knightshift

Recipes 

Nope, the pvc pipe is thick and hard enough to hold the screws in there very tightly

s3n8

Recipes 

I would be a bit concerned about the drywall screws. I am always breaking them. I already have a bottle tree, but if I were going to attempt this, I would think about using some heavier gauge screws. Stainless screws are pricey, but 80 of them would probably add $5 to the cost, and would be worth it in my opinion. I have a bunch of heavy bottles (1L fliptops e.g.).

One other thing, if you staggered the pegs 45 degrees on each row, you could fit a lot more in there by cutting your vertical spacing. You might think 60 or 80 bottles is enough, but I guarantee you it will be filled at some point .

Hammy71

Recipes 

As far as the drip tray....why not a water heater pan. You know the cheap aluminum one that catch the water in case you water heater leaks.... Great project!!!

donshizzles

Recipes 

Are those 2" drywall screws or bigger ones?

Parker36

Recipes 

Good idea. The only things I would change are:
1) Use SS screws instead of drywall screws
2) Add some type of dip tray
3) Stagger the screws in the main post ( you will be able to fit more this way)
4) And possibly use a larger diameter PVC central tube so you don't have a 6 foot bottle tree when you want to bottle two batches at once

knightshift

Recipes 

Here are some more pictures and details on this build:



The "trunk" of the tree is 5 foot long PVC pipe 1/8 inch thick, 1 and 5/8 inches outside diameter ( I ended up cutting the trunk down to 4 foot 2 inches, 5 foot is too tall). The "branches" are 10 foot long pvc tubing 1/2 inch diameter. The hole in the tubing should be big enough to slide over the drywall screws



I bought three 10 foot lengths of this tubing and cut them into 6 inch sections. 60 branches for 60 bottles.



The screws are 2 inch drywall screws with a tight thread (screw theads close together) and they are about two inches apart. I predrilled the holes for the screws at a 45 degree angle. I broke two drill bits doing this because I started drilling with small bits. Use a bit that is as close to, but smaller than, the drywall screw diameter as possible and you should be ok. I screwed them into the pipe just far enough to where they were in there good and tight, but not too far in because they still need to support the tubes and bottles.



I started the screws 6 inches from the bottom to leave room for the stand, which is just 1 foot long 2x4s nailed together..see next post for picture at my limit of 4 pics for this post

knightshift

Recipes 

Here's the base...I just placed four 1 foot long 2 x 4s around the pipe and nailed them together. the pipe slides in and out for easy transport and storage



I cut my "trunk" down to 4 foot 2 inches. I could cut it shorter. It holds sixty bottles now and its still tall enough for me to add another 24 bottles if i wanted to. I only got 49 bottles out of my first 5 gallon batch, so i dont think i'll be adding any more. I do like the room I have left at the top because i can pick up the whole thing and move it around bottles and all.




I hope I covered all your questions, so far. If not just let me know. Hope to see your own bottle tree DIY project pictures on this thread!!

donshizzles

Recipes 

I'm going to start this build tomorrow as I have a ton of 4" and 2" pvc left over from a plumbing job. I think the only thing I'll add is some Gorilla glue or epoxy to the screws before I place them in for extra strength as I use the 16oz flip top bottles. Great DYI!!!!

knightshift

Recipes 

I washed the tubes and soaked them in star san for a minute before I put them on the tree to dry

knightshift

Recipes 

now there's a good idead.Or maybe one of those aluminum oven drip trays they sell... like you use when you bake a turkey