rockm
Spuds Moyogi
I decided to put together a turntable for my very large live oak bonsai. If you have large and extremely large trees, this might be useful, or you may have figured out your own solutions for rotating trees for sun exposure.
I used to be able to rotate the tree in its old pot by myself since it was about 75 lbs lighter and less bulky. Adequate sun exposure is becoming an issue in my yard since the woods behind the house are beginning to shade out a lot of direct afternoon sun. Some lower limbs were not getting direct sun at all, which could cause decline and death of those limbs. Live oak like a lot of sun.
The tree was repotted into a very large pot this past spring. That repot left me unable to lift and turn it by myself. It weighs over 200 lbs and is too bulky to safely support alone. I looked around for a turntable that would last. The lazy susan hardware from Home Depot that I had been using lasts about three years before it rusts out from the water and fertilizer being dumped on it all spring and summer.
Finally came up with a large bonsai turntable that doesn't have any metal parts. They're available from Masakuni, but I couldn't get their website to work, so I found one on ebay for less and that wouldn't take two months to get here from Japan. It's the same turntable only not sold with the name. The one I got is their largest at 15" in length. It is rated to hold 100 kilograms (about 220 lbs). Haven't weighed the tree, but it's approaching that--takes at least two people to lift it. The moving parts are resin and plastic--there are no ball bearings, which are replaced with half round plastic sliders--sounds cheap, but it works very well--even with maximum weight on them--Don't know how long it will last, but I'd bet longer than the metal lazy susan rings from Big Box.
Anyway, I also had to figure out a way to get the thing underneath the pot safely and--since it is considerably shorter than the bottom of the pot--how it could be safely used. That much weight pressing down on a 15" area not meant to support the weight of the pot/soil and tree could punch the turntable through the bottom, or lead to stress cracking, or complete catastrophe. Pots are meant to support weight at their corners and edges (feet), not across broad pieces of unsupported clay.
Additionally, the pot's drain holes are all in the center in the same area where the turntable would butt up against the bottom. Having that obstruction could lead to bad drainage problems.
I fitted two planks to fit the top of the turntable with two or three inches in between them to allow drainage. I also figured out that I could put lengths of wood under the feet of the pot that were half an inch taller than the turntable. I can lift the ends of the pot up onto those taller blocks while the turntable isn't needed and then shift the pot back down onto the turntable surface when I want to turn it.
I used to be able to rotate the tree in its old pot by myself since it was about 75 lbs lighter and less bulky. Adequate sun exposure is becoming an issue in my yard since the woods behind the house are beginning to shade out a lot of direct afternoon sun. Some lower limbs were not getting direct sun at all, which could cause decline and death of those limbs. Live oak like a lot of sun.
The tree was repotted into a very large pot this past spring. That repot left me unable to lift and turn it by myself. It weighs over 200 lbs and is too bulky to safely support alone. I looked around for a turntable that would last. The lazy susan hardware from Home Depot that I had been using lasts about three years before it rusts out from the water and fertilizer being dumped on it all spring and summer.
Finally came up with a large bonsai turntable that doesn't have any metal parts. They're available from Masakuni, but I couldn't get their website to work, so I found one on ebay for less and that wouldn't take two months to get here from Japan. It's the same turntable only not sold with the name. The one I got is their largest at 15" in length. It is rated to hold 100 kilograms (about 220 lbs). Haven't weighed the tree, but it's approaching that--takes at least two people to lift it. The moving parts are resin and plastic--there are no ball bearings, which are replaced with half round plastic sliders--sounds cheap, but it works very well--even with maximum weight on them--Don't know how long it will last, but I'd bet longer than the metal lazy susan rings from Big Box.
Anyway, I also had to figure out a way to get the thing underneath the pot safely and--since it is considerably shorter than the bottom of the pot--how it could be safely used. That much weight pressing down on a 15" area not meant to support the weight of the pot/soil and tree could punch the turntable through the bottom, or lead to stress cracking, or complete catastrophe. Pots are meant to support weight at their corners and edges (feet), not across broad pieces of unsupported clay.
Additionally, the pot's drain holes are all in the center in the same area where the turntable would butt up against the bottom. Having that obstruction could lead to bad drainage problems.
I fitted two planks to fit the top of the turntable with two or three inches in between them to allow drainage. I also figured out that I could put lengths of wood under the feet of the pot that were half an inch taller than the turntable. I can lift the ends of the pot up onto those taller blocks while the turntable isn't needed and then shift the pot back down onto the turntable surface when I want to turn it.
