Mr. P Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 (edited) I like the military poles as jr stated, it is military grade aluminum and the poles have a little flex to them as stiffer pipes tend to break rather then flex. The joints are 4" whereas the stiffer black iron pipes weak spot is the heavy weieght, stiffness and the threads. Guide ropes are the key, I use one set of three up to 20' and two sets of three above that. The guide ropes keep the pole straight so the weight of the lights applies pressure down with little to no lateral forces. One year I did a 48 strand mega tree 48' tall, three sets of guide ropes with no issues with these poles but it was a bear putting up and taking down so I now stick with 20'. Edited December 11, 2018 by Mr. P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard365 Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 How long is each section of pole? What is the bottom diameter of the pole? 4" ? So I would need to know. Make a base. I am using CCR lights 16 strands. Then I would have to figure how to put my tree toppler on top of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Richard365 said: How long is each section of pole? What is the bottom diameter of the pole? 4" ? So I would need to know. Make a base. I am using CCR lights 16 strands. Then I would have to figure how to put my tree toppler on top of it. Each pole is 4 feet long and a complete set has 12 poles per bag. The poles are 1.75 inches but make sure you get aluminum as they also have the older fiberglass ones out there that the aluminum replaced. Also, the newest versions have ribs running the entire length of the poles. A complete military set comes with a bag, 12 poles, 4 spreaders and 18 stakes. Edited December 11, 2018 by Mr. P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemDescV4&item=360908000786&category=4672&pm=1&ds=0&t=1524858230000&ver=0&cspheader=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Richard365 said: How long is each section of pole? What is the bottom diameter of the pole? 4" ? So I would need to know. Make a base. I am using CCR lights 16 strands. Then I would have to figure how to put my tree toppler on top of it. There is a base I mentioned above sold on eBay- linked above this post I don’t have this base, there are also other bases The person selling the base also sells the poles Mr P has everything else covered Jusy cut down a section of one of the poles and put your topper on. Drill a hole for a set screw or pin- but be prepared, it’s not easy to drill a hole in this aluminum JR Edited December 11, 2018 by dibblejr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 The poles are also used in military OE-254 FM antennas but they would include the three guide rope collars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard365 Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 This is what I started out with 3 years ago. http://www.holidaycoro.com/16-CCR-Pixel-MegaTree-p/814.htm Tree toppler. http://www.holidaycoro.com/Pixel-Strip-MegaTree-Topper-p/750.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Richard365 said: This is what I started out with 3 years ago. http://www.holidaycoro.com/16-CCR-Pixel-MegaTree-p/814.htm Tree toppler. http://www.holidaycoro.com/Pixel-Strip-MegaTree-Topper-p/750.htm Frying pan and s hooks won’t break My wife’s frying pan for my broken hook head was a great deal. It even had rings on the bottom so I could use my hole saw dead center! it actually weighs less than the plastic hook head and guaranteed with my 12,500 + lights , it won’t break. JR Edited December 11, 2018 by dibblejr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtomason Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 I use a military pole as well - but just the sections and guy ropes/stakes. I stand the pole up and put the hook ends of the 3 staked guy ropes into the open top of the pole. I added an s-hook to the end of each light strand, and stake the ends down. The combination of the guy ropes and light strands acting as "backup guy lines" has survived several storms with no problems whatsoever. I use found 5' sections for 20' height. The controller is in the bin at the base. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard365 Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 What did you do to secure base of the pole to the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. P Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 30 minutes ago, Richard365 said: What did you do to secure base of the pole to the ground. I use rebar pins from Lowes. Pound them into the ground and slide the bottom pole over. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Steel-Rebar-Pins-Common-0-75-in-x-18-in-Actual-0-75-in-x-18-in/4008133 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caniac Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 14 hours ago, Richard365 said: What did you do to secure base of the pole to the ground. purchased the base and pole pin from ChristmasLightShow.com and galvanized 1-1/4 pipe from Menards. In my case I used a ten footer and five footer to get me 15ft (have tested two tens successfully) and used 24" 1-1/4 for "legs". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtomason Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 22 hours ago, Richard365 said: What did you do to secure base of the pole to the ground. Nothing - the stakes (and staked light strings) keep it upright. To place it and help keep it in position during erection, I hammer a piece of rebar in the ground - but it's not "securing" it, and I probably could do without it entirely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebug Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 You know another good option is the ASP pool by monkhouse. With my dad's who took it up 35 ft to the top put a huge star up there and then hung 10000 lights off of it so it's a incredibly over-engineered solution but I'm never worried about it having any problems. I also use his portable hole and it's kept it down really well we've had three windstorms that exceeded 50 miles an hour this year already and I've had no problems with anything coming apart or bending or anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~DOC~ Posted December 15, 2018 Author Share Posted December 15, 2018 Quote Lot of good info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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