To go along with my house outline I'm starting this step by step mega tree.
Mine will be 180 degrees. Parts used (all purchased from Home Depot):100_2125.jpg
To be continued: Step by step construction with photos
Last edited by stallionent; 05-03-2016 at 08:26 AM.
To go along with my house outline I'm starting this step by step mega tree. I've patterned the base after christmaslightshow.com.
Mine will be 180 degrees. Parts used (all purchased from Home Depot):
To be continued: Step by step construction with photos
Just a few friendly words about that style of base. I used that design for a couple of years and it caused me a lot of frustration. I found that the pvc used to make the outer rings is too pliable and I continually had to tighten the strings to keep them taught and get rid of the natural sag the weight of the strings caused. I finally gave up and made a base ring out of bent EMT. Set it and forget it..........
I went with a wooden spool about 2' tall. Then just 4 pieces of EMT conduit as the branches (2 U bolts on each to hold it). Then snap saddles (I think that's it) on the ends of the emt (use duct tape to increase the size to fit the PVC). Then just grey conduit for the ring connected in to the saddles. Then use 16 strands of aviation cable from the the topper to the ring (if you want OR especially if you have a spiral color for support) and 4 or so strands of aviation cable from the ring anchored into the ground. For the center ring, if you are going tree shape, just use a hula hoop or make another PVC loop and tie wrap it down to the EMT at the spool.
You can make it snug with the aviation cable between the topper and the ring, put the lights snug, then tighten it up between the ground and the ring with the bottom aviation cables.
It has very few parts and is easy to take down / put up. Just have to deal with the storage of the spool.
Question: if you are only making a 180 mega tree, why don't you make only a 180 base for half the cost? I am only asking because I will be making mine real soon.
Question: if you are only making a 180 mega tree, why don't you make only a 180 base for half the cost? I am only asking because I will be making mine real soon.
Looks good. I assume you are planning to use emt or galvanized pipe on top of your center pole. I would make two suggestions. Use a three to four foot piece of rebar or 1/2 inch pipe and drive it into the ground with about 18" inches left above ground to set your frame on. Also I would use some anchors to tie down the frame and make sure your half circle does not bend up between the supports. I use these anchors. http://www.christmaslightshow.com/pr...&cat=36&page=1
I then use aircraft line to tie everything down. My setup is similar to Jason's but the issues are similar with your setup. Also notice notice I use ball bungees as tie downs they work great with this type of setup.
[COLOR=#008000]2016 - 5th. year - Over 18,000 channels E1.31 including 350 Channels Renard, Video Projection - XL/NC - On Falcon Player, up to four megatrees.
[/COLOR][COLOR=#008000]2017 - 6th. year - Moved display to a public park, Over 45,000 E1.31 channels, down to 100 Channels of serial Renard - XLights running on Falcon Player on a raspberry PI.[/COLOR][COLOR=#008000]
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Project 180 x 10 ft Mega Tree
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Originally Posted by stallionent
To go along with my house outline I'm starting this step by step mega tree. I've patterned the base after christmaslightshow.com.
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