Mega Tree hook head and pulley head

[m1ke05]

Does anyone use the Christmas Light Show.com hook head and pulley head with guy wire arms? I'm just looking for personal reviews before I drop $$ on them.

http://www.christmaslightshow.com/mega-tree-hook-head-outdoor-Christmas-decorations.html

This just seems like such a simple and easy way around putting up a mega tree with out renting a sky jack or scaffolding, but I would rather learn from someone experianced with the product. Thanks

Mike

[plasmadrive]

I have used mine for two years now.  I like em'   I am a big DIYer but it wasn't worth my time to make the rig for what they sell it for... My only ding is the paint job is not very good...

 

If you did get a kit, there is a "pole pin" that goes between the two pieces of conduit (20' version).  They won't go into some of the rigid pipe out there because of the internal weld seam in the pipe.  I just took and ground a flat down the "Pole Pin" and it worked great.. I would coat it with some sort of rust inhibitor as well. 

 

Bottom line is that the kit works and I like it. 

[Jack Stevens]

I used one last season for the first time; had some minor issues.

 

I bought a 21' 1-1/4" black iron pipe from a local pipe and steel supplier; had to get it threaded to use the guy arm top.  Lowe's threaded it for me for free, although it was no fun transporting that pole for the second time -first time to get it home, second time to and from Lowe's.

 

I should have painted the pole and greased the threads.  I still need to break the rusted joint free so I can do that this season.  Like Plasmadrive said, the paint could have been better, but I knew better and did it anyway.  Regretting that now.

 

The other issue I had was a bit more functionally severe, but I found a work-around for it.  The pulley is suspended by two pieces of flat metal with a bolt through it.  Those pieces of metal separated slightly, and the cable fell off the pulley and jamed on the pully shaft.  Fortunately I only had two strings of lights on it at the time, so it wasn't that heavy to "walk it back down" to un-jam it. I put a tie-wrap around the two pieces of flat metal to keep them from separating again, and have had no problems with that since.

 

I used a winch that I got from Harbor Freight for about $23; used a U-bolt to mount it to the pipe at the top of the winch frame, and used a loop of steel cable - same wire cable I used to guy the tree - to secure the bottom part of the winch frame.  I did not have room between the winch frame and the round pulley/cable-wind-up to put in another U-bolt.

 

I bought the 1/4" cable for guy wire off eBay; got what is supposed to be a 250 foot roll for less than the same price from Lowe's for a 100foot roll, and bought a back of 50 1/4" U-bolt clamps off eBay as well; I think that was around $8 with shipping.

 

I used 4 2-foot pieces of #4 rebar (4/8", or 1/2") for guy stakes; it worked, but we had some fairly stiff winds and it looked like they started to pull out of the ground somewhat.  I'd like to go with 3 foot #5 rebar (5/8") this year.

 

That mega-tree is inside a 4' chain link fenced area; if it was outside, I'd put covers or something on the rebar tops to keep soemone trespassing from impaling him/herself if they tripped over the guy wire.  For the 10' megatree outside the fence, I use dog tie-outs to stake it.  Those have the bar bent into a triangular handle at the top; much less likely to impale somoene.

[m1ke05]

Awesome, thank you both for the input. I'm only doing a 10' tree this year so all of this may be over kill but I just cant see rigging up scaffolding to put up this spiral tree. I will be sure to coat all my threads with anti-seize and if the paint job is shoddy then hit it with a few extra coats of rustoleum piant or something like that. 

[Ron Boyd]

Awesome, thank you both for the input. I'm only doing a 10' tree this year so all of this may be over kill but I just cant see rigging up scaffolding to put up this spiral tree. I will be sure to coat all my threads with anti-seize and if the paint job is shoddy then hit it with a few extra coats of rustoleum piant or something like that. 

If you're only doing a 10' mega tree, get one of these and hang the lights:  http://www.amazon.com/Dyno-Seasonal-Solutions-97256-106-Hanging/dp/B000RTFNLA/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1375789145&sr=8-12&keywords=christmas+light+hanger+pole

I used it last year and was able to stand on the ground and hang lights on my 10'. This year however, I'm going to a 20' tree so I bought the hook head and pulley from CLS.

[75redman]

I used one last season for the first time; had some minor issues.

 

I bought a 21' 1-1/4" black iron pipe from a local pipe and steel supplier; had to get it threaded to use the guy arm top.  Lowe's threaded it for me for free, although it was no fun transporting that pole for the second time -first time to get it home, second time to and from Lowe's.

 

I should have painted the pole and greased the threads.  I still need to break the rusted joint free so I can do that this season.  Like Plasmadrive said, the paint could have been better, but I knew better and did it anyway.  Regretting that now.

 

The other issue I had was a bit more functionally severe, but I found a work-around for it.  The pulley is suspended by two pieces of flat metal with a bolt through it.  Those pieces of metal separated slightly, and the cable fell off the pulley and jamed on the pully shaft.  Fortunately I only had two strings of lights on it at the time, so it wasn't that heavy to "walk it back down" to un-jam it. I put a tie-wrap around the two pieces of flat metal to keep them from separating again, and have had no problems with that since.

 

I used a winch that I got from Harbor Freight for about $23; used a U-bolt to mount it to the pipe at the top of the winch frame, and used a loop of steel cable - same wire cable I used to guy the tree - to secure the bottom part of the winch frame.  I did not have room between the winch frame and the round pulley/cable-wind-up to put in another U-bolt.

 

I bought the 1/4" cable for guy wire off eBay; got what is supposed to be a 250 foot roll for less than the same price from Lowe's for a 100foot roll, and bought a back of 50 1/4" U-bolt clamps off eBay as well; I think that was around $8 with shipping.

 

I used 4 2-foot pieces of #4 rebar (4/8", or 1/2") for guy stakes; it worked, but we had some fairly stiff winds and it looked like they started to pull out of the ground somewhat.  I'd like to go with 3 foot #5 rebar (5/8") this year.

 

That mega-tree is inside a 4' chain link fenced area; if it was outside, I'd put covers or something on the rebar tops to keep soemone trespassing from impaling him/herself if they tripped over the guy wire.  For the 10' megatree outside the fence, I use dog tie-outs to stake it.  Those have the bar bent into a triangular handle at the top; much less likely to impale somoene.

 

I am doing a 26 ft mega tree this year.  I also puchased the the pulley and the hook head from CLS.  I set it up in my back yard and tested the pulley.  I also had to put a zip tie around the two pieces of metal around the pulley wheel.  Other than that it worked great.

[gmac]

I've been using the complete kit for my Mega Tree for 3 years now from CLS and absolutly no problems.........FYI If you decide to go higher and purchase the pole pin take it with you to the store where you plan to get the pipe from.....The problem with it fitting in side the pipe dosen't lie with the pole pin its the crappy tolerances in the chinese pipe we import. I tried at least a dozen pieces before I found 2 pieces of pipe that would work well with it.......... each year I just apply a little vaseline and it slides in and out nicely.