jevely Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 This year I would like to add a mega tree (or medium tree) to my display. What would be a recommended ratio of height to diameter of base. (example: height is double the diameter of the base). I don't want something that looks too fat or skinny.Thanks,Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob VandenBoom Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 There is no right or wrong answer. It is a matter of personal preference. A lot of people use the ratio mentioned in your example: Height = 2X DiameterBob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR V Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 I personally like the look better at around a 1.5x ratio. It doesn't look so pointy that way. But with that ratio you loose 50% more yard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoore60 Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Tree is about 21ft from ground to top of the star. The ring the lights are on at the bottom is about 6 foot diameter and is about 2.5 feet off the round.If the picture works correctly it is over there <-----Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jevely Posted July 10, 2008 Author Share Posted July 10, 2008 Thanks for the replies. I just wanted a starting point to mock-up the tree and give me an idea of the number / length of lights needed.Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 Mine are 26 feet tall from the ground to the top fo the star. Each tree has 9700 lights including the star.Here's some various pics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffF Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 William, I love the 4th picture(2nd from last) you posted. I think I remember stumbling upon them last year(maybe very early this year) and wanting to do something similar.Just wanted to thank you for the inspiration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 What's amazing... I don't have the base of the tree cemented in the ground. That plate has four six inch bolts welded to the bottom.We have winds 60+mph during the season and I only lower the lights because the bulbs may shatter.The weight of the tree and the six inch bolts holds the base in place. The guy wires keep it standing upright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Jones Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 jevely wrote: Thanks for the replies. I just wanted a starting point to mock-up the tree and give me an idea of the number / length of lights needed.JimJimMy mega is 20' to the lights 25' overallthe diameter is 14' - I found these numbers to work perfectly based upon a strand of 70count leds, about 24'I put the numbers into , height of mast and the length of the light strand, into cad and came up with the diameter and the spacing of the strands The ratio is almost 1.5:1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jevely Posted July 29, 2008 Author Share Posted July 29, 2008 Dr. Jones wrote: jevely wrote: Thanks for the replies. I just wanted a starting point to mock-up the tree and give me an idea of the number / length of lights needed.JimJimMy mega is 20' to the lights 25' overallthe diameter is 14' - I found these numbers to work perfectly based upon a strand of 70count leds, about 24'I put the numbers into , height of mast and the length of the light strand, into cad and came up with the diameter and the spacing of the strands The ratio is almost 1.5:1Thanks, Dr. Jones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownTown Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 jevely wrote: This year I would like to add a mega tree (or medium tree) to my display. What would be a recommended ratio of height to diameter of base. (example: height is double the diameter of the base). I don't want something that looks too fat or skinny.Thanks,JimJim -Most mega trees run from 1.5 - 2x the diameter in height. It starts out as personal preference, but then becomes a function of the space available and the length of your light strings. You can get some info on my megas here: http://lightsonchelsea.home.comcast.net/~lightsonchelsea/megabuild.htmYou can see them in my avatar (to the right), or a bigger pic is available if you click the Download link (also to the right).D.T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownTown Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 *Double Post - sorry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bossgroove Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 Okay. Okay.Soooooo. If I want to have a 10 foot tree with a 1.5 x's diamter = 15 feet. I need about 47 feet of tubing to create this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob VandenBoom Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 bossgroove wrote: Okay. Okay.Soooooo. If I want to have a 10 foot tree with a 1.5 x's diamter = 15 feet. I need about 47 feet of tubing to create this?The height is 1.5 to 2 times the diameter, so if you wanted a 10 foot tree the diameter would be 10 divided by 1.5 or 2. For 1.5X the diameter would be about 6 feet 8 inches and for 2X the diameter would be 5 feet. the length of tubing would be about 21 feet for 1,5X and just under 16 feet for 2X. If you are looking for 1.5X, then I would use two 10 foot sections (20 feet) of grey electrical conduit for the base giving a diameter of just about 6 feet 4 inches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Hamilton Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 Mountainwxman wrote: Mine are 26 feet tall from the ground to the top fo the star. Each tree has 9700 lights including the star.Gee, wouldn't it be simplier to just send a video to people on the space station instead of building a tree big enough to be seen from space? ;-)Wish I had a tree that big. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 LOL Richard.I remember one guy in Texas had one that was 50 feet tall last year. I haven't seen him around just yet if he's doing a display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billc Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Has anyone made a 35-40' mega tree? I was going to install a flagpole on commercial property and use that for support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR V Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 billc wrote: Has anyone made a 35-40' mega tree? I was going to install a flagpole on commercial property and use that for support.This year we will have a 40' tall tree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billc Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Do you have to do anything special for support going that high? Has anyone out there used a commercial flag pole as a structure for a mega tree?I'd be curious to hear what was done to support a 50' tree. I'm sure that was impressive but then again everythings big in TX right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR V Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 This time I am going to have two sets of guy wires (6 total). 3 coming from the very top like I did with our previous 25' tree. But this time I am going to add a second set of 3 coming from the middle. But the guy wires will still go to the same set of anchor points as the top guy wires. We are actually going to pour concrete at 3 points with a rebar loop on them so that I can anchor down to something pretty solid. We have our worst winds around here during the winter months so I need to make sure this thing doesnt come crashing down. We usually have at least 1 wind storm during Nov. Dec. that will reach 50-60 mph winds. Our tree frame is actually going to be made of 4" aluminum pipe that thats threaded together every 10'. With strong guy wires going to some solid concrete anchors we shouldn't see much trouble with wind. The worst I could see happening is the strands being ripped up in the wind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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