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Mega Tree Base Help


mmais68569

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I am going to add a base to my mega tree next year & plan to use the following dimensions.
2' tall & 8' diameter, does anyone have a drawing or product list for this or close to it.

Thanks Mike

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Mike: I did this exact thing myself this year for two reasons. Too keep the connections of the ground so bunnies couldn't chew them, and to keep them from being buried IF we got a lot of snow.

Find a rope or cable place that has spools with plywood ends. You will want 24", or you can cut two discs out of 3/4" plywood. My center pole is 3"PVC so I used a hole saw and cut a 3-1/2" hole in the center of both discs.
Then I took four 8', 2x4's and cut them so I had 8 pcs that where 46-1/4" long. Notched one corner on each 3/4" x 3/4"
I laid 4 of them on my driveway on edge to form a big + sign and marked each one in 36 inches from the end. (Make sure all of your notched corners are either up or down but the same direction) and them put the first disc on top. Position them so the inside end lines up with your center hole ( The marks you made at 3' should be close to the outer edge of your disc) I used deck screws to fasten the discs to the 2x4's, two per each piece per disc. When you have the first 4 screwed to that top disc flip it over and position the second disc exactly the same and screw it to the 2x4's.
Once this is done you take the other 4 pcs of 2x4 and place one between each of the ones already screwed together. Position them the same way and screw them through both discs as well. What you will have is an 8 spoke wheel hub. All of your notched ends will be in the same direction and the ends of all of the 2x4's will be equally spaced.
Next take your diameter of 8' and multiply it by 3.14 which will give you about 25'
Get three 10' lenghts of 1/2" grey pvc electrical conduit because it's ultra flexible, and 8 each, 1/2 x 2 corner brackets and some 1-1/2 wood screws. Be sure to glue the conduit together, this is going to form your outer ring. Place the conduit in the 3/4 x 3/4 notch and put a corner bracket over it and drive one screw in from the end and top in to the 2x4. You don't want to drill it through the conduit as it will weaken it and it may kink. Do this for each 2x4 until you get to the last one. Match up the ends on the conduit and figure as best as you can where it need to be cut. Leave the expanded end and cut from the other as it will slip into that larger end about 2 inches.
Glue this joint as well and then put the last corner bracket on. You will now have the outer ring fastened to the hub and it will look like a wagon wheel.
Next take a couple more 2x4's and cut 8 pcs to 24". Take a third and cut 4 pcs to 20-1/2. Take one of the shorter lengths and match a 24" piece to either side, square up the bottom and clamp it together so you can screw this together as one unit.
Repeat for three more units, these are your legs.
Now take the wheel assy and lay it on the driveway ring down. Decide where you want to place your legs ( Iwent 18" in from the ends of my spokes and I would keep it betwen that and 24" for stability) mark the location and slip the notch formed from the three short lengths of 2x4 over the four spokes you are mounting them to. To make it easy you might want to predrill a hole in each leg assy that is slightly larger than your deck screws. Eye ball each assy for straight up and down and run a screw into the spoke. This is just to hold it in place for now. Once you have all 4 tacked to the hub have someone help you pick it up and rotate it 180 degrees so it is sitting on the base of its legs. Preferrably you are on good level pavement/garage floor.
Next drill 4 holes, two per each side just thorough the leg assys but not into the spokes. Once these are drilled take a level and place it on the legs and straighten them and sink the 4 screws. Do one leg at time and your done building your base !!

I painted mine flat black. Before I did though I marked my light connection points and put a ladder/cable tie at each position. I knew the circumferince was about 25' or 300" and I knew I had 64 connection points so I put a ladder tie every 4-5/8" roughly.
Once you decide where you are placing this in your display you can level it by placing plywood pads under the legs. Then I drove the base for my pole in to the ground through the center hole, slid my center pole assy over it and tied off my guy wires.
The base is a good half day project and 8' should look good for a mega tree anywhere between 12 to 20'. Mine from the ground to the top of the star is about 16'. Since I used 100 ct minis of 23' I have light runs of 11-1/2' up and back down.
Good luck!!

Lenny

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