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#41
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.woodworking,sci.electronics.design
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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 |
#42
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.woodworking,sci.electronics.design
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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. |
#43
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.woodworking,sci.electronics.design
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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. |
#44
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.woodworking,sci.electronics.design
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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. |
#45
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.woodworking,sci.electronics.design
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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! |
#46
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.woodworking,sci.electronics.design
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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). |
#47
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.woodworking,sci.electronics.design
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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. |
#48
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.woodworking,sci.electronics.design
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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. |
#49
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.woodworking,sci.electronics.design
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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? |
#50
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.woodworking,sci.electronics.design
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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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