MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Right, if I build a treehouse with supports to the ground and the tree, there needs to be a bit movement to allow for the tree blowing in the wind? I'm thinking a couple of car tyres under the platform secured to a cross piece which is in turn fixed to the tree should give enough float. Sound plausible?
Depends on the size of the tree - a decent size tree won't move much at treehouse level anyway, but your approach sounds ok. The key thing is to allow for growth in the tree in terms of positioning cross members and also any fixings. Try to avoid screwing things into the trunk if possible and support with padded straps off branch junctions from the trunk.
I built a treehouse fully supported by the tree about 12 years ago but was a bit cowboy about it and didn't really plan things (it ended up 11 sided...) as I just used spare lumber. It had two main cross members too tight either side of the trunk, plus some big coach bolts in the trunk to fix wooden blocks forming supports to some big supplementary struts. I regret screwing stuff into it, because it's really bad practice and the bolts have all pretty well disappeared into the trunk now, plus the cross members have been broken by the outward growth of the tree trunk. I also never got round to roofing it so it's pretty well rotted out too, although my daughters have grown up now so it doesn't get used anymore. Makes me think of The Green Ship children's book now.
You need to watch "treehouse masters" on whatever crap channel its on - they have clever sliding bolt things they put in trees
Infact here you go for treehouse stuff!
https://www.treehousesupplies.com/Treehouse_Bolts_s/41.htm
That's some cool stuff. But expensive. And 3000 miles away. I can steal tyres from the silage bay next door. Did I say steal? I mean redistribute.
Will definitely give treehouse masters a look though. Although I fear I'm walking into ago a treehouse inferiority complex....
As above, watch a couple of treehouse masters. Its on DMAX. They usually put threaded pins into the tree then have floating mounts onto them. That said we just screwed an old door into the vee of a tree and it lasted my whole childhood
Looking at the Go Ape structures, they seem to put vertical battens around the tree which are then wrapped with tensioned wires and fixings taken off them.
Not sure if it would work on a scenario where a lot of weight needs bearing.
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Holy update Batman, she's coming on!
If you had built the platform on the other side, you could have used the trunk as a slide to exit the tree house.