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Default Update on the treehouse bridge in the redwoods of the Santa Cruzmountains

On 2/16/2015 3:42 PM, Danny D. wrote:
Roy wrote, on Mon, 16 Feb 2015 11:47:50 -0800:

I saved a copy of all of those pictures in case I need
a "before and after" scenario...but seriously I hope you
succeed in your project.


Thanks for your well wishing.
It is one of a kind, so, we're learning as we go.
In the end, it will be pretty neat though, don't you think?

It a 10-foot wide suspension bridge, which starts at ground level
on a path in the redwoods about a thousand feet (or so) from the
nearest anything, and then goes for about 70 feet to a large
second-growth redwood, where the deck expands to 16 feet wide.

Sitting on the wide decking, about 40 feet above the ground, will
be a two story treehouse, with a bathroom, kitchen, electricity,
gas heating, and WiFi Internet (which is something we're experts
at by now, given that we all maintain our own radio antennas).

We're thinking of suspending the treehouse with 1/2 inch cable
wrapped from the big tree to the two smaller trees cradling
the bridge at about the half-way point that you see to the
right in this picture.
https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7284/1...14ed76cd_b.jpg

So, that way, the treehouse and the suspension bridge would
be, in effect, supported separately (or we might make the support
mutual and redundant).


Redundant would be good. Bridges without redundant support fall down,
e.g. the one in Minnesota--see e.g.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/wa.../15bridge.html .

We're also thinking of adding downward
hanging support cables, again from the smaller redwoods to the
decking, to add redundancy once the treehouse weight goes up.


You can't wrap the cables round the trunks, or you'll kill the trees in
a few years. Nice big eye bolts are the ticket, I expect, provided you
don't put any torque on them (i.e. you have to drill the pilot hole in
the direction of the pull). The tree can easily grow around them,
unlike wraparound cables. The problem with wood fasteners is that they
aren't load rated, unlike machine bolts.


One problem we have been having is we have had to constantly
adjust the tilt and leveling of the bridge, as weight was added
to the end. We ended up buying a dozen cable winches, which are
what is holding the bridge up now, one of which can be seen in
the left in this photo below.
https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7414/1...ca7a421f_c.jpg


Sure beats turnbuckles.

I think George Dyson probably published construction details of his
famous tree house.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net
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Default Update on the treehouse bridge in the redwoods of the SantaCruz mountains

On Mon, 16 Feb 2015 11:55:31 -0800, Oren wrote:


That should weaken the tree so it is sure to fail.


You should get a less weak grip of the facts.

A one inch hole drilled through the center meat of a Redwood? Hardly.
The stainless bar finishes the task. The tree would have no problem
growing around the bar, and even if it did not, it would not weaken the
tree ANY significant amount.

If the tree could take a 30 ton tornado force before, now it can only
take a 29.8 ton force.

Pretty much negligible, is the point.

You'd break the gear you hang on the pins before you'd break the pins or
the tree.
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Default Update on the treehouse bridge in the redwoods of the SantaCruz mountains

On Mon, 16 Feb 2015 11:55:31 -0800, Oren wrote:

loblolly pine tree


Pine and Redwood are two entirely different trees.
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Default Update on the treehouse bridge in the redwoods of the SantaCruz mountains

On Mon, 16 Feb 2015 20:24:59 +0000, Danny D. wrote:

We can't find anything larger than one-inch wide bolts at our local Home
Depot, so, we have to order our bolts online, at any measure.


Just order the stainless bar stock and have your local auto machine shop
of chopper shop cut threads onto the ends.

Get square bar stock if you want to keep it from rotating.
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Default Update on the treehouse bridge in the redwoods of the SantaCruz mountains

DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno wrote, on Tue, 17 Feb 2015 00:30:01 +0000:

Get square bar stock if you want to keep it from rotating.


Good suggestion!


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Default Update on the treehouse bridge in the redwoods of the SantaCruz mountains

Oren wrote, on Mon, 16 Feb 2015 13:33:25 -0800:

I forgot about mountain lions over yonder. We have 'em here. I'd be
packing some heat in those places you visit and frequent.


There's a funny thing about mountain lions.

They can easily bring down a full-sized buck, so, a puny human
"should" be easy prey. Given that they're experienced hunters, I doubt
the human would have much time to see the mountain lion that gets him.

Given that, the mountain lion should "win" against a puny human,
particularly with the claws and teeth of the mountain lion wrapped
around a puny human's head, neck, and throat.

So, given that, why aren't there far more mountain lion attacks
than statistics show?

Clearly, where I hike alone (almost daily), mountain lions abound.
We have dead deer, dead goats and sheep, and even videos of a mountain
lion dragging a buck taken by a dash cam on our winding road.

The enigma is that there aren't really a whole lot of documented
attacks on humans. Sure, humans aren't their standard fare; but
how do "they" know that?

I'm not worried, but, I do hike in these here hills almost every
day, and, I haven't yet "seen" a mountain lion (although I've seen
plenty of dead deer).
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Default Update on the treehouse bridge in the redwoods of the SantaCruz mountains

Phil Hobbs wrote, on Mon, 16 Feb 2015 17:45:37 -0500:

You can't wrap the cables round the trunks, or you'll kill the trees in
a few years.


Actually, if you saw the first pictures, the cables don't actually
"touch" any tree (this is the smallest pine at the low end):
https://c3.staticflickr.com/3/2944/1...2b3de04150.jpg

What we did was attach two-by fours to the tree, and then wrap the cables
around the two by fours.
https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3870/1...f45d19e2_c.jpg

Dunno if that will "protect" the tree or not; but that's why we did
it that way (in theory).

You'll notice we doubled the cable at *both* ends also, so that
there are always *two* cables at all points, even around the big
tree where there is no cable joint at all.
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Default Update on the treehouse bridge in the redwoods of the Santa Cruzmountains

On Tue, 17 Feb 2015 13:21:49 +1000, Danny D.
wrote:

Phil Hobbs wrote, on Mon, 16 Feb 2015 17:45:37 -0500:

You can't wrap the cables round the trunks, or you'll kill the trees in
a few years.


Actually, if you saw the first pictures, the cables don't actually
"touch" any tree (this is the smallest pine at the low end):
https://c3.staticflickr.com/3/2944/1...2b3de04150.jpg

What we did was attach two-by fours to the tree, and then wrap the cables
around the two by fours.
https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3870/1...f45d19e2_c.jpg

Dunno if that will "protect" the tree or not; but that's why we did
it that way (in theory).

You'll notice we doubled the cable at *both* ends also, so that
there are always *two* cables at all points, even around the big
tree where there is no cable joint at all.


Actually a bolt through the tree is the least damaging way to attach
something. The comparison with woodpeckers nests is not valid - they make
large holes that greatly interfere with sap flow. Methods wrapping around
a trunk can do enormous damage as the tree grows, including effectively
ring-barking (hence killing) the tree.
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Default Update on the treehouse bridge in the redwoods of the Santa Cruzmountains

On Tue, 17 Feb 2015 13:21:49 +1000, Danny D.
wrote:

Phil Hobbs wrote, on Mon, 16 Feb 2015 17:45:37 -0500:

You can't wrap the cables round the trunks, or you'll kill the trees in
a few years.


Actually, if you saw the first pictures, the cables don't actually
"touch" any tree (this is the smallest pine at the low end):
https://c3.staticflickr.com/3/2944/1...2b3de04150.jpg

What we did was attach two-by fours to the tree, and then wrap the cables
around the two by fours.
https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3870/1...f45d19e2_c.jpg

Dunno if that will "protect" the tree or not; but that's why we did
it that way (in theory).

You'll notice we doubled the cable at *both* ends also, so that
there are always *two* cables at all points, even around the big
tree where there is no cable joint at all.


Shouldn't there be a forestry or similar department you could ask for
advice?
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Default Update on the treehouse bridge in the redwoods of the Santa Cruz mountains

Danny D. wrote:
Oren wrote, on Mon, 16 Feb 2015 13:33:25 -0800:

I forgot about mountain lions over yonder. We have 'em here. I'd be
packing some heat in those places you visit and frequent.


There's a funny thing about mountain lions.

They can easily bring down a full-sized buck, so, a puny human
"should" be easy prey. Given that they're experienced hunters, I doubt
the human would have much time to see the mountain lion that gets him.

Given that, the mountain lion should "win" against a puny human,
particularly with the claws and teeth of the mountain lion wrapped
around a puny human's head, neck, and throat.

So, given that, why aren't there far more mountain lion attacks
than statistics show?

Clearly, where I hike alone (almost daily), mountain lions abound.
We have dead deer, dead goats and sheep, and even videos of a mountain
lion dragging a buck taken by a dash cam on our winding road.

The enigma is that there aren't really a whole lot of documented
attacks on humans. Sure, humans aren't their standard fare; but
how do "they" know that?

I'm not worried, but, I do hike in these here hills almost every
day, and, I haven't yet "seen" a mountain lion (although I've seen
plenty of dead deer).


Boy - you can surely take a thread off to different places... Not that this
one really ever did have a place on rec.woodworking in the first place.

--

-Mike-



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