Mega Tree using a Titan Telescoping Flag Pole

[gunwalder]

Well, the Halloween display is up and running, time to turn my attention to Christmas.

I am going to do a Mega-Tree this year. I put in a Titan Telescoping Flagpole, http://www.flagpolecountry.com/products.htm, and originally I planned on using that as the trunk to the tree, but now I am concerned that it won't support the lights.

Does anyone have experience with that flagpole?

Option. It is a 3" in-ground sleeve. I wouldn't mind making a stronger base and putting it in that sleeve. I wouldn't use 3" pipe, just find some way to shim it out.

Finally, is there a previous post on mega-trees that explains them in detail? I saw a few current ones, but I think there might be some history there without opening a new string.

Thanks,

Mike

[Tim Fischer]

I don't have experience with that pole, but have 8 seasons experience using a Sunsetter/TopFlight telescoping pole. How many lights do you plan to hang?

The ground sleeve is typically not the weak link in these poles. You will probably want to set it in concrete, just as you would if flying a flag (we use ours as a flagpole the remainder of the year). The forces you need to contend with with lights are a) the additional weight on the couplings between sections, and the lateral forces, from wind, acting on the upper sections of the pole.

With the SunSetter, many of us use rubber plumbing couplings with hose clamps to take the weight between telescoping sections, so that the push butons don't take all that weight (a quick look at your pole shows that it doesn't use push buttons, but whatever they use instead most likely isn't designed to handled that much weight either).

For the lateral forces, you need to guy the pole. I use 4 guy ropes that go from the ground to the top of the pole to the ground (actually 2 ropes that go up, over, and back down). Others use metal cable, and some insist that 3 cables at 180degrees is better design, but I've never changed mine and it's held up so far (knock knock).

We put around 5500 standard minis on our pole, plus a topper and a strobe string. I wouldn't want to push too much more weight that that.

-Tim

[TitusCarnathan]

I never used a telescoping flag pole before but I saw a video online someone using this for a mega tree

in between each sections they use rubber pipe couplers with the adjustable steel ring on each end kind of like these http://www.bicwarehouse.com/flexible-reducer-coupling-p1002-44.html

[Tim Fischer]

T110431 wrote:

I never used a telescoping flag pole before but I saw a video online someone using this for a mega tree

That was probably my vid

Check out http://www.plymouthlights.com/megatree, particularly the video link at the very end of the page. Terrible video/sound quality but some folks have found it helpful...

-Tim