Design For A Christmas Tree Stand

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It's that time of year again, with my wife wanting a 10'-12' christmas tree for the holidays. I have yet to find a sturdy store bought stand that can hold the 6"-8" trunk & weight that a tree this size brings to the table. I searched this site but did not find anything.I imagine a home made design with a 24" square angle base, welded to a 8" x 8" tree retaining ring, located 12" to 16" off the floor, high enough to fit a water bucket under the tree stump.Any help with plans, info, or a website to find this set up is appreciated.Thanks:Walt
Reply:My neighbor across the street gets a huge tree like that every year...i usually help him get it in the house and then set up..its no picnic  he just has the biggest plastic ones that home cheapo or blowes has  but he also has to tie it off to the corners of the back walls to keep it from toppeling over..and if you have cats..look out below!!!(thats why i just have a little fiber optic tree that changes into a gazillion colors) be careful..thats alot of weight your trying to balance...i'm not saying dont build one..but for something you'll use for 3 weeks?myself i dont think its worth it..jmho.....zap!Last edited by zapster; 11-12-2006 at 11:36 AM.I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:I made one in about half an hour with the tree in the house leaning against the wall.  I used a piece of scrap 1/8" sheet around 12"x12" I welded a triangle point up in the center took 1 1/2" x 1/4" flat bar welded to the bottom of the sheet to add stability think "X" with a square in the center.  I then took a piece of pipe (4" or bigger depending on tree choices) drilled 4 3/8" holes all oposite of each other welded 3/8" nuts to the out side at the holes, welded the pipe to the plate filled with water checked for leaks welded leaks shut.  added four 3/8" eye bolts to clamp tree.  Jam tree onto triangle in bottom of pipe screw down eye bolts fill pipe with water throw cheap tree stand down hill cussing like sailor!  All scrap and 1/2 hours time would have taken me longer to drive to a box store.  Travis
Reply:and you did all this in 1/2 hr?wow your fast!...zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Mine was a piece of 8x8 1/4" wall square tube around 6" long. I drilled 8 half inch holes, 2 in the center of each side one at the top and one at the bottom. Welded a half inch nut to each one. used 8 stainless half inch bolts.  The 4 legs were around 2 feet long each and had 4" circles for feet. just cut down a five gallon bucket to set under it for water. I wonder where in the hell that thing went. Worked slicker than a minnows peter.  Made it nice an sturdy.
Reply:I made a heavy duty stand a few years ago because I got so ****ed off at the chicken s**t store bought ones that tweek as soon as you try to tighten the little screws in the tin frame.I made mine out of 8" pipe with a 2" flat stock + across the bottom.  I used 3/8" eye bolts to pin it in and level the tree, and a 3/8"X2" bolt tapped up through the bottom for pegging it to center.  I just drilled a hole in the bottom of the tree, dropped it in and leveled it with the eyebolts.  It held about a gallon of water which would last a few days.I have since sold it at a yard sale and now have a fake tree since the kids have grown up and flew the coop.  Much easier to deal with and a lot cheaper where we live.Hobart 140 Handler w/ gasHyperTherm Powermax 380 Plasmaoxy/acetylene
Reply:I'll probably use some 1 1/4" square tubing for the frame, along with the 8" pipe in the center, as suggested.Thanks for your replies. I'll try to post a photo when I fabricate this stand.Walt
Reply:Sorry Zap your right, my wife says I always exagerate on time it was waaaaaay quicker than a 1/2 hour!!!
Reply:DO IT! if your like me, you just need an excuse to build something you dont NEED.. but you sure do WANT it. let me see if i envisioned it right(and practice my CAD since we didnt have class this week)
Reply:Do what I do. Tell you wife that a real tree is to freaking dangerous. Get a nice plastic tree and you will never have sap on your hands, needles in your house, fire hazard, water buckets or bugs ever again. My wife said she missed the pine tree smell. I got an auto air freshener shaped like a christmas tree from the parts store and hung it on the fake tree. Problem solved.I know....it's not the same. But my kids are worth more to me than having a tree fire. Oh, and it's PC not to kill a real tree.Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:i dunno how well this turned out. first time plotting to jpeg. Last edited by mynameisaric; 11-13-2006 at 04:03 AM.
Reply:http://www.christmastreestand.com/Take a look at these.  May give you some ideas.Hope the link works.  I always have trouble with them.ECAVE Still learnin'Lincoln AC225Lincoln 135SPHF ChopsawVictor O/ANumerous other items
Reply:Say Aric, that's some pretty nice CAD work.  Although, it is way more complicated than it has to be.  Maybe you could get some class credits though for your effort  The tree stand on the link is crazy expensive for the 8" ($150 shipped?) and the eyebolt mounts are too weak for a large tree.  Make sure you design your's with the bolts in the pipe section for the radial support needed or you may end up with the same problem that the store boughts have, tweeked bolts Hobart 140 Handler w/ gasHyperTherm Powermax 380 Plasmaoxy/acetylene
Reply:[QUOTE=PSTW13]I'll probably use some 1 1/4" square tubing for the frame, along with the 8" pipe in the center, as suggested.Thanks for your replies. I'll try to post a photo when I fabricate this stand.WaltI finally got around to building the stand. I enclosed two pictures.I used 1 1/4" square tubing, 1/8" wall thickness. The base is 30" squareand extends up to the tree collar high enough to use a 5 gallon pail as the water holder. I used a piece of 5" pipe for the collar, which may limit the tree size/ capacity of the stand. The local metal dealer did not have any larger material. I also welded a scrap of 1/8" plate to the bottom, with the idea that the tree butt pushing down on the plate will make the stand more stable.To fasten the tree, I welded four (4) 1/2" nuts to the pipe collar, along with four (4) 3" full threaded bolts, with a 4" rebar handle welded to the bolt top.The big day for the tree chop down & delivery is Sunday. I'll repost with the tree in-stand, hopefully vertical.Thanks again for your ideas.Walt Attached Images
Reply:Looks good, but I forgot to mention what I discovered when I went to get a tree.  Being from the city, we have to BUY our trees in a lot at the supermarket.  The trees they sell are marginal at best for leaving enough on the bottom to mount in a stand.  What I discovered was to keep the mounting bolts low enough to the base so you don't end up cutting off too many of the nice, large branches to get it to fully seat in the bottom.  Also, I don't thnk I saw the "all important" bottom locating pin/stake or "cup" to keep the base centered.  The t-bolts alone will not hold it as good as drilling an inch deep hole in the bottom and locating it over a pin or stake of some kind.  Sort of like the store bought ones that have the dart in the bottom.  Maybe I just missed it in the pics.Good Job!Hobart 140 Handler w/ gasHyperTherm Powermax 380 Plasmaoxy/acetylene
Reply:Here's the one I made a couple years ago when I couldn't find a decent one to replace the one we'd worn out.  We cut our tree down fresh every year.  The bucket in the middle is water tight and had a spike in the middle of it to keep the base of the tree in place (that's necessary IMO as said above).  Don't be too harsh on the welds please as I built it a month after I'd struck my first arc ever (all self taught). Attached Images
Reply:Dont forget that you will need to keep that tree well hydrated
Reply:Speaking of hydrated, did anyone see Mythbuster Holiday Special this week?  They did a side by side study of what will keep a tree from drying out.  They used a bunch of different stuff, but the clear loser was nothing but water.  One of the better additives was Viagra or caffine but the color began to change over time, and the clear winner was hairspray.  Don't spray it on indoors or around a lit cigerette.  Hobart 140 Handler w/ gasHyperTherm Powermax 380 Plasmaoxy/acetylene
Reply:Rick,I'm gonna be a copy cat and print your pics, this will be my 1st project!  All I've done so far is practice on scrap metal, so it'll be intesting to see how it comes out....
Reply:Just get some plywood rod and weld it to the hardwood floor.
Reply:Final finished product w/ tree.Merry Christmas:WALT Attached Images
Reply:VERY NICE !!!!  That will be the 2nd thing I make right after the cart. LOL My wife liked it and told me to put sides on ours except the back to put the bucket in. That way u can't see the bucket.
Reply:Ok here is my design for a Christmas tree stand. I'm pretty sure this will hold up a 10' tree. It is 2'x2' made out of 1" square tube, with an 8" diameter pipe (capped on the bottom). I added flat stock for support, but I am not convinced that I will need it. Should I go bigger than 2'x2'? I am hopefully going to be building this tonight (at least starting it), so I will post some pics when I am done.   "Ask not for whom the bone bones, it bones for thee" - Bender
Reply:Speaking as a consumer of Christmas tree stands and big trees, I'd say PSTW13's and silky's designs deserve high marks.  Also, I would suggest that you don't need to make it pretty.  Just put a table cloth over the whole thing.  I don't know if you have to cut a hole for the tree, or if you just push part of the table cloth into the hole.
Reply:Nice drawings and I think that your right, you shoulld not need the extra flat stock, 1" is plenty to hold the tree if it's balanced properly.  Although, your cup is too deep. You'll end up cutting off a bunch of the nice, large lower branches to get it down in to the bottom and your wife will be pi**ed.You didn't show the inside, but make sure that you put a center pin (cut-off bolt), dart or something in the bottom to stake the tree too.  The bolts will not always hold it good enough but the simple addition of the stake will ensure it never shifts in the can.  I drill a hole in the bottom of the tree to accept the pin, good for watering too.Hobart 140 Handler w/ gasHyperTherm Powermax 380 Plasmaoxy/acetyleneOriginally Posted by Rick MoranSpeaking of hydrated, did anyone see Mythbuster Holiday Special this week?  ... and the clear winner was hairspray.  Don't spray it on indoors or around a lit cigerette.
Reply:They sprayed the tree down with hairspray real good while it was outdoors.  HS is just lacquer so if you have a can of mat finish clear lacquer or even polyurethane that would work too.  The idea is to seal it so it doesn't dry out.  It took a LOT less watering too.Hobart 140 Handler w/ gasHyperTherm Powermax 380 Plasmaoxy/acetylene
Reply:Silky,It would be nice to have an angled pipe going the the water reservoir situated to make it easy to water the tree.
Reply:What do you need an angled pipe for?  Just use a watering can with a spout!Silky, nice sturdy looking stand.  +1 on adding the spike/nail in the middle bottom of the stand for the tree to sit on.  But I agree with Rick that the 8 inch pipe section is too tall, it looks like you have that thing about 12 inches tall!  That's a LOT of tree bottom to clear of branches.Use a piece of solid 3/8 inch plate for the base of the stand for ballast and you could then use the stand as a low-boy welding table the rest of the year just by turning it over!  Rig up a pipe stand (like a grinder stand) of the appropriate diameter pipe and collar and you can have the inverted tree stand be a workbench mounted onto the pipe!  The possibilities are big, so what if the stand ends up weighing 100 pounds!  That's just "stability enhancing ballast".  Not only does it help keep the tree upright, it also keeps it in position in case cats, dogs, kids, stray cattle, drunken holiday revelers, or other creatures crash into the tree!  But wait, order now and you can also get ...
Reply:Originally Posted by ECAVEhttp://www.christmastreestand.com/Take a look at these.  May give you some ideas.Hope the link works.  I always have trouble with them.
Reply:Remember, the higher the tree, the more presents will be expected to fill the void.  . Hobart 140 Handler w/ gasHyperTherm Powermax 380 Plasmaoxy/acetylene
Reply:It's all in the marketing.For $40.00 in EBAY - no sales.Fancy website with music big bux!!
Reply:Nice designs guys.I had that problem a few years ago when the wife wanted to put up a silver antique family tree in the basement.No one knew where the stand was,wife says oh you can make one. Luckily it was light and about 1-1/4'' or so for a trunk.So I used a heavy plate on the bottom and a piece of 2'' steel pipe about a foot tall.I just used some wood wedges to center it.When its not in use it holds about a dozen arrows for me when I shoot my bow out back.pro-level dumpster diver                                     Hobart 125EZ
Reply:Originally Posted by KnotboredJust get some plywood rod and weld it to the hardwood floor.
Reply:Thanks for the input guys! I had already planned on the spike in the center, but I just didn't know how to do an empty tube in Google Sketch-up, so I left the pipe solid. Also, its only 9" tall, so I think its a little on the high side, but still not too high. I will rethink it before I buy the pipe though. Unfortunately, I couldn't build it this weekend (instead of leaving work early to get the materials, I went to the bar with all the bigwigs of my company.) , but I plan on getting the goodies today at lunch. "Ask not for whom the bone bones, it bones for thee" - Bender
Reply:I got a flocked tree this year for a change and it had a free rebar stand.  A medium-consistency flocked trees does'nt even need water.  You can hang them upside down in a bag and use them next year, not that I have room to store a dead tree.I forgot, nice and LOW too.Hobart 140 Handler w/ gasHyperTherm Powermax 380 Plasmaoxy/acetylene