After buying a house with a yard last year, this is my first year having a display element that wasn't attached to the house. The obvious first choice was a mega-tree, or mid-size tree, since it's not really MEGA. I combed over all the available info on this site, and made it my own. Just wanted to share it with all of you, especially those considering adding a mega-tree to their display.
I knew I wanted to add a mega-tree at the end of last year, so I ordered all the necessary lights, controllers, and power supplies. Beyond that, I didn't really have a lot of direction. Then back in the beginning of November, I was wandering through Lowes looking for something unrelated to Christmas lights, when I happened upon their Christmas tree stands. And things started clicking. The stands are $50, but it turned out to work perfectly. The only part that touches the ground is the four red plastic caps on the ends of the legs, minimizing the amount of grass killed.
As you can see from the pictures, I cut out the sharp tabs where a real tree would stick. I then drilled 4 holes and mounted a 1" galvanized flange to the bottom of the stand. Then I screwed a 3' piece of 1" galvanized pipe into the thread. I'm using the Boscoyo 16/32 Mega-Tree topper, which calls for 3/4" EMT. As you can see in the last picture, the 3/4" EMT slides perfectly inside the 1" galvanized pipe. This was pretty steady, but I obviously needed to add some weight. Borrowing from the portable hole model, I filled the bottom of the stand with concrete. It probably added 30-35lbs of weight.
I knew I wanted to add a mega-tree at the end of last year, so I ordered all the necessary lights, controllers, and power supplies. Beyond that, I didn't really have a lot of direction. Then back in the beginning of November, I was wandering through Lowes looking for something unrelated to Christmas lights, when I happened upon their Christmas tree stands. And things started clicking. The stands are $50, but it turned out to work perfectly. The only part that touches the ground is the four red plastic caps on the ends of the legs, minimizing the amount of grass killed.
As you can see from the pictures, I cut out the sharp tabs where a real tree would stick. I then drilled 4 holes and mounted a 1" galvanized flange to the bottom of the stand. Then I screwed a 3' piece of 1" galvanized pipe into the thread. I'm using the Boscoyo 16/32 Mega-Tree topper, which calls for 3/4" EMT. As you can see in the last picture, the 3/4" EMT slides perfectly inside the 1" galvanized pipe. This was pretty steady, but I obviously needed to add some weight. Borrowing from the portable hole model, I filled the bottom of the stand with concrete. It probably added 30-35lbs of weight.