Mini lighted trees!

[nortonz]

I want to set up some mini lighted trees, but not sure what to use for the trees, thought about using a tomato cage, but that didn’t look right, I have seen them on other peoples display what do they use?

[PhilMassey]

A single cage doesn't look very full or rounded.

If you use two, one inside the other with the verticals offset, they look a lot better. You also  need to cut the bottom ring off one of them, to give it legs.

[Kapkirk]

37 minutes ago, nortonz said:

I want to set up some mini lighted trees, but not sure what to use for the trees, thought about using a tomato cage, but that didn’t look right, I have seen them on other peoples display what do they use?

One year I tried tomato cages but wasn't happy with them, they were always falling over and sometimes would cause GFCI trips. So I started looking for something better. I found a really good looking tree in Ocala from a forum member downsizing.

I purchased 8 from Earle Talley 2 years ago and then copied his construction method and made 2 more. He made them from PVC which he painted the pvc green and wired them together at the top, I think there are 5 or 6 pieces to form the shape and the bottom had a single piece of very heavy gauge wire to set the round shape and hold the tree up. He used 3 strands of each color 70 bulb strings for a total of 630 lights per tree. I think they are about 30" tall and the base is probably 20", these measurements are just a guess right now.

 

Static during the day they look real good, but at night they really excel and are a big hit. Mine are Red, White and Green colors. I will try and take some pictures tomorrow if your interested and get better measurements.

 

Keith

[nortonz]

Thank you pictures would be nice. That sounds like the way to go. I will have to do some thinking about that idea. Thank you both for your reply’s.

[LaughsBrightly]

This year was my first foray into mini-trees. Built 10 with 2 x 30" tomato cages inverted and offset so the vertical wire is spaced out. Wrapped with 2 x 100 green and 2 x 100 red lights and staked with a couple long stakes. Did not cut off any bottom rings.  They look great. Last night joined the "GFCI got me" club when they popped in a steady rain. Put some more tape and caps on the plugs and split the controllers between GFCI's so hopefully no problems in the next rain. i don't think you can beat the bang for your buck you get with tomato cages and they were pretty easy for my basic skills. 

[DLH lites]

WE have five tomato cage trees 400 lights each red,green,multi ,white.   I built a stand they all sit on behind low bushes 24 inches off the ground.  The stand is 1x4's and it folds and the legs come off for storage,it's 8 feet long 18 inches wide  i put the legs into the ground, so we dont have the gages on the ground.

David

[Kapkirk]

15 hours ago, nortonz said:

Thank you pictures would be nice. That sounds like the way to go. I will have to do some thinking about that idea. Thank you both for your reply’s.

Nortonz, the mini trees are 28" tall and base diameter is 18", took some pictures now to see if I can post. Says too big even for 1 picture, I will see if I can IM them to you.

 

Keith

[Little_b]

I am currently using Holiday Coro's pixel trees.  But in the past I was using some 4' artificial trees I had bought after Christmas for cheap one year.  I set them up with Red, Green, and White lights, and put a 4' rebar down the center into the ground to help hold them up in the wind.  Being an indoor tree i didn't think they'd last too long, but after 9 years, they still work great.  When i converted mine over to Pixels, I started setting them up in my parents yard with a simple animation sequence downloaded.  They are my moms favorite part of my layout, so I let them use the trees now.