Over The Top Christmas Lights
2013 - Behind the Scenes - Mega Tree

I used 36" of 2x2 angle steel, 24' of 3x3 steel tube 11 guage, 8' of 3.5x3.5 steel tube 1/4", 2 - 1/2" x 4 1/2" hitch pins, 2 padlocks to fit hole in hitch pin, 4 - 5/16" x 5" eye hooks, assorted bolts, wire for the guide wires, 4 dog tie downs to hold guide wires in place at ground, 5 cans of good metal blat black paint, 16 - 4" spring clips, 32 - 100 count white LED lights strings, 32 - 100 count red LED lights strings, 32 - 100 count green LED lights strings, landscape pegs, and SPT1 wire and ends.

I took the 2"x2" angle steel and cut into 4 equal parts. One sede of each piece was cut off leaving 3" in the middle not cut. I drilled 16 3/8" holes for the spring clips to go through. There was also 3/8" holes drilled to mount to the tube and 3/8" holes to bolt the four pieces together. all edges were files and the entire piece was painted.

The 24' tube was cleaned and painted. Holes were drilled in the tube at the right place to mount the light head to. The bottom of the tube was cut at an angle so that the upright long tube fits inside the larger upright tube snug against the side.

One side of the 8' piece was cut off 5' down. That left 3' as a solid tube. A piece was welded on the bottom so that it would not go too deep. All edges was filed and the entire piece was painted. A 3 foot hole was dug in the ground and the 8' tube was placed so the open edge was at ground level. The long pipe was put in place on ground and a hole was drilled so a hitch pin would lock in place. The long pole was stood up and a second hole was drilled through both pieces for the second hitch pin.

The tree was lowered and holes were drilled for the eye hooks and guide wires at proper height. I attached 4 eye screws and attached 4 hooked wire and ran to the ground. They were anchored to ground using dog anchors. This gave me four guide wires one on each side.

The star was mounted to tube at proper place, the lights were clipped into the spring clips, and the tree was raised. The light strings were then stretched out at equal distance and anchored to the ground using landscape pins. The 48 channels were then wired and checked.

The mega tree can be made by one person but to set it upright will either take a winch or 3 people.

Click on a picture to enlarge it.


The angle steel was cut and laid out.

The holes were then drilled.

It was painted and then mounted on tube.

I used wire and hooked to the top of the tree and stretched down to make guide wires to hold the tree in place.

The 8' tube was cut and fixed to hold smaller tube in place.

The outside tube was cleaned, painted, and placed in ground.

The long inside tube was cut to fit and using a hitch pin was used to keep in place.

A hole was drilled at top to lock in place. It was stood up, wired, and lit.

Website Design
Mysorefigtree@comcast.net

Website Homepage
Mysore Fig Tree