Mini Trees

[derekb]

What does everyone use for their mini trees in their displays? I used tomato cages last year, but found some 4ft Christmas trees on clearance, just not sure if they will last and I started adding the strings of lights to them and they don't seem happy about that. I don't want to be fixing trees throughout December. So anyway, I am looking for what everyone else uses and has found durable, but not overly expensive.

[scubado]

If you think they're unhappy with lights, wait till you see them loaded with heavy snow and ice! I used two 7' artificial trees in my display, three guy wires weren't good enough to keep them up. Trying to upright a fully loaded tree with a broken stand is a challenge. Last weekend I got a third 7' tree for free from a relative that's moving.

 

My little trees are tomato cages.  No sense reinventing the wheel, except maybe for pixels.

[derekb]

Maybe I will stick with tomato cages. I see my local garden center has some tall, heavy duty ones that might work well.

[james campbell]

I used cages for two years and they work great.That is except for tripping my gfci. I had to put boards under each tree and it still trips but it has to be pretty wet now. I use two per tree,if you offset the cages it gives it a more rounded look nad is also more stable

[derekb]

I used cages for two years and they work great.That is except for tripping my gfci. I had to put boards under each tree and it still trips but it has to be pretty wet now. I use two per tree,if you offset the cages it gives it a more rounded look nad is also more stable

 

I never considered that. Is it the lights getting wet and then transferring to the trees and then trip the gfci? That does not sound like fun.

[rainyoregonchristmas]

I'm working on a high quality version pm me if you need details. Or see the topic on folding mini stick tree.

[mattpatt]

Has anyone tried those painted tomato cages that you can buy now?  Saw some green ones the other day at Home Depot.  Also, I wonder if you coated the cages in this stuiff would it work to insulate the lights from the cages?

[indi]

I bought some green colored cages, I think at Lowes. I have a sloped yard, so what I did was to take a 1 inch PVC cap and drilled 3 holes it is and bent the cage legs into an L shape and pushed them into the PVC cap and used safty wire to wrap the legs and cap together. I drove a 4 1/2 foot rebar in the ground and put the cages over the rebar and let the cage rest on the cap. Worked well. They will move with the wind, but never came off the rebar. I guess I could tie the bottoms down to the ground with nylon string or small rope if need be. This way it keeps the trees off the ground in case of snow. And being set on top of the rebar, they are level.

[75redman]

What does everyone use for their mini trees in their displays? I used tomato cages last year, but found some 4ft Christmas trees on clearance, just not sure if they will last and I started adding the strings of lights to them and they don't seem happy about that. I don't want to be fixing trees throughout December. So anyway, I am looking for what everyone else uses and has found durable, but not overly expensive.

I used a few 4ft. and 7.5ft fake trees last year and they worked fine.  I zip tied the center pole to a 4ft piece of rebar and it didn't move.  The previous year I didn't do that and they kept falling over.

Will be adding more of the 4ft trees for my mini trees next year also.

Edited April 9, 2013 by 75redman

[rainyoregonchristmas]

Unfortunately, some powder coats do conduct electricity, while others when cured do not.  Testing is the only way to determine this.  As a former worker in a powder coat shop I can tell you some items can hold A LOT of juice.  Getting hit by static electricity from some of those parts REALLY hurts.  If you are concerned, you can get fiberglass temporary electric fence stakes at most farm stores.  They're a half inch in diameter, and come in a variety of lengths.  You could get a selection of them then cut and bundle them together. 

 

http://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/geotek-fiberglass-electric-fence-post-a33/0000000079759?utm_source=googleps&utm_medium=shopping%2Bsearch&utm_campaign=google%2Bproduct%20search&gclid=CPLSkLeqvrYCFQnhQgodsRIAwg#

[zman]

I have converted mine over the past few years to 3G Lightings wireframe version.While I could do these myself, Mike does an outstanding job with his versions. Some nice amenities he includes are the fact that they come in 2 pieces for shipping. Which means if you really wanted, you could do 2 half trees, plus screw in legs and a coupler at the top for a start or in my case an eye bolt for carrying and holding strobes someday.  

 

http://store.3glightingcreations.com/categories/Mini-Trees/

 

I used the wreath easels years ago, and was not really thrilled with the way they would sag over time. Then I had to load the frames up with super strings of LEDs and they would not take the weight of that.

[derekb]

I used a few 4ft. and 7.5ft fake trees last year and they worked fine.  I zip tied the center pole to a 4ft piece of rebar and it didn't move.  The previous year I didn't do that and they kept falling over.

Will be adding more of the 4ft trees for my mini trees next year also.

 

Thanks. Great idea.

I have converted mine over the past few years to 3G Lightings wireframe version.While I could do these myself, Mike does an outstanding job with his versions. Some nice amenities he includes are the fact that they come in 2 pieces for shipping. Which means if you really wanted, you could do 2 half trees, plus screw in legs and a coupler at the top for a start or in my case an eye bolt for carrying and holding strobes someday.  

 

http://store.3glightingcreations.com/categories/Mini-Trees/

 

I used the wreath easels years ago, and was not really thrilled with the way they would sag over time. Then I had to load the frames up with super strings of LEDs and they would not take the weight of that.

 

I do like how these look. I may consider them. Pretty sturdy?

[zman]

Thanks. Great idea.

 

I do like how these look. I may consider them. Pretty sturdy?

Well on my small trees, I have 1000 lights (250 each R-G-B-W) on them and they stand up no problemo. Consistent shape/height, powder coated. Like I stated, I can weld, and do whenever I can, but Mike makes a damn nice tree for the money. For me it's all about budget, and my time is sometimes more critical in that figure than $$.

[jmjordan]

Well on my small trees, I have 1000 lights (250 each R-G-B-W) on them and they stand up no problemo. Consistent shape/height, powder coated. Like I stated, I can weld, and do whenever I can, but Mike makes a damn nice tree for the money. For me it's all about budget, and my time is sometimes more critical in that figure than $$.

 I'll second what zman said about the 3G trees.  I've used 9 of them for a few seasons, and they are solid and have held up great.  Mike does quality work.

[MarshallFamilyChristmas]

I take a wooden stake about 2-3 feet tall, and 2 boxes of 100 count lights and drill a screw onto the top of the wood and pound it into the ground. Then I tie the female end of the first strand of lights around the screw and use tent stakes to put the lights into the ground and then go back up to the top and over and over again. It looks like a mini version of a mega tree.

[Redbirdruss]

I have been using the Wreath Easels for 4 years now. So far I have only had to replace 1 that collapsed. They are inexpensive and easy to find (Michaels).

I cover them with around 800 LED lights each. I rest the sockets on top of a 4" piece of 2x4 and that seems to eliminate GFCI problems when wet.

They stack easily when I put a plastic grocery bag between each mini tree.

The first year I used lot's of zip ties, now I don't use more than 5-6 per tree. This makes it much easier to do repairs "in Season".

I prefer the shape of the easel to the shape of the tomato cage which sometimes looks more like a torpedo than a tree to me.

[oilmoney]

+1 on the tomato cages, used 12 of them in a 4CH per tree configuration with 800 lights per tree and am adding another 12 this year. At $7 a piece they're dirt cheap. I built 2x4 stands for them so they can't freeze to the ground. I have 3 holes drilled for each tree for zip ties. Setup and takedown was a breeze plus using the stands raises the trees up 8-10 inches which allows better viewing and easy removal of accumulated snow throughout the lightup season plus it also creates a nice hiding spot to keep the controller enclosures partially hidden!

Edited January 19, 2015 by oilmoney

[Liberty-Laser]

I have 21 of the mini (2 ft) artificial trees.  I removed the incandescent lights & replaced with LEDs.  They look great day or night.

[Bizywk]

tomato cages are a simple and cost effective solution.   we bough inexpensive green garland on-line which makes them look good day and night.  We have 4-100 sealed LED strands and they're quite bright. To help with GFI trips, we just cut off the female end and waterproofed them.  We then plugged in the male ends, put them in an office sized trash can, bread bag tied the bag closed and tucked it inside the tree - invisible and waterproof.  Just got done converting the tops of the trees to include the PVC pole trick.  Now they're always up off the ground and level. 

[Ebuechner]

I use a 3 foot white artificial tree with a custom stand I made that pounds into the ground to be secure. Wrapped in 50 RGB dumb nodes and hooked up to a 27 channel DMX controller. They are extremely bright I can get any color I want they even looked better with snow on them. and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.