Tree House time (pictures)

[Data]

Greenled, would titanium bars solve the disease and corrosion problems? Or perhaps a titanium sleeve around the steel bars?

Titanium is not an option unless your name is Bill Gates. I spent over $1000 on the two SS 304 bars you see. Titanium would be as much $$$$$ as a new car and I would not be able to use 2" either, it would have to be 2.5" because it is not as strong.

Finding information on the best metals (stainless steel) is not an easy task. Believe me I have tried. It is a function of the tree type (Liriodendron) and there is not much information available on what is the best metal.

I am very interested if you find any information on the subject.


Cheers
Dave

[greenLED]

Rudi, it's not so much the metal-to-tissue interface as the opening up of the bark allowing the entrance of pathogens. It'd be like a person getting a piercing that never heals... except wood rots, and you don't want that to happen while sitting up in the tree house.

The method I am using to attach to the tree is arbor approved. ... There will be no exposed cambian layer or sap wood.

The health of the tree is of paramount importance.

Dave, I have a hard time picturing how you're going to avoid the cambium as you drill holes into the tree, but it sounds like you've got it covered. I was just concerned about potential wood rot, since nobody had mentioned it before.

We used to seal coring holes with some type of resin to prevent entrance of pathogens. Trouble is, the resin was real good at keeping things *in* as well, so after a while we just left the holes open and let the tree heal on its own. I'm out of the loop with regards to what arborists use nowdays.

J, after all these years, and I still can't see a tree and wonder how much timber I could get out of it. The only time I hug trees is before felling them.

[greenLED]

It is a function of the tree type (Liriodendron) and there is not much information available on what is the best metal.

From what little I know about temperate species, I can tell you Liriodendron is not very rot resistant, which makes preventing rot even more important.

[Data]

From what little I know about temperate species, I can tell you Liriodendron is not very rot resistant, which makes preventing rot even more important.

Yea, it is no oak.

[Stan671]

We all work for pizza. OK Stan, see you on Monday!

Bluff called! Name the time and I'm there.

[Data]

Bluff called! Name the time and I'm there.

Saturday or Sunday or Monday any of these days would be good. Monday is the day planned for the actual lift.

I need general help and a photog and somebody to throw the thermonuclear reactor switch!

I am in Cape May with my feet in the sand till Friday so I'm incognito till then.

Cheers
Dave

[Darell]

OK... finally caught up with the new Data Forum (yes, it will always be the Data Forum to me, Mr. Cool Fall). And what do I see? Damn! I remember mention of this quite a while ago. Wasn't expecting ANTHING like this, however. Scares me what good work you do. The floor joists all bolted - no nails for this guy. I want to see all the details... and I can imagine how they're all done.

You need to sweep up more when you're done for the day and taking pictures though. There pieces of Spy dust all over the place.

Wish I lived closer. I like pizza.

[milkyspit]

Data, I feel privileged to have seen this puppy up close during early construction... this thing is AWESOME! Gotta check it out ASAP. Really beautiful work, just unbelievable.

[milkyspit]

Greenled, would titanium bars solve the disease and corrosion problems? Or perhaps a titanium sleeve around the steel bars?

For whatever it's worth, when we moved into our present home, which has also been the home in which I grew up, I myself with an old writeup from Rutgers Univ. Agricultural Extension (or something like that) from way back in 1972, about tree trimming... it didn't address actual HOLES in a tree, but did go over the disease process... the upshot is that any penetration of the bark allows introduction of pathogens, and the tree combats this by walling-off the diseased area... thing is, all this happens in slow motion, with the diseased region gradually increasing its penetration of the tree and the defensive seal expanding to envelop it. The writeup said cuts made close to the trunk will ultimately kill the tree because the disease process will reach the core faster than it can be partitioned off... for this reason the document suggests that limbs be trimmed a few inches AWAY from the trunk itself to give the tree time to block the disease process.

I can say with some certainty that limbs cut close to the trunk by my parents are now clearly causing the death of the trees where the cuts were made... we've lost a couple trees already, already dead, and finally downed in windstorms... meanwhile, the cuts where I left some of the limb do seem to be faring better, though they haven't been there as long of course.

Does this have the slightest relevance to the treehouse? Well... not sure, but thought I'd post the info just in case. Sorry for blabbering endlessly!

[Stan671]

Well, Dave's project went from a house on the ground with a tree through the center of it to a full fledged tree house mounted 18 feet in the air.

I had a ball helping Dave and the other guys lift it up about 21 feet, drill a 2" whole straight through the center of the tree, cut a 2" diameter solid stainless steel rod down to 110 inches long, put it into the lathe to chamfer the ends, pound it through the hole, hang the two aluminum blocks, drill two more 2" holes on either side of the tree, cut two more 2" diameter SS rods, install these rods, make an aluminum shim, line everything up, and then lower the house down to rest on the rods and blocks.

Dave's tree house is a marvel of engineering and planning. I think that everything went rather smoothly with only one change in plans about the positioning of the blocks. It really is a sight to behold now that it is way up there in the tree.

I took a bunch of pictures and videos. I'll post some stuff Tuesday evening.

[DaFABRICATA]

Can't wait to see pics!!

[MorpheusT1]

[greenLED]

I took a bunch of pictures and videos. I'll post some stuff Tuesday evening.

Time's up, Stan!

[Illum]

i don't see a spotlight mount

[Data]

i don't see a spotlight mount

LOL . . . Hmmm

[Data]

getting ready




6' up




Cheers

[jch79]

I can only imagine how much fun those kids are having!

Lookin' good, Dave!

john

[SIMON LEONE]

greetings

this is so awesome thought the dream of every lill boy

I built about 20 tree houses during my childhood and youth but of course none

of them was that amazing

but I'll built a real one like yours too ... one day

regards

[Stan671]

Time's up, Stan!

Sorry for the delay. I was too tired after kayaking yesterday to get the pictures organized.

I have created a simple web page with a bunch of pictures and some brief explanations:

www.segwaystan.net/treehouse

[Stan671]

Larger pix with explanations here:

www.segwaystan.net/treehouse

Here are some small pictures:

[depusm12]

Awesome looking tree house. Would love to live in something similar but larger.

[karlthev]

Just amazing!! Wow is all I can say!


Karl

[Data]

Thanks Stan, those pictures are great.

I will post pics of the final configuration in a couple days.

[fasteddie]

So, where are you going to put the mill and the workbench?

[Bimmerboy]

I'd only met Dave once (at PF9), where we spoke about the Spy for a few minutes, but it was enough to know he's the kind of dude who ain't playin' around when it comes to engineering. So upon seeing the title of this thread, I had a hunch this tree house may be a cut above average... but whoa!

And that about sums it up in one word... whoa.



Also wondering how the center will be sealed. I'm picturing some kind of tube in order to just let rain run right through and out the bottom. Thick rubber perhaps? Or maybe a sheet metal tube formed around the trunk, welded along the join, and the top and bottom ends bolted to the ceiling and floor.

[LK5GB7]

holy crap! I wish i had one like this when i was a kid!!

[Ken_McE]

I Also wondering how the center will be sealed. I'm picturing some kind of tube in order to just let rain run right through and out the bottom. Thick rubber perhaps? Or maybe a sheet metal tube formed around the trunk, welded along the join, and the top and bottom ends bolted to the ceiling and floor.

He can't weld metal around the trunk, the tree needs room to grow. He could take pieces of overlapping rubber roof membrane, clamp the tops loosely to the tree and have them hang out and onto the roof. This would also leave the trunk visible. Why go through all that work just to have a metal sleeve for your inner wall? He has taken "tree house" to a whole new level...

[milkyspit]

He can't weld metal around the trunk, the tree needs room to grow. He could take pieces of overlapping rubber roof membrane, clamp the tops loosely to the tree and have them hang out and onto the roof. This would also leave the trunk visible. Why go through all that work just to have a metal sleeve for your inner wall? He has taken "tree house" to a whole new level...

I think he'd told me he was experimenting with pieces of foam to form a flexible seal against the trunk... and at the end of the day, if a little water seeps down the trunk itself, it's not that big a deal really, would roll right down the trunk and out the bottom opening in the tree house anyway. Plus, it's a little like a built-in waterfall fountain!

[karlthev]

Dave, what were you doing with the Spy005 while cutting the SS bar, measuring....????



Karl

[Data]