I didn't even go to the Jimswinder School of structural integrity

[Mark Showalter]

From the weather service...

WINDS: SOUTH WINDS SUSTAINED AT SPEEDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH GUSTING TO 60 MPH... LOCAL GUSTS TO ABOVE 70 MPH IN THE HANFORD AREA.


Looks like some clean-up on isle seven.

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[Mark Showalter]

The bent over heap would be the seven 3ft snowflakes I had up in the air. The guy wires all held but the two masts just buckled. Has anyone ever put up a freestanding two pole snowflake holder? I'm thinking of trying again using an extension ladder. I'll wait until the wind stops.

[evan.a]

I use a tree to hold up my snowflake. held tough threw last week wind storm

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[reitan_family]

Pretty wicked wind we had. Sorry for the damage. I was lucky that I'm a little away from the southern hills. You must get it all the time. My 2' and 4' trees have a round base and I went to KIE and bought some "u" sticks that hold irrigation funny pipe on the ground. Good luck.

[scubado]

Holy crap! How big is that thing?!

[scubado]

Mark Showalter wrote:

The bent over heap would be the seven 3ft snowflakes I had up in the air. The guy wires all held but the two masts just buckled. Has anyone ever put up a freestanding two pole snowflake holder? I'm thinking of trying again using an extension ladder. I'll wait until the wind stops.

Someone mentioned last year about using fence posts and get the mast of the tree as close to the post as possible and wire tie it. I'm using that suggestion this year.

[james campbell]

mother nature has been tough this year,,the early snow on the east coast the wind for you guys,, all the constant rain here in the central part man what a year

[jimswinder]

Mark...just saw this thread...sorry for your loss!!!

If I was closer I would be there in a hearbeat to help you out...

See...get involved with me and the Winder Curse is not far behind...

and I'll save the Cougar Jokes for later...

[Mark Showalter]

I think I have plan for fixing the snowflakes but I just don't think they will outlast the season. Need an engineer and someone who can weld.

[gizmomkr]

Nawww, you just need Duct tape.

[Guest guest]

Starting to wonder if we need to not only take bets on Jim's monuments to sound structural design, but also take action for anything in Washington...

Mark..sorry to hear it came down, I sensed from the other post you made, you had some concerns about it making it thru the season.

[Brian W]

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_28932_28932

I used this for my first attempt at a mega tree and it has worked well. Last year, I added a 10-foot length of EMT to grow it to 23 feet.

[Mark Showalter]

I am done and ready to light up during half-time of tonight's Apple Cup game. The snowflakes have been redesigned and put back in place. Using two 3/4 inch black water pipe with some bent re-bar welded on. I added six guy wires to the top and hose clamped to a fence post at the bottom. Everything is plugged in and tested.

I've really enjoyed all the comments from everyone walking by during set-up.

I was testing for a half-hour last night without the snowflakes and mega tree and still had a dozen cars stop and watch.

Go Cougs!

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[brian.t.lowery]

Well, at least when I move to Washington next year I know to steak the hell out of everything into the ground.

[Brian W]

Please ignore my previous suggestion. After some strong gusts this weekend, my mega tree has taken on a Swinder-esque look. It has worked well for three seasons and suddenly... The good news is that it missed my 12-year old as we worked on it. It fell all around him. He was in the one spot that was clear.

Congrats on the fix.