Spiraling Megatree Pics

[FIRECOP252]

Hello Folks...

Just wondering if anyone had any clear pics of daytime of what their spiraling megatree looks like in the day...I am working on my plans for this year and any help would be appreciated. Thanks in Advance

[Wayne J]

here is mine...http://www.jamesfamilychristmas.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=39&Itemid=36

[FIRECOP252]

Thanks Wayne....I figure this will be a big project that I can work on over the year since it will be such a large project

[FIRECOP252]

Still looking for some daytime pictures of your spiraling megatree if you have them...I know this would help more than just me.

Also small survey....are folks using superstrings(2or 3 colors for one string) or individual strings...I have found a couple on Youtube that helped but pictures are easier to grasp. Thanks again

[rstehle]

Sorry, didn't take any pics in the daylight, but the difference is really minor and MUCH EASIER that I ever thought it would be. Mine were hybrid spiral mega trees, with 3 color superstrings as the vertical lights, R,G,B, and a single string of pure white for the spiral. The spiral effect strings are way easier to do than you would think. Use the spiral tree calculator to determine how high/wide your tree should be based on the length of the strings you will be using. I found that planning for 2 turns of the spiral strand give a very pleasing effect. I got lucky and the first spiral string I did worked out almost right on, minor tweak and that was my template for the other 15 strings.

[Skunberg]

O.k. I'll try. Video http://vimeo.com/33870083

Pic 13091

16 superstrings 4 color, with 8 white spirals on top. Tied at top and bottom only, superstring bulbs hold spirals in place.

[kychristmas]

Unfortunately, the few pictures I took that showed any detail were accidentally lost.

My main verticals are 3-color. I used single mult-color strings for the Spirals because that's what I had. Next year, I will go with at least 2-colors, but hoping for 3.

You will need supports. I never used them, but wrapping Spirals around the tree constricts it and adds stress on the Verticals. If I can make my Megatree Bigger next year, my Spirals tree will be a smaller tree on the inside of the main tree. Similar to Wayne's

[txag2008]

our sprial tree pics can be found here http://www.lightsofnazareth.com/spiral-mega-tree.html

[cwalkeree]

our sprial tree pics can be found here http://www.lightsofnazareth.com/spiral-mega-tree.html

Your design is very similar to what I am planning for this year, except I was planning on using an octagon base. However, I would much rather use a round base like yours.

How were you able to pull that off? Are the joints actual T's/elbows or did you have to get something like these snap-on tess (http://www.christmaslightshow.com/dura-3-4-snap-on-tee.html)??

[fathead45]

there just T, you can bend the pipe easily to each connector.

[CaptKirk]

Yes, I ended up with two sections of 20' PVC schedule 40 connected together using just the built in bell end of each pipe as the base of my first year tree.

13097

It is a little "messy" as the picture was taken AFTER I ran the lights up and down a few times after the season (for repair of one removed string I damaged when I dropped the center pole on the strings trying to unjam a dang Home Depot pully.)

I'm starting the planning for a spiral adder for this year (maybe). So much to do, so little time.

[FIRECOP252]

Thanks everyone for supplying those...I know the more pictures some of see the more ideas we will have so thanks again for taking a moment...hope to see more.

[Traneman]

I agree 2012 will be my first year for spiral and I need all the help I can get.
Thanks again and please keep the ideas as well as proven methods coming.

[randyn]

Hi Lance,

Here's a couple of pictures of my hybrid mega.
It's made up of 12 red, 12 green, 12 blue and 12 white strings. Each string is 24 ft long. The top of the star is about 14ft up.

The colored strings are folded in half and go up and back down. Thw whites are spiraled around the tree.

On some pictures you'll notice that I spread the white strings away from the mega while I was attaching the colored strings to the bottom ring. It kept things neat.
The white spirals were wound one string at a time till I liked how it looked. The bulbs from the vertical strings helped to keep the spiral strings in place.

Let me know if you need more details.

Randy

[txag2008]

Your design is very similar to what I am planning for this year, except I was planning on using an octagon base. However, I would much rather use a round base like yours.

How were you able to pull that off? Are the joints actual T's/elbows or did you have to get something like these snap-on tess??

We used a torch to heat the PVC pipe in order to help us bend it in a circle like that.
They are normal 3/4" tees. We just drilled them out with a paddle bit so they could slide around the pipe.

(this design was from kwdelre)

[ben&bobbi]

i will have to dig ours up, i will add if i find them

[DanoNJ]

Not the best, but the only one I can find right now.

[jamesvh724]

Spiral Tree Calculator. Where can I find that? Also, my megatree tree goes to the ground no trunk. My megatree is 10 ft tall and the downward strands come out a bit from the tree. Trying to figure out how many lights on a strand I need.

Also, I hear superstring's mentioned. Is this a single strand that changes colors or multiple strands just wrapped together to form one strand? If it is the first one, where can I get them?

[SteveMaris]

Here is the calculator. (not mine)

[Lefserev]

Here are minehttp://www.box.com/s/fz7fpma8y9o3qz73nyb2
I made my tree out of steel from old gas pipe.

[Skunberg]

Spiral Tree Calculator. Where can I find that? Also, my megatree tree goes to the ground no trunk. My megatree is 10 ft tall and the downward strands come out a bit from the tree. Trying to figure out how many lights on a strand I need.

Also, I hear superstring's mentioned. Is this a single strand that changes colors or multiple strands just wrapped together to form one strand? If it is the first one, where can I get them?

My superstrings are 1/16th inch cable with a string of red, a string of green, a string of blue and a string of white ty wrapped to the cable. I tension the cable with out putting stress on the light strings.

[jamesvh724]

So where do you plug them in at the bottom of the tree but as you go up on the spirals the plugs get higher and higher in the tree then. How do you get full tree coverage on the spirals unless you run both ways.

[ben&bobbi]

there will be wider gaps between the strings at the bottom, tighter together at the top, pretty much like a standard tree. I hang mine at the top, then wrap them around the tree and zip tie at the bottom. better to measure out the bottom ring into the number of strings you use, so they end up spaced right. then go back and add a few zip ties higher in the tree to keep the spacing, or over time, they sag together.

we use 16 guy wires from the base to the top, and allow the 16 sets (1 ea red green and white per set) to rest on them.

[cobraman44]

here is how I did mine. I tie wrap every place I could so the whole thing stays together. I lower it into a barrel and put it away. I can set it up in about 2 hours.
http://trumbullchristmas.com/pics/Pictures/SpiralTree/index.html

[taybrynn]

RockinChristmas 2011
4800 lights, 12' ,steel constructed, no sag, portable design ... lives on its side (fully assembled and lit) in off-season, built by my nearly 80 year old father
Probably over 2000 zip ties. Stainless piano wire exo skeleton, and custom steel construction from top to bottom.
It rides around on a cart, which also allows for it to be wrapped on its side. Then 4 people life it up into place.
No guy wires needed. Probably weighs 200 lbs fully wrapped with lights.
Runs off (4) 16ch controllers, has an 89 RGB node smart string star topper.
Contained 15 6" RGB "MegaBalls" which are also part of the permanant tree. Those use SS RGB Modules from Ray Wu.
I don't have detailed construction plans, but it was more of a 100% custom build project.
This was my Dad's dream four years back ... finally got it done after he get two new shoulders and two new knees.
I may eventually do a how-to ... but my ability to take on extra projects seems limited these days.
1321013211 1321213213

[Skunberg]

So where do you plug them in at the bottom of the tree but as you go up on the spirals the plugs get higher and higher in the tree then. How do you get full tree coverage on the spirals unless you run both ways.

The megatree is 20ft tall, the superstrings are 100ct 23ft and run from the top to the pole. The eight white spirals are 140ct the start at the top and spiral on top of the superstrings and have plenty left over at the bottom. Spiral only runs one way but looks like two when you see thru it. You can wrap them as tight or close as you want.

[bobkeyes]

here is how I did mine. I tie wrap every place I could so the whole thing stays together. I lower it into a barrel and put it away. I can set it up in about 2 hours.
http://trumbullchristmas.com/pics/Pictures/SpiralTree/index.html

I have one question. How did you get the barrel around the pole?? Does it have a slit in it?

[cobraman44]

I have one question. How did you get the barrel around the pole?? Does it have a slit in it?

Yep. I split the barrel then put a strap around it.

[troycampbell]

Does anyone have a sequence using the light o rama showing me the various Spiral Tree in operation

[FIRECOP252]

Just remembered this thread was out there and was just wondering....do the folks that do only spiral on their tree spiral both ways or spiral all strings one way. I am doing a 32 channel 2 color tree and was wondering if I needed to spiral all one way or one color one direction and one the other way. Thanks for the info folks

[Skunberg]

I like this question. I personally run them in one direction and if I had more I would still run them in one direction, as the closer together you get them the more fluid you can make them flow for a chase. Now the reason I like this question is 'yes" you can run each color a different way which would give a very different effect. I think I might have seen this once in a daylight picture but I'm not sure. I know I haven't seen a night shot of this. So once again it's your call ;-)

Brian


Just remembered this thread was out there and was just wondering....do the folks that do only spiral on their tree spiral both ways or spiral all strings one way. I am doing a 32 channel 2 color tree and was wondering if I needed to spiral all one way or one color one direction and one the other way. Thanks for the info folks

[cnbales]

Many great designs. I will be building a spiral mega tree this year and this gives me some great ideas. Thanks for sharing everyone.

[taybrynn]

Mine is 48 ch, 3 colors and it's all one way ... One angle. Getting that angle down is key .

[PD Shimmers]

My design is new for 2012. Just tested last weekend. Oddly I can't seem to upload the photos so I posted on facebook
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.465438230136980.119011.170875346259938&type=1

design uses vertical legs that have top and bottom rings. The rings are pex pipe held together with wire rope cable that runs inside. Legs are 1/2" EMT grey pipe. I stiffen the legs with green plant stake rods that are fiberglass over metal (home depot).
The design allows me to work mostly at ground level and then hoist the top into place. This also takes much of the weigh load and transfers to the steel mega pipe (1.5" black pipe with cement foundation.) It was windy on test day and it faired well. I will add some horizontal braces to lower legs by using snap t's. It seems to work well, isn't hard to assemble in the "stage" and isn't very expensive.

[FIRECOP252]

Looks good PDShimmers...been tossing around several options including the pvc pipe version myself...just not sure yet.

[mitchh218]

I built a Spiral tree last year. It is 20' tall. Here is a link to the design.
http://www.hancockchristmas.com/projects.htm

I used blue mini lights. I would not recommend using the blue lights. They fade and discolor. LED would be the best. I used 2 100 strand lights per channel and went almost two times around to get the effect I wanted. I used 16 channels for the tree.

The tree collapses for easy storage. It is free standing so I can move it around to different areas of the display if I change the layout of the display. You will need to use long stakes to secure tree in the location you desire. (The wind will blow them over) My mega trees are the same design. The videos show the spiral tree in action.

[barbotte]

I built a Spiral tree last year. It is 20' tall. Here is a link to the design.
http://www.hancockchristmas.com/projects.htm

I used blue mini lights. I would not recommend using the blue lights. They fade and discolor. LED would be the best. I used 2 100 strand lights per channel and went almost two times around to get the effect I wanted. I used 16 channels for the tree.

The tree collapses for easy storage. It is free standing so I can move it around to different areas of the display if I change the layout of the display. You will need to use long stakes to secure tree in the location you desire. (The wind will blow them over) My mega trees are the same design. The videos show the spiral tree in action.

hey i like the way you did it with the inner circle a sputting light around i find out last year that it was putting too much pressure on my center post ...so i would like some detailt .... size of center pole ... but what i need the most is how did you figure out the sizw of the inner circle and the distance to put them
thanks

[mitchh218]

hey i like the way you did it with the inner circle a sputting light around i find out last year that it was putting too much pressure on my center post ...so i would like some detailt .... size of center pole ... but what i need the most is how did you figure out the sizw of the inner circle and the distance to put them
thanks

What I did for the inner rings was space them 2 feet apart from the top down to the bottom. The base ring is 7 ft in diameter. Here is a table of the rings:

Ft Radius Circumference
2 0.35 ft 2.2 ft
4 0.70 ft 4.43 ft
6 1.05 ft 6.65 ft
8 1.40 ft 8.86 ft
10 1.75 ft 11.08 ft
12 2.10 ft 13.29 ft
14 2.45 ft 15.51 ft
16 2.80 ft 17.73 ft
18 3.15 ft 19.94 ft
20 3.50 ft 22.0 ft

I used the black flexible tubing at your local hardware store. The 2 ft ring I had to use a vinyl tube to make the ring. I used zip ties to secure the ring to the lines coming down to the base ring. I used 4 strands of 1/16" braided wire from the topper to the base for stability. I used eye bolts to secure the down lines to the base ring that allow taking out the slack in the 16 lines. I will rework my tree this year to change the nylon lines to the braided wire. The Nylon wire allowed the winding of the lights to twist the tree. By changing the nylon lines to the braided wire will give more stability of the rings and eliminate the twisting. Even though there is twisting, you do not notice it when it is up and running. The center pipe is 1.25" heavy duty electrical conduit, not the thin wall. To join the two 10' sections I was able to put a 3/4" piece of same electrical conduit inside the larger one and screw together with 4 bolts so that the pole is rigid. This also allows for dis assembly for storage.

[barbotte]

What I did for the inner rings was space them 2 feet apart from the top down to the bottom. The base ring is 7 ft in diameter. Here is a table of the rings:

Ft Radius Circumference
2 0.35 ft 2.2 ft
4 0.70 ft 4.43 ft
6 1.05 ft 6.65 ft
8 1.40 ft 8.86 ft
10 1.75 ft 11.08 ft
12 2.10 ft 13.29 ft
14 2.45 ft 15.51 ft
16 2.80 ft 17.73 ft
18 3.15 ft 19.94 ft
20 3.50 ft 22.0 ft

I used the black flexible tubing at your local hardware store. The 2 ft ring I had to use a vinyl tube to make the ring. I used zip ties to secure the ring to the lines coming down to the base ring. I used 4 strands of 1/16" braided wire from the topper to the base for stability. I used eye bolts to secure the down lines to the base ring that allow taking out the slack in the 16 lines. I will rework my tree this year to change the nylon lines to the braided wire. The Nylon wire allowed the winding of the lights to twist the tree. By changing the nylon lines to the braided wire will give more stability of the rings and eliminate the twisting. Even though there is twisting, you do not notice it when it is up and running. The center pipe is 1.25" heavy duty electrical conduit, not the thin wall. To join the two 10' sections I was able to put a 3/4" piece of same electrical conduit inside the larger one and screw together with 4 bolts so that the pole is rigid. This also allows for dis assembly for storage.
i am lost .. do you mind helping in math ?? my base is 12 dt .. top is 24 ft tall .... i would like 3-5 ring between thanks

[mitchh218]

i am lost .. do you mind helping in math ?? my base is 12 dt .. top is 24 ft tall .... i would like 3-5 ring between thanks

Here is how I calculated the circumference of each ring. Circumference is 2*Pi*Radius. I stared at the bottom and worked my way up on the calculations. So, circumference of the bottom ring (20 foot pole and I wanted a diameter of 7 ft), the base is calculated as 2*3.14*3.5 = 21.98 ft. Since the next ring is going to be at 18 feet, I calculated this way: radius of next ring = Ring height/Pole Height*Radius of base. 18/20*3.5 = 3.15. The circumference would be 2*3.14*3.15 = 19.94 (rounding error of Pi). So, in your case you are looking for 3-5 rings. In either case, there is a middle ring half way up the pole. Radius of middle ring would be ring height/pole height*Radius of base = 12/24*6 = 3.0 ft. So the circumference would be 2*3.14*3 = 18.85 ft. Here are tables of the 3 and 5 ring circumferences:

3 ring (assuming these heights)
Height radius circumference
6 ft 1.5 ft 9.42 ft
12 ft 3 ft 18.85 ft
18 ft 4.5 ft 28.27 ft

5 ring (assuming these heights)
Height radius circumference
4 ft 1 ft 6.28 ft
8 ft 2 ft 12.57 ft
12 ft 3 ft 18.85 ft
16 ft 4 ft 25.13 ft
20 ft 5 ft 31.42 ft

hope this helps.

How many channels are you planning to use for the spiral tree and how many strands per channel?

[Skunberg]

i am lost .. do you mind helping in math ?? my base is 12 dt .. top is 24 ft tall .... i would like 3-5 ring between thanks

The first number is feet from the top, the second number is the radius (center pole to ring) and the last number is circumference (distance around the ring, also the length of tubing for ring). So your base is 12 ft diameter? That would be 6 ft radius and 37.67 ft circumference. Here's a site to help get your others.
http://www.onlineconversion.com/shape_area_circle.htm

Brian

[turnemd]

This is my Spiral tree. The frame is made from 3/16" Cold Rolled rod welded up into a tree shaped frame. It's about 12 ft tall and it has currently 800 (8-100 ct) multicolored incandescent mini strings. those are going to be replaced by LED's this coming season. I am driving it with a 4 channel rope light controller that I cut the end off of and put plugs on it so I could separate out the 4 channels. This gave me both pattern control along with speed control for about $50. In the photo you can see the weather box the controller is in. I chose to have 2 strings on at any given time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkKOWDpI9Uw

1762417625

[boyelroy11]

I have a hybrid mega with two spiral colors, and they both go the same way. Next year, I plan to do one in the other direction, though. We will see. You can see mine here: http://vimeo.com/56960521

[11Bravo]

I like your design. What is the length of a 100 count mini string?

Just trying to figure how I can use the LED strings I have. Which the majority of is 12.25 feet long at 50 count. I would have connect two strings together to make it longer and I would have strings of 24.5 feet.
Do you think that length would work ok in your design?


This is my Spiral tree. The frame is made from 3/16" Cold Rolled rod welded up into a tree shaped frame. It's about 12 ft tall and it has currently 800 (8-100 ct) multicolored incandescent mini strings. those are going to be replaced by LED's this coming season. I am driving it with a 4 channel rope light controller that I cut the end off of and put plugs on it so I could separate out the 4 channels. This gave me both pattern control along with speed control for about $50. In the photo you can see the weather box the controller is in. I chose to have 2 strings on at any given time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkKOWDpI9Uw

1762417625

[Strother85]

I have a hybrid mega with two spiral colors, and they both go the same way. Next year, I plan to do one in the other direction, though. We will see. You can see mine here: http://vimeo.com/56960521

Oh man you did august burns red!! I did two of their songs this year with big plans for a few more next season. From my google searching I have found very few that have done sequences to their songs, glad I could see yours. Great job!

[11Bravo]

Turnemd... Would you post some dimensions of your steel rod tree?

[cobraman44]

Just in case you are looking for more pics. Here are mine.
http://www.trumbullchristmas.com/pics/Pictures/SpiralTree/index.html

[11Bravo]

That's nice Cobraman44.... the corn field in the photo reminds of the movie If You Build It They Will Come...and you built it.

I'm trying to decide if I want to use my 20 foot flag pole of 5, 4' x 2" sections to make a tree.