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CCR Tree Construction...what do you think?

boisechris

By boisechris
in LOR S4/S5/S6 SuperStar Sequencer

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boisechris Member

boisechris

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Hi Holiday light enthusiasts!!!

I had an idea this morning for a new way to set up a CCR tree.

What do you think of 1/2-5/8 metal packing straps?http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-1644/Steel-Strapping/1-2-x-023-x-2688-High-Tensile-Steel-Strapping

It's inexpensive and very strong.

I thought about securing it to the ground with hooks and a tension turnbuckle ...A 1 1/2 inch x 18'Post for the height and star, with a cross brace with hooks to secure it to the top. From there you can ziptie the Strips and voila! you gave a strong, light CCR tree that should stand up to high winds, snow etc. /Looks like tensile strength is from 1400-2200 lbs........

Please give me your thoughts and ideas to make this idea a reality.

 

Best,

Chris

 

 

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Tigerdmd Member

Tigerdmd

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I use the plastic banding myself for my pixel tree....withstood 6 months of Maine winter very well

Do you have any pics of this. How are you attaching to the ground - this is much more appealing than aluminum tubing.

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Ron Boyd Member

Ron Boyd

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http://www.magicchristmas.org/uploads/3/4/0/0/3400701/building_a_colormotions_tree_small_copy_2.pdf

 

This is the way most of us are doing it when we use some sort of banding. The banding used in here is about $50 for 1800' http://www.amazon.com/PAC-Strapping-5830113B18-SC-General-Polyester/dp/B006LS7QQG/ref=sr_1_2?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1398516924&sr=1-2

.005" thinner but will still do the job

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LightsinMaine Member

LightsinMaine

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I used the same instructions Ron just posted. I changed the base up some but same concept otherwise. I don't have pics and I just tore it down yesterday.

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boisechris Member

boisechris

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The plastic banding sounds like a great idea. Does anyone have pictures of their tree?  Also, how did you get tension? I'm hoping I can do this rather than building an aluminum frame. Are you guys still using a  1-1/4-1/2 center post?  

maybe a center post such as  http://www.christmaslightshow.com/Christmas-lights-music-house.html with http://www.christmaslightshow.com/20-mega-tree-anchor-kit-includes-4-32-guy-wires-and-4-ground-anchors.html

I appreciate the input

Thanks,

Chris

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LightsinMaine Member

LightsinMaine

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Did you look at the instructions Ron posted? It has lots of pictures, shows how the bands are tensioned and has a hyperlink on how to build your pole. You can try and recreate the wheel but I personally followed the instructions pretty much to the "T" because its a tested product the way it's built in the instructions. Doing so I didn't try anything different and my tree didnt end up in a pile during the large windstorms we had.

Edited by LightsinMaine
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Ron Boyd Member

Ron Boyd

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I did tweak the instructions a bit. Instead of using a 2" flange and nipple in the base (Portable Hole II), I did mine using 1 1/4 inch galvanized. I did not use the jump pole instructions, I used the Pole Pin from CLS.

 

One thing to note, when I built mine last year. I started with a typical threaded mega tree topper. This proved to be a mistake and did not turn out so well. Upon tensioning, the topper bent down on the side of the 16 legs. I had A friend of mine make a topper out of 1/4" aluminum. Here's the final topper before adding to the tree: http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/boydchristmaslights/library/Pixtree%20topper

I had zero problems with this one. It stayed put when tensioning. The whole tree hardly moved at all during the bad weather. Granted, we didn't have anywhere as much wind as some places did, but we did have a couple of days of 20-30 mph gusts. It was rock solid.

 

One other thing, I did a 180° tree instead of the almost 360° tree Walter did.

Edited by Ron Boyd
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boisechris Member

boisechris

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Great instructions! Thank you so much. I'm building mine with the banding as per instructions.

 

Chris

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boisechris Member

boisechris

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Actually I need to modify the base and structure for a 12CCR.

I need a fairly straight brace at the bottom and top to attach the banding for a CCR. Since it's not a 180 or 360 tree.


Ron,

Do you have pics of your CCR tree? Was it done with banding?

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Ron Boyd Member

Ron Boyd

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Although my tree was 180°, my structure was done using the Portable Hole II, an 1 1/4" pole and the topper linked above. I did initially have the pixels on the Strapping and most likely will revert to that this coming year. However, my pixels were redone during setup and attached to 1/2" electrical conduit. All that being said, Once the tree structure was erected last year, I took a piece of the Superstrut, bought at Home Depot or Lowes and attached it to the bottom. This would have been the point I stopped if I were doing a 2D, flat tree. Anyway, I attached the superstrut to the pole and rested it on the base. At this point you will be able to add the turnbuckles and tighten up the bands. Here's a quick and drty drawing. http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/boydchristmaslights/media/Pixtree_zps36007c4b.jpg.html I'll have to look around for my pics of the actual structure.

On my tree, I added a half circle to the Superstrut and attached my 16 strings to that.

Edited by Ron Boyd
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kzaas Member

kzaas

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http://www.magicchristmas.org/uploads/3/4/0/0/3400701/building_a_colormotions_tree_small_copy_2.pdf

 

This is the way most of us are doing it when we use some sort of banding. The banding used in here is about $50 for 1800' http://www.amazon.com/PAC-Strapping-5830113B18-SC-General-Polyester/dp/B006LS7QQG/ref=sr_1_2?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1398516924&sr=1-2

.005" thinner but will still do the job

Ron, I read through the instructions you provided(very good instructions by the way), but I have a question. Why are you using an J-bolt with a D-ring at the top but a eyebolt at the bottm? Do you see a reason why we can't use J-bolts with D-rings at both ends?

Thanks,

Ken

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kzaas Member

kzaas

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OK Thanks, did you see any fatigue on the ends that went onto the eyebolts? From the looks of the pictures, the straps were on a tighly curved area of the eyebolt.
That was my only concern about not using D-rings at both ends

Edited by kzaas
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Ron Boyd Member

Ron Boyd

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Everything looked exactly coming down as it did going up. I was quite pleased with the way things held up. No fatigue. The eyeballs I used were 1/4". Took some doing to bend them open but it worked out in the end

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khawes Member

khawes

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Actually I need to modify the base and structure for a 12CCR.

I need a fairly straight brace at the bottom and top to attach the banding for a CCR. Since it's not a 180 or 360 tree.

Ron,

Do you have pics of your CCR tree? Was it done with banding?

Sounds like you are building a "flat" tree.  If so here's a topic for you:

http://forums.lightorama.com/index.php?/topic/23186-anyone-else-building-a-frame-for-a-12-ribbon-ccr-tree/

mine came out great.

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boisechris Member

boisechris

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Nice Pics Ron.. ty.

Can you buy the half circle that goes around the pole and attaches to the superstrut?

Also.. for the 2d tree would you just attach a shorter piece of superstrut at the top as well?

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wmilkie Member

wmilkie

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Posted (edited)

I did tweak the instructions a bit. Instead of using a 2" flange and nipple in the base (Portable Hole II), I did mine using 1 1/4 inch galvanized. I did not use the jump pole instructions, I used the Pole Pin from CLS.

 

One thing to note, when I built mine last year. I started with a typical threaded mega tree topper. This proved to be a mistake and did not turn out so well. Upon tensioning, the topper bent down on the side of the 16 legs. I had A friend of mine make a topper out of 1/4" aluminum. Here's the final topper before adding to the tree: http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/boydchristmaslights/library/Pixtree%20topper

I had zero problems with this one. It stayed put when tensioning. The whole tree hardly moved at all during the bad weather. Granted, we didn't have anywhere as much wind as some places did, but we did have a couple of days of 20-30 mph gusts. It was rock solid.

 

One other thing, I did a 180° tree instead of the almost 360° tree Walter did.

Ron,

is the 180 tree the one on the left?

I made a similiar 1/4 tree topper you did, after also bending the one I purchase. Used 1/8 cable, no problems.

Edited by wmilkie
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