Christmas lights on tall trees

[intruth]

As you can tell from my sig i run a guttering company. This time of year we are very busy with cleaning gutters and installing gutter guards, But our
Tall tree Christmas light installation biz is kicking in.

So I thought I would share the easy way to install Christmas lights on tall trees:

This will work on 40ft trees and lower.

All you need: 50ft to 100ft Christmas lights strings, duct tape, and 10 ft sections of 2by3 inch guttering downspout (sections needed depend on hieght of tree.)

Lets say the tree you have is 35 feet tall, you would need three 10ft sections of down spout. 1st take duct tape and use to cover the feeder end of one down spout. ( This would be the section of spout you will be holding and feeding the lights into and will keep the sharp spout edge from cutting into light wire. ) Now take the Christmas lights and string them through duct taped end of the 1st 10ft section of down spout, them through the 2nd down spout and then the third. Now attach the 3 seations together.

Where the down spout sections are attached together use your duct tape to secure area where down spouts join together.... Now pull Christmas lights 10 to 15 ft out of top end and you are ready to lift your 30ft hollow Christmas light installation tool.

Once you have custom made Christmas light installation tool in your hands and raised toward the top of the tree, you being 5' + you can now reach up to 37 feet with arms extended. Toss the 10 to 15ft runner over the top of the tree and just walk around the tree draping the lights the way you want them to hang on the tree..as you add new strings of Christmas lights make sure you tape them together before feeding into down spuots.. As you get lower, remover the one section of down spout...ect ect.. Happy Christmas light hanging

[TheBrain]

WOW, your posting reveals me how we need certains knowledge to gain skills.

Thanks, I will put in practice your advice wishing Happy Christmas too

[Atom]

Good stuff for the serious decorator.

Waiting for Hulkster to show now.

[intruth]

We just got done doing are 1st job today... 6 trees 3 on each side of entrance to a new residential subdivision.. The trees where only 20 feet high but customer wanted 700 feet of lights on each tree... We charge $1.00 per foot they supply the lights.. and $0.75 to take them down.

The Job took all of 5 hours. we have thee 30ft pine trees to do Thursday...

[Julie]

Originally Posted by Atom

Good stuff for the serious decorator.

Waiting for Hulkster to show now.

LOL. So he can link us to his Christmas lights site?

[Atom]

Originally Posted by Julie

LOL. So he can link us to his Christmas lights site?

Yup. And he will too if he see's this ..lol

[Julie]

Edited: I'll be good.

[intruth]

Was out all day Saturday bidding on christmas light installation .. Was amazed to see what seemed to be every 3rd or 4th house having home owers out installing Christmas lights.

The day was perfict for it... Saturday a sunny 70 degrees here in St Louis

[suzjor]

So were you amazed the homeowners were doing it themselves or the fact that so many people are putting them up this year?

[intruth]

The fact so many were out on the same day puttint up Christmas lights... I saw over 200 people hanging lights...

[chicgeek]

I'd like to see pictures of these tools and trees!

[Borgar]

I found this thread through a Google search -- this was the exact solution to the challenge I was facing! Thanks, intruth!

After using this technique with two 10' downspouts to light my 25' spruce tree, I wanted to add a few clarifications. These may seem obvious, but you know hindsight is 20/20.

- Choose the largest downspout size practical. I chose a 2"x3", and had a lot of hang-ups with the lights on the edge. The 3"x4" size would have been better.

- Be sure to orient the downspouts the right way! I started out with the upper downspout wedged into the lower one (the one I was holding); as the lights went up, they got caught on the tapered edge at that joint area. I took the lights out and reversed the device, so the tapered edge was pointing upward -- that way the lights didn't snag.

- This is definitely a two-person job: one person to hold the tool, and the other to feed the lights, make sure they don't get caught on the edge, and add strands. (At least this one I figured out from the very beginning.)

- As the lights went up the installation tool, my assistant added strands by plugging them in end-to-end. Halfway through the project, I thought that it would be a good idea to put a bit of electrical tape around each pair of joined plugs. Fortunately, the whole thing went smoothly, but if a good tug unplugged the chain somewhere 20' up in the tree, that would have been a lost cause.

- Be cautious about overhead power lines! I hadn't noticed before we started that there are some power lines very close to one side of the tree. We managed to get past them safely, but it was some delicate maneuvering there.


Thanks again and Happy Holidays!

[Borgar]

Aha - I see you had that bit about taping the strands together in your original instructions. I missed that.

Also, a narrow heavy object (like a pair of scissors) attached to the end of the light strand really helps to thread it through the downspout initially. Then just remove before proceeding with installation of course.

[Taltos]

The part about this that I'm curious about is:

How do you get them down?!?!

[intruth]

Merry Christmas everyone... Thought I would bump this free info... Happy Christmas light hanging...

[Kryvast]

So are you still in to this business sir?

[intruth]

I do 12 trees a year for good customers...