoman?
 
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