a31ford Posted August 30, 2014 Author Share Posted August 30, 2014 Santa's..... The tower is 80, AND the hill is 80, together it's 160 (actually include the angle factor about 173). Leaves are still on the trees so you can't see nothing yet.... Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 (edited) My tower is only 35 ft high and not too bad to get up. I have it on a hinge at the base but the key to getting it up loaded with lights and a topper is to LIFT/PUSH it up and not pull it up. I have 3 sons and all 3 played college football on the offense line or rugby so Dad has some beef lifting. When in place and ready to lift it takes 60 seconds with breaks for observation purposes along the way. Take a look at kevinkolak.com and you can see what I have. My large "mega tree" is 20ft high with only 8 legs but 64 channels. I have developed a system to get it up with only 1 person and I'm confident I could make it another 10 ft higher with no help getting it up.....its a unique system I have come up with. Edited August 31, 2014 by Archer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 My mega tree tower is on a hing plate too. I attach the topper, star and floods to it and pole lights. Then I lift it with my brothers winch on his jeep. So we pull it up. Goes up in about a minute or less. Then I attach 192 strands of 33' light bundles (with red, white, blue and green on each mega strand) the next day. I (or a friend of mine) climb up the tower and there is a base to stand on while attaching each strand to the topper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 WoW....I like it.....it just goes to show that there are several ways to make a mega tree...my 25 foot tree to the top of the topper goes up in about 15 minutes, has 64 channels 12,000 lights and needs only me to put it up. My 35ft, 7,200 light tower on the other hand goes up in 15 minutes including a 5 minute break and takes 3 strong backs for 1 of those minutes. I have designed my 500 channel display with 3 basic things in mind. 1. Easy to put up. 2. Easy to take down. 3, Easy and compact to store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 WoW....I like it.....it just goes to show that there are several ways to make a mega tree...my 25 foot tree to the top of the topper goes up in about 15 minutes, has 64 channels 12,000 lights and needs only me to put it up. My 35ft, 7,200 light tower on the other hand goes up in 15 minutes including a 5 minute break and takes 3 strong backs for 1 of those minutes. I have designed my 500 channel display with 3 basic things in mind. 1. Easy to put up. 2. Easy to take down. 3, Easy and compact to store. Sounds like you have an awesome deal too. And I like your 3 basic things. Easy, easy & easy (thumbs up). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 S.H.Sweet mega tree. Kicking my self for letting go of my F.I.L.'s tower to someone I should never have given it to. Looks like a Rohn 25 with 12" faces. I remember the sections is 8' long and the toper is like 6' long. So is the tower like 30' high? I remember the F.I.L.'s had a home made tilt over plates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 S.H. Sweet mega tree. Kicking my self for letting go of my F.I.L.'s tower to someone I should never have given it to. Looks like a Rohn 25 with 12" faces. I remember the sections is 8' long and the toper is like 6' long. So is the tower like 30' high? I remember the F.I.L.'s had a home made tilt over plates. Thanks MaxPaul, The Rohn25 sections I have are 10' sections. But I have seen the topper a little shorter but not in my application. The base swivel plate is manufacturer built. Or to spec from another company I am told. It's not home made. The tower is 30' plus three for the star. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Tom....is your tower base in your yard permanently? I remove mine and mow over it during the summer but the concrete with the receiver is just below the grass line. I made my hinge base many years ago when it actually held a TV antenna but last week I took it to a local shop to have 3 more made. I was shocked at how much they wanted to make 3 just like the one I made. I have not researched the cost new from a supplier, not sure I have the courage after getting a price of $100 ea. The only difference I can see in the time it takes for you and I to put our towers up is when mine is pushed up the lights are on it ready to be plugged in after the 15 minutes we talked about earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Arch Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Tom,Awesome Mega tree. I just have to see it in person. Just sent you a PM.Thanks,Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Yes I leave the bottom part attached to the concrete pad year round but remove the hinge part and just mow over it. You can't see it from the street anyway so I just leave the bottom part of the base. They are pricey little burgers although there is one on ebay right now at $70 with 6 hours left. After what I found, $100 is pretty good. There is no way I could attach 192 strands (48 mega strands) before lifting it. Not because of the weight but because it would be a tangled mess once lifted up. Not to forget navigating strands around the guy wires once it's up too. I prefer to climb up and attach them. I only climb up once, attach the strands and climb back down. I have a pulley system with a rope to bring 4 strands up at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 (edited) Tom, Awesome Mega tree. I just have to see it in person. Just sent you a PM. Thanks, Daniel Thanks Daniel, Come on by Any Christmas nut like me is welcome. LOL PM sent back. Edited September 1, 2014 by Santas Helper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Arch Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 (edited) Thanks for the PM reply. I will definitely get over there. Although, your Tree is tall enough I'll probably see it from my house when putting lights up next month... Yeah - we're into Sept now and running out of time fast!! .....lol.. Thanks for all your posts as well. I've said this to a few others, but it's people like yourself that are willing to share what you've learned is why I joined this forum in the first place. I'm in my 3rd year with LOR and I love my Show, but so far it's been WowLights and others preprogrammed sequences. I plan on sequencing a few myself this year and then jump into CCD's next year. I feel I can accomplish both goals with yours and this forums help! THANKS Edited September 1, 2014 by Mega Arch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arw01 Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 (edited) To support the light strings themselves Santa's Helper, are you using a guy wire with it? From the photo with the circles it looks like you use a large carbiner and wrap both a wire rope and the plug through the carbiner a few times? Edited September 1, 2014 by arw01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa6058 Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 I sure wish I would have taken pics the year I watch you rise the tower, it is quite impressive! I will be sending you a PM concerning lights and controllers. I bought more of both, but as I expand on one thing the light in my head says it needs more, and more, and more, it's amazing any of us are still married Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 To support the light strings themselves Santa's Helper, are you using a guy wire with it? From the photo with the circles it looks like you use a large carbiner and wrap both a wire rope and the plug through the carbiner a few times? Yes, and thanks for pointing that out. I posted that pic a while back on another thread about mega strands. I wrapped wire around the carbiner spring clip along with the light strand. The metal wire is taking the load off the light strands. For 33' strands, there can be a lot of pulling pressure/force, especially with wind and ice which can strain the strands to break or get pulled apart. Even just pulling the 33' strand tight for a nice shaped tree can be a lot of force. Here is a pick of when I was building the mega strands at my other house. I placed a hook on my fence and another on my shop wall. Then attached the spring clips and ran the metal wire and made it tight. Then wrapped a light strand around the metal wire and zip tied it every foot or so and at each end. I built a strand with blue my first year (2009), next year added green (2010). Then I started a new strand and support wire with white and red (2011). Then I combined both of those to make a mega strand they are today. So for all four colors per mega strand, there are two support wires. We've had 78MHP blizzards and major ice storms and the strands light up like they are brand new still today. 2009 is when I started the mega strands so I can't help but think the wire is helping keep the light strands from stretching out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 I sure wish I would have taken pics the year I watch you rise the tower, it is quite impressive! I will be sending you a PM concerning lights and controllers. I bought more of both, but as I expand on one thing the light in my head says it needs more, and more, and more, it's amazing any of us are still married Yep, I take pics every year. And it's nice to refer to them when needed. To me it's like a time capsule of what I did in the past to help plan out when I do things the next year. Everything is timed in an orderly fashion, mainly on weekends for the bigger stuff and week days for the smaller stuff. And your right, it is amazing any of us are still married. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 It was like 3 years after I became active here on this forum before I built my 17' tree using 33' 100 cnt strings folded in the middle. But from listening to others, I soon came to the conclusion that some people strings were getting damaged due to the weight and stretching of the wire to the point of breaking. So, I did like Tom. Although I am only Red, Green and White with one 1/16" vinyl coated aircraft cable per string. I fold the cable and pulled a loop in the middle tying an over hand knot, leaving a 1" loop to go over the hooks in the crank up head. in short, I agree that the secret is a support cable ran with the lights and this support cable is what is hooked at the top and tied off at the bottom. The lights are along for the ride is one way of saying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 When I refer to my tree as being a mega tree I mean not only height (25') but the different functions it can perform. My "mega" tree is simply put 8ea - 20ft, 8 channel arches with one end of each hanging from the top of a pole with a topper. Everything an arch can do my tree can do. I attach one end of the "arch" to a cable and then pull it up and secure the other end of the cable to the bottom of the pole keeping the leg securely I place. Do that 8 times and you have my 64 channel tree. You can view what the tree can do by viewing kevinkolak.com and picking any video. It does more than go in circles but it does not change colors. I do wish I could change colors but I am working on that so stay tuned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a31ford Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 All of you THANK YOU !! for your input and comments, Tom GREAT Photo's (AND tree BTW) I just got the aircraft cable today, 2000 feet of it, NOW to start building. The leaves are just about off, pictures soon..... Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Very cool Greg, Show us pics as you go along. It's nice to see pics of progress and the end result, so please keep us posted. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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