Jump to content
Light-O-Rama Forums

CCR Tree Down


laredolights

Recommended Posts

Hey guys, i don't really post must apart from in the sharing sequences (Thanks by the way guys) but i thought id share my morning.

We finally built the CCR tree, had a couple of test days with it and went live show on Sunday. we had heavy winds this morning and about 6:30am i heard lots of noises, i got up had a quick peek out of the window and my ccr tree was tipping over.
we went out side and quickly took it down to stop any further damage. the tree was made out of the toprail for fences with a 68lb umbrella stand (also with extra weight) with 4 guidewires  while we were trying to stop it hitting the ground and damaging the led strips it bend the pole.

now it's back to the drawing board.

what do you guys keep your tree up with?

44065483_741974202824385_5065153355643355136_n.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't have a tree myself {yet, maybe one day}, but really surprised that skeleton and the ghosts in your photo didn't go flying through the neighborhood too. LOL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry to hear that. Everyone told me to use Black iron pipe from Lowe's. That's some heavy duty stuff. That's what I am using for my mega tree now. Top rail bends very easy.  Not worth the risk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, Orville said:

Don't have a tree myself {yet, maybe one day}, but really surprised that skeleton and the ghosts in your photo didn't go flying through the neighborhood too. LOL

me to i guess cause they were lower? i think it was my fault the pole bent so bad as we were pushing it up to try and keep the strip of the ground from getting crushed and with the wind wanting it to go down.

i went home for lunch just to check the damage a bit more, and it was the umbrella stand upright pole that gave way, it was cheap metal so I'm asking a friend to weld a nut on a better pole and see if i can get it back up temporary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, GriswoldStyle said:

Sorry to hear that. Everyone told me to use Black iron pipe from Lowe's. That's some heavy duty stuff. That's what I am using for my mega tree now. Top rail bends very easy.  Not worth the risk.

might have to look into it, thanks for the heads up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did a write up on how to build an affordable tree- and also the second version which was stronger.

Both are being used by friends and both versions withstood the winds ect.

All parts , measurements ecT are provided in my write up.

Search for LOR ccr tree kit build or something like that. Pictures are also included.

Is it the best tree out there- probably not but it worked(s)

JR

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well you know what they say, "If you can't fix it with duct tape then you didn't use enough duct tape."

*** 100mph tape for you military folks.

Edited by Mr. P
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Mr. P said:

Well you know what they say, "If you can't fix it with duct tape then you didn't use enough duct tape."

*** 100mph tape for you military folks.

I thought duct tape went extinct once the gorilla's started making tape.???

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Orville said:

I thought duct tape went extinct once the gorilla's started making tape.???

You ever watch the Red Green Show?

You should YouTube it, he uses duct tape for everything.

JR

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had high winds in Nebraska so we went with galvanized pipe (mentioned above by Griswold) and I  use tree bases (iron/steel) from Christmas Light Show Dot Com.  I use 36" sections for the legs and with a pole pin I am 20ft high.  Also put 300lbs of sandbags on the legs.  That handled 70mph winds just fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, dibblejr said:

You ever watch the Red Green Show?

You should YouTube it, he uses duct tape for everything.

JR

Nope.   Ever since I tried Gorilla Tape, seems to hold much better than duct tape, seems to take walking over it in excess a bit better too.   And it sure seems to be a lot stronger in holding power over duct tape too.   I still use duct tape on a few things, but outside, I usually use Gorilla Tape if I need something to stay put in practically all weather conditions.   Duct tape has let me down in the wet and rainy department a bit too often.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, PhilMassey said:

+1 on Gorilla tape.

I would have to agree also, I used it in Nebraska because I had cords running over sidewalks in front of our house and to our house.  Was really generous with it and it handled the wear and tear plus snow and cold temps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry to hear about your tree.  Mine does not use a center pole, but rather an A frame made out of Unistrut (also known as "SuperStrut" at Home Depot).  The frame is about 10 feet wide at the bottom and 15 feet tall.  Near the top is another 10 foot piece of Unistrut that is attached to the tree near the top that is bolted to a roof beam that keeps the whole thing vertical.  There are a bunch of photos on the web page below.  Scroll down a ways to see the Unistrut.  Note that the photo that shows the attachment of the top Unistrut to the tree changed in 2015, but I don't have a picture of it.  BTW, there is shallow and deep versions of Unistrut.  I am using the shallow version.

http://www.newburghlights.org/pixel_tree.html

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mine uses unistruts as a cross member at the bottom and then again about 10' up. Between these I have 1.5" rigid conduit. From the Unistrut at the 10' mark, I have a single 1" pipe going to a 3' piece of Unistrut. From the Bottom to the top are 3/4" conduit, one for each string of lights. Adding 4 more this year to increase light density by 25%, from 12 CCB to 16CCB. Photo attached. I have more somewhere if requested. There was also an article I wrote on this construction in the Planet Christmas Magazine couple of issues ago

Mega tree on set of saw horses.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry about your tree.   This kind of thing is so difficult to deal with. I hope you recover quickly.     

Last year my center pole was only 14 ft  of  1 inch threaded black pipe with a threaded coupling in the middle of 10ft and 4ft  pipes.      Mine is a 180 tree which leans against and is attached to the house at about the 9 ft height.   

I think its pretty securely attached to the house but this is just for horizontal movement.   Just the weight of it holds it down with no guy wires.  I drive a metal stake into the ground and slip it over.   

 

This year I bought longer 100 pixel strings (which will be closer together) so I have to make the pole 6ft taller at 20ft.   I plan only two guy wires at the top which will also be attached to the house.   No hole digging or weight is planned.  I admit some day-mares of wind pulling the front of the house off!  My wife would not be happy with that.   

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks guys, you have given me a lot to think about. I was able to get the CCR tree back up and running with a new pole and got a couple of people to weld a better pole to the base. its doing ok so far and only 1 week left for Halloween then see what upgrades i can do to it for Christmas. With all the grief this tree has given me i still love it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • The topic was locked
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...