Christmas Tree Stands

[sleepygit]

Does anyone else get positively pee'd off with the store bought ones?

Anything made of plastic is hopeless. Especially if the tree is more than 5 foot tall.

I've been asked by a christmas tree farm to make some stands, that they will sell alongside their real christmas trees.

I have two ideas

One is just a cross of rebar or similar, with a peg sticking up in the middle.

This would then require a hole drilling in the cut end of the tree to insert the peg into.

I would have to make some sort of jig for the drill to make sure the hole follows the line of the trunk so it sits straight.


The other option for bigger tree I am thinking is a cross, with two upright pieces, and then two u bolts to hold the trunk in place.

Any other smart ideas? I am sure other people have this problem.

 

[johnny max]

Go with the first idea but put a coach screw instead into trunk
Get as big a one you can come across

 

[Hitch]

Sounds a bit gash to me...

It takes no effort to make a nice one.
Heres mine.

 

[Ratty]

Very fancy Hitch
That was my very first thought...to use a piece of tubing in a tripod of rods. If the tree drops in far enough it will stay upright. Could always be a second tube at ground level. They needn't even be very long. If you wanted to be really fancy you could have a couple of bolts that thread through the wall of the tube to grip any skinny trunks.

edit* aha! Is that a hole for a bolt in the wall of your tube Hitch? Great minds and all that

 

[demag]

Instead of a peg coming out from the cross, what about a piece of tube with a bolt through the side to secure the tree.

 

[sleepygit]

Sounds a bit gash to me...

It takes no effort to make a nice one.
Heres mine.

That is not going to hold up a 9 foot tree let alone a 15 foot one!

But it looks nice


You should see my industrial efforts tol hold up the 30 foot outdoor tree

 

[Ratty]

You put it so much more succinctly than I demag!!

 

[Ratty]

That is not going to hold up a 9 foot tree let alone a 15 foot one!

Surely they're to be sold for household trees? 15'?? Even our workhouse ceilings would struggle to fit that

So are we talking outdoor ones? what sizes of tree are we talking about? You can't go asking for ideas then stroll in later with the dimensions

 

[sleepygit]

Do you think it will fit Hitch

P.S. this is one of the smaller trees we have done this year, still need to take the pictures off the camera of the real monster (that one required a telehandler to get it up, tractor wasn't big enough).

 

[Hitch]

Of course not, nor will a screw threaded into the end grain of a bit of spruce hold up 15 ft of tree.
I use mine for 5-6ft without a problem. The 3 points of the scrolls are about 500pcd, and its quite weighty for a tree stand.

 

[sleepygit]

Surely they're to be sold for household trees? 15'?? Even our workhouse ceilings would struggle to fit that

So are we talking outdoor ones? what sizes of tree are we talking about? You can't go asking for ideas then stroll in later with the dimensions

I need a good selection

Maybe a lightweight version for trees 3 - 6 foot.

A medium version for up to 9 foot.

And then a heavy duty version for up to 15 foot.

My local tree place sells lots of 10 foot plus trees that go inside. It just a pain making them stand up!

They don't need to be fancy - as I want them to be cheaper than somethign you can buy and be able to produce them quite quickly.

But mainly, I want them to be functional. Most tree stands are a pain to use.

 

[Ratty]

Information!! There now, that wasn't difficult was it
I shall sleep on it

 

[Marty2005]

Funnily enough, I've been toying with the same problem. I have one with a tube in the middle which holds the trunk but, ideally you need to be able to water the tree to stop it dropping its pine needles. So the best design would be something along the lines of a bucket with the tubing and bracing inside. Mind you that's a lot more work and would punters be willing to pay for it?

 

[flames]

with a tree that size......i reckon you should grow it in your garden,where you want it to be,then decorate it when christmas comes.it shouldnt fall over then.

 

[Stewy1984]

How about a simple cross base, with 4 box section uprights to support the tree and just use wooden wedges to hold it. maybe some fancy gussets on the box to base.

 

[chunkolini]

Another home made option, made this about 8 years back.my first mig welded project, triangular base 700mm diameter, piece of tube about so wide for the tree to sit in and access water below.
The legs are radial from the tube, des not look it in the pic' though.
Has supported trees up 6.5feet even with monter child in the house.


Chunko'.

 

[GrahamGKD]

i use a piece of angle welded vertically to an old brake disk. A jubilee clip will clamp any size of trunk into the V of the angle. The whole fits into a bucket with wet sand. Not pretty but works V well. G.

 

[Slim Shady]

I made mine like this one

Except my one's legs are made from 50x50x3 box and the pipe in the middle is 4 inch gas pipe I found knocking around. The legs are 800mm long. I had fun getting that into the house, had to use a hand truck. Its only for a 9 foot tree.

 

[Wriggler]

Pyramid with the top cut off and a tube welded in place to hold the tree. The pyramid can be as large as you need it to be and can hide a water container underneath.