Treehouse Fixing Ideas.

[JoeS]

About to set off on building a small tree house like platform in a tree on a piece of woodland i have. It will be used as a nature hide and perhaps by the kids as a treehouse. The platform will be about 2.5m by 2.5 and i'm going to vaguely use a design I've seen online which I've attached a picture below of. The design uses the very instagramable specialist treehouse bolts, but at around £100 a pop i'll give them a pass. I haven't chosen what kind of tree I'm going to use yet, as we aren't sure exactly where to situate it. I will probably build it 2.5 meters off the ground.

1. My current plan is to drill straight through the tree using a 600mm auger and knock 314 20mm Stainless steel threaded bar through the tree and then attach the main support beams directly to the tree (with an inch or so of space between the beams and the trunk to allow for growth). Do the great and the wise of UKWS think this will kill the tree? I am happy that the weight of the platform plus several fatties will be well well within spec for the threaded rod. I don't want to kill the tree.

2. I have seen others online using a "go ape" style of attachment. Again I've posted pictures below. This method uses treated timber shims that are spaced equally apart allow for the tree to continue to provide it’s roots with recently photosynthesized sugar through the gaps. Heavy beams are then compressed using threaded rods against the shims. As the tree grows, the installation becomes apparently even sturdier. This seems to be a sensible way forward, and I've even wondered if maybe I could use plastic shims? Now I'm sure this method works great at Go Ape, but I also suspect they have engineers and safety people checking their structures every day. For some reason the idea of a friction fitting a tree house is somewhat giving me goose bumps. I've attached two pictures below so people can see what i'm on about. I wonder what size/wood type of shims would be best to prevent rot/cracking etc.

 

[Tris]

If you are only 2.5m off the ground just put some uprights on stone pads and build round the tree.

 

[JoeS]

If you are only 2.5m off the ground just put some uprights on stone pads and build round the tree.

Don't want to do that but cheers.

 

[Jones]

Drilling through probably won't kill the tree, but still. I've seen it used on treetop courses lots. If there's branches above you can suspend it.

 

[Suffolkboy]

Drilling through the tree probably won't kill it initially (although it might) but it will open it to disease and eventually rot. Personally I wouldn't recommend that course of action.

 

[Spectric]

There is an american program called treehouse masters, they use big threaded rods they screw into the tree to which they attach the actual treehouse, I have wondered what effect it has on the tree but if it was detrimental and the tree died then the treehouse would be no more!

 

[Blackswanwood]

I remember seeing one of those programmes about people building off the grid in the US and they were using special bolts which the tree reacted to by effectively sealing around each bolt naturally.

I’ve just done a quick Google and it could well have been these

https://thetreehouse.shop/how-to-at...ew-gts-next-level-treehouse-building/?lang=en
Edit - it could well have been the programme Spectric mentions. They did show bolts that had been used in the past but I’ve no idea if that was selective editing!

 

[Tris]

I seem to remember seeing a design made by a blacksmith that used two steel hoops that could be clamped around the tree, with suitable padding under them to avoid damaging the bark. Attached to the hoops were what looked like joist hangers into which joists and braces could be attached. The effect was rather like the design in your first picture but with hoops instead of the bolt. As long as the bolts are backed off a little each year the tree should be fine

 

[MikeJhn]

I remember seeing one of those programmes about people building off the grid in the US and they were using special bolts which the tree reacted to by effectively sealing around each bolt naturally.

https://thetreehouse.shop/how-to-at...ew-gts-next-level-treehouse-building/?lang=en

Thanks for posting that I needed a good laugh Special tree thread.

 

[sawtooth-9]

Don't want to do that but cheers.

Why not ?
I did just that for my grandkids.
It was a small tree but the posts supported a "grand " little house AND there was NO risk to the tree.
The tree branches could grow freely and the roof was a cedar shingle.
Even now, so many years later, the grandkids still remember !
I think I still have some pics somewhere.

 

[Pineapple]

About to set off on building a small tree house like platform in a tree on a piece of woodland i have. It will be used as a nature hide and perhaps by the kids as a treehouse. The platform will be about 2.5m by 2.5 and i'm going to vaguely use a design I've seen online which I've attached a picture below of. The design uses the very instagramable specialist treehouse bolts, but at around £100 a pop i'll give them a pass. I haven't chosen what kind of tree I'm going to use yet, as we aren't sure exactly where to situate it. I will probably build it 2.5 meters off the ground.

1. My current plan is to drill straight through the tree using a 600mm auger and knock 314 20mm Stainless steel threaded bar through the tree and then attach the main support beams directly to the tree (with an inch or so of space between the beams and the trunk to allow for growth). Do the great and the wise of UKWS think this will kill the tree? I am happy that the weight of the platform plus several fatties will be well well within spec for the threaded rod. I don't want to kill the tree.

2. I have seen others online using a "go ape" style of attachment. Again I've posted pictures below. This method uses treated timber shims that are spaced equally apart allow for the tree to continue to provide it’s roots with recently photosynthesized sugar through the gaps. Heavy beams are then compressed using threaded rods against the shims. As the tree grows, the installation becomes apparently even sturdier. This seems to be a sensible way forward, and I've even wondered if maybe I could use plastic shims? Now I'm sure this method works great at Go Ape, but I also suspect they have engineers and safety people checking their structures every day. For some reason the idea of a friction fitting a tree house is somewhat giving me goose bumps. I've attached two pictures below so people can see what i'm on about. I wonder what size/wood type of shims would be best to prevent rot/cracking etc.

I suspect that the natural salts in the tree's timber would result in Rust on Your 314 Stainless. Maybe it would be wiser to use 316 Marine Grade Stainless Steel which doesn't rust.
I suggest that Before you commit to Any Action; you Ask These People What They Think = The Woodland Trust

 

[eribaMotters]

I'm watching this one with interest. We are moving in a month to Devon. The "garden" area to the left of our bungalow will be a 50m long meadow and orchard. In the middle stands a rather nice oak tree that I think is calling out for a low tree house/platform.

Colin

 

[JoeS]

To be honest I don’t understand the difference between sinking threaded bar into a tree and using one of these fancy tree bolts. The idea that they are better because they somehow cause the tree to “seal” around them sounds like BS. Why can’t I achieve the same with a large penny washer?? I suspect it has to do with the treehouse bolts being £100 each.

Does anyone have any thoughts on my second proposal? I’m tempted to go have a look at a Go Ape site and have a look at how stuff is secured.

 

[stuart little]

I remember seeing one of those programmes about people building off the grid in the US and they were using special bolts which the tree reacted to by effectively sealing around each bolt naturally.

I’ve just done a quick Google and it could well have been these

https://thetreehouse.shop/how-to-at...ew-gts-next-level-treehouse-building/?lang=en
Edit - it could well have been the programme Spectric mentions. They did show bolts that had been used in the past but I’ve no idea if that was selective editing!

Are they having a laugh with their prices?

 

[MikeJhn]

If people are gullible enough to swallow their hypothesis, then they will be gullible enough to buy at that price point.

 

[Blackswanwood]

To be honest I don’t understand the difference between sinking threaded bar into a tree and using one of these fancy tree bolts. The idea that they are better because they somehow cause the tree to “seal” around them sounds like BS. Why can’t I achieve the same with a large penny washer?? I suspect it has to do with the treehouse bolts being £100 each.

Does anyone have any thoughts on my second proposal? I’m tempted to go have a look at a Go Ape site and have a look at how stuff is secured.

I may be wrong but isn't threaded bar best used to secure loads in tension rather than shear? Corrosion may also be more of an issue.

The description on the website (and I've no axe to grind on their behalf) seems to suggest the design creates a better seal and avoids the treehouse actually resting on the tree. I guess you are into the realms of quite a specialised topic and telling which website is pushing a snake oil solution is quite difficult. I"m not sure if there are any qualified tree surgeons or arborists in the house who may have an informed view?

 

[Pineapple]

To be honest I don’t understand the difference between sinking threaded bar into a tree and using one of these fancy tree bolts. The idea that they are better because they somehow cause the tree to “seal” around them sounds like BS. Why can’t I achieve the same with a large penny washer?? I suspect it has to do with the treehouse bolts being £100 each.

Does anyone have any thoughts on my second proposal? I’m tempted to go have a look at a Go Ape site and have a look at how stuff is secured.

In my humble opinion, The Go Ape System seems to be much more Tree-Freindly than driving cold-steel ito a living organism !

 

[Thingybob]

Thanks for posting that I needed a good laugh Special tree thread.

Well you do get nuts from trees

 

[AJB Temple]

I have some experience of this, my ex wife having had a tree house built for our (at the time) young son, by a "professional".

He used stainless steel bolts, six thereof, to secure a frame around the tree, which was a large living oak, about 200 years old within a sheltered walled garden. The tree house structure was a bit bigger than you are proposing and also had a zip slide platform.

Two of the bolts sheared in spring storms, despite being 25mm thick steel. Even a big oak tree moves mush more than you might think, especially if you get high winds with the tree in full leaf. The tannins in the oak ate the remaining bolts within 4 years, such that two sheared. Since then i've done quite a bit of timber framing and have seen how quickly green oak, let alone living oak, can destroy stainless or coated steel.

I think building an adjustable wedged band (ie the blacksmith idea) around the tree is much more likely to work long term, rather than drilling bolts into the tree. Especially if you can use the branch network in the tree to provide additional support from above or below.

I know you are reluctant to use support posts, but you could disguise at least two with ladder access systems.

 

[Spectric]

To be honest I don’t understand the difference between sinking threaded bar into a tree and using one of these fancy tree bolts.

If you saw them fitting those fancy tree bolts you would see the difference, they use a very large wrench and a lot of effort because they are quiet large and threaded bar, even 16mm is small in comparison.