Tree House time (pictures)

greenLED

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Yea, the stairs are custom fit to the tree. Each stair has its own 2" bar going into the tree. And each stair is tied to the stair next to it so it can not spin or come out of its hole.
Into the tree? As in drilled in place? Tree dude here (not to be confused with tree hugger, though)... If you're planning on embedding those bars into the tree you're opening the tree to all sorts of diseases. Rotten wood is bad for tree houses, if you know what I mean. :poof: Then there's the issue of lateral bole growth (not to mention corrosion, etc.) slowly eating away into your bars, scarring changing wood physical properties, etc.

Maybe it'd be best if you anchored your spiral staircase to the base of the tree by the way of concrete bases and pillars going up and holding the staircase?

Anyway, just a random thought from your neighborhood tree dude.
 

Data

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green,

Thanks for your concern. I need all the help I can get. :tinfoil:

The method I am using to attach to the tree is arbor approved. The hardware is all 304 SS and smooth. The holes are only normal to the surface of the tree. The stairs and house all stand off 4" from the tree to allow for many years of growth. There will be no exposed cambian layer or sap wood.

The health of the tree is of paramount importance. I will try to explain it all to you in detail at a later time when I have more pictures.


Cheers
Dave
 

Data

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Very, Very Cool, Dave.:thumbsup: The winch and forklift adds new meaning to the term, Barn Raising. Let me know if you need any extra hands. I work for pizza.

About those two blocks of aluminum: You said the SPY007 would be larger than the 005, but I did not think THAT much larger.:eek:

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

jch79

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jch79, Hummmmmm.

I'm not sure I like the tone of that Hummm! :devil:

Ok, ok... I'll go ahead and say I'm a tree dude too... maybe even a borderling tree hugger. I just wanted to make fun of Mr. Green for his disclaimer of not wanting to be known as a tree hugger. :D

meditatelu0.gif
john
 

Rudi

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Into the tree? As in drilled in place? Tree dude here (not to be confused with tree hugger, though)... If you're planning on embedding those bars into the tree you're opening the tree to all sorts of diseases. Rotten wood is bad for tree houses, if you know what I mean. :poof: Then there's the issue of lateral bole growth (not to mention corrosion, etc.) slowly eating away into your bars, scarring changing wood physical properties, etc.

Maybe it'd be best if you anchored your spiral staircase to the base of the tree by the way of concrete bases and pillars going up and holding the staircase?

Anyway, just a random thought from your neighborhood tree dude.

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

Data

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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

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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. :nana:
 

greenLED

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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

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Bluff called!:cool: 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

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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

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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. :bow:
 

milkyspit

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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! :ohgeez:
 

Stan671

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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.
 
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