A Cable and a Pulley... my version of a Mega Tree Pole

[jhoybs]

You guys do know about the Portable Hole II by Walter Monkhouse, right?

http://www.magicchristmas.org/portable-hole.html

I built one this year and it works great. Even though it is 120lb, you can use a furniture dolly or put wheels on it. It was easier to move & store than I expected.

[DaleP]

You guys do know about the Portable Hole II by Walter Monkhouse, right?

Yep, we just discussed that and the reasons why I didn't use one.

[DaleP]

We had a super windy storm come through in Tuesday with the wind gusting up to 60mph. I slept well knowing there was no way that the tree would come down. I did toss and turn worring about the rest of the display! Thankfully nothing got wrecked. Just a few mini trees blew over.

[Bergmanndw]

This is a great thread guys. I really like the pole design and the portable base is excellent as well. I am saving this for next seasons mega tree!

[jrodp]

Hello, this is my first year of putting up a mega pole and I wanted to share my version of the telescoping pole. I have a welder but you could just bolt on the parts instead if welding.

I liked the ASAP pole idea, but didn't want to have to stop and add on to my push pole to obtain the full height of the pole so I added a pulley to the top of the 2" rigid pipe and ran a stainless steel cable down to the crank. My pole starts off at 10' high and will crank up to 18' with out any stopping. I added a 2' extension to the top to get a full 20' tree and was able to easily attach my lights to the hook head off a ladder and then crank everything to the full height.

I made a permanent base for the tree instead of a portable hole. My base consists of a 5' deep, by 12" wide hole in the ground and 600# of concrete! I put a PVC pipe into the concrete and have a green painted screw on cap flush with the ground so when the pole is not in use it hides in the grass and no one knows it's there.

I added four guide wires by pounding some 20" long angle irons into the ground. The pole is so stout that I was able to put a ladder against it and climb up to 15'.

The finished tree has 96 one hundred count strands of lights and will run off two 16 channel Renard controllers. The total rig will take about 32 amps when it's fully lit. I have two 20 amp outlets dedicated for it so it shouldn't have any issues.

Let me know what you guys think,
Dale P.

Sorry, I know this is an older thread but I was curious if you could provide a little more detail on how you attached the pulley to the top? I am starting to build my ASAP pole and would like to go this route. I have access to a welder but would prefer to do it without welding if possible, my welding is not the best. Maybe if you have any closer pics you could share?