Mounting a flood light on a tree!?

[rolyberkin]

Have a client who is asking for a floodlight to be mounted on a tree to light up a car park. The tree is well established. Having conflicting thoughts on this, has anyone done it and if so how.

 

[HappyHippyDad]

I like tree's what can I say

Completely agree with with you HHSC

We 's

 

[telectrix]

some trees are just over sized weeds.

 

[Silly Sausage]

The closest I came to a solution I would be happy with was to mount the light on a board with a couple of strips of timber at the top and bottom with a kind of crescent cut out so it could sit flat against the trunk. To secure it the solution I felt was best was to put a chain in hose pipe at the top and bottom and to then secure it with springs to allow for growth, leaving some excess on the chains for adjustment over time.

I must admit, I'd've just screwed it straight onto the tree with copper fixings (joke!), without a seconds thought.

Instead of a chain, how about a ratchet strap, bomber fixing and you could adjust it as the girth increases?

 

[HappyHippyDad]

some trees are just over sized weeds.

We oversized 's

 

[Pete999]

I hate the boogers overhanging my back yard / garden can't wait for the Council tp cut the boogers down.

Is your Mum in Law the arborist?

Legit question why the dislike?

 

[SparkyChick]

I must admit, I'd've just screwed it straight onto the tree with copper fixings (joke!), without a seconds thought.

Instead of a chain, how about a ratchet strap, bomber fixing and you could adjust it as the girth increases?

That could work, but is likely to require more frequent adjustment. Something with some give in it like a spring or bungee cord is ideal because you don't need to tend to it every year.

 

[Strima]

Is your Mum in Law the arborist?

Nope. He is actually one of the tradesmen she uses that doesn't try to screw people over.

The original fixing screws corroded and sheared off when the first one's were taken off. These have caused part of the trunk to die not helped by the damage to the bark when the brackets were took off.

This damage is roughly 12 inches from ground level and the trees need to come down before they fall down.

 

[Strima]

Bungee cord would perish after a few years outside, it's not the most stable of materials when exposed to UV light and weather.

 

[telectrix]

drill some 20mm holes in the trunk, fill with weedkiller, then insert rawlbolts secured with Gorilla glue. ( this post directed @Pete999 to get rid of his pesky trees overgrown weeds)

we suffer from trees in a neighbour's back garden. 60 ft. high. 3 conifers, 2 holly, and 1 dunno what. the crap they drop is horrendous, our shed rotting from it . only + side is it's a home for wood pigeons, so the .22 gets some excercise.

 

[Rpa07]

Jack handy quote, "if trees could scream would we be so cavalier in cutting them down - well we might if they screamed all the time!"

Great suggestions from experienced members on here. This will be a searched thread for all future enquiries. Good that so many have correct information from experts.

 

[Strima]

We have a large parking area at the back of ours and one of the properties has a row of large conifers on their boundary. These tress have been overhanging for years and you can't park there due to bird crap and tree sap really screwing up your paint job.

Took intervention from the council to get them trimmed nack.

 

[Rpa07]

Oh the unknowledgable days of the leylandia planters! Those things were beasts!

 

[Pete999]

drill some 20mm holes in the trunk, fill with weedkiller, then insert rawlbolts secured with Gorilla glue. ( this post directed @Pete999 to get rid of his pesky trees overgrown weeds)

we suffer from trees in a neighbour's back garden. 60 ft. high. 3 conifers, 2 holly, and 1 dunno what. the crap they drop is horrendous, our shed rotting from it . only + side is it's a home for wood pigeons, so the .22 gets some excercise.

Does the weed killer kill em quick?

 

[telectrix]

might take longer than you think. sometimes could be 20 years, so long past us being rotten corpses. .

 

[telectrix]

cheaper to run, and good excercise for the over 70's.

 

[Pete999]

might take longer than you think. sometimes could be 20 years, so long past us being rotten corpses. .

So the quick option is down to B&Q for a cordless chain saw then?

cheaper to run, and good excercise for the over 70's.
View attachment 45466

Yes but I just love the sound of a chain saw, something Manly, smell the fuel and wood fumes wonderful, plus leave very little evidence of vandalism, if I walked around are estate to get to the trees, The Babylon would be on my backside, with all the Tree Huggers and Do Gooders on my estate, it wouldn't take long, for someone to brand me as a maniac, with a big chopper.

 

[Squid]

Tell the owner to install a lamp post.

 

[Squid]

Or at least a scaffold pole with a light attached to it.

 

[rolyberkin]

Thanks for all your replies, you have all been quite busy whilst I have been out for Sunday Lunch!
Will let you know what I do, think some kind of ratchet strap is possibly my favourite, although have been advised by a tree surgeon to use stainless screws!?

 

[Richard Burns]

If you use a strap or any sort of wrap tight around a branch then this will constrain the branch as it grows, cause damage to the branch and bark and eventually enclose the strap in the tree so it is stuck.

 

[Deuce]

Problem with mounting to a tree, aside from the method - none of which are entirely ideal anyway, is that if anything ever were to go wrong, it won't put you in the best light... Anyone assessing your work is likely to have their own opinions as to whether or not a tree qualifies as a reasonable place to mount anything electrical. One could argue that a tree which moves/grows cannot be considered a solid/sound support to mount to. Also, trees are known to fail. They can fall over in high wind. Unlikely but possible, and if the first person to go and see the extent of the damage also gets electrocuted they're going to be doubly cross!

Granted the above is quite extreme and I'm sure you can do it safely, but I would be tempted to just say no. Apart from the technicalities above, there are divided views on how best to mount to the tree itself, and a light mounted to a tree also looks a bit weird/diy imo. A simple light post would be my preference. Speaking of which, I was in B&Q the other day and saw some pretty awesome LED light posts, easily bright enough to compare to a flood light.

 

[DPG]

Decent trees can look nice with uplighters. Maybe worth a thought?

Oh and congrats on starting a post which now contains the words 'strap-on', 'girth', 'screw' and '12 inches' - lovely stuff.

 

[Pete999]

Decent trees can look nice with uplighters. Maybe worth a thought?

Oh and congrats on starting a post which now contains the words 'strap-on', 'girth', 'screw' and '12 inches' - lovely stuff.

That's just your wicked, evil, warped mind working overtime Mate, me I never gave those words a second thought

 

[Pete999]

That's just your wicked, evil, warped mind working overtime Mate, me I never gave those words a second thought

Honestly, never crossed my mind.

 

[telectrix]

10 years ago, I replaced a son flood on a customer's tree with a metal halide. bracket fixed to tree with 2 x 3" 10's. so far fitting and tree are both doing well and planning on a civil partnership soon.

 

[Pete999]

10 years ago, I replaced a son flood on a customer's tree with a metal halide. bracket fixed to tree with 2 x 3" 10's. so far fitting and tree are both doing well and planning on a civil partnership soon.

Arborist must have prescribed a Tree Antibiotic Tel.

 

[telectrix]

reminds me of Paddy and Murphy walking past a lumber yard. there was a sign up on the gate. " Tree Fellers Wanted".
paddy turns to Murphy and says.. " Pity there's only two of us "

 

[Deuce]

reminds me of Paddy and Murphy walking past a lumber yard. there was a sign up on the gate. " Tree Fellers Wanted".
paddy turns to Murphy and says.. " Pity there's only two of us "

Try saying 33⅓ in an Irish accent. I sat through a meeting once where an Irish chap kept saying it.

Apparently he considered it a good thing that I was to be awarded a turdy tree, and a turd from the estate proceeds.

 

[Deuce]

^^^ how did I pick up an 'old' rating for a story I don't think I have ever recounted on here before!?

 

[DPG]

Two now. It'll be tree next.