Christmas tree farming: An extra product that brings income and your customers back!
Hello rob here from flanigan homestead And east fork christmas tree farms I just got done with my visit at uh Thornton’s tree land The largest u-cut christmas tree farm uh In the area they do about five thousand Trees you cut a year and so they make a Good profit but one of the things that Glenn thornton Really recommended and we’ve considering Doing and we haven’t done it yet Is doing some of the extras that draw People back Not because they have to come back it Actually kind of works out that way But because they want to come back and He sells every year a lot of what he Calls the marriage Or christmas tree stand and i’ll show You what that stand is Here in just a minute but basically what That stand is is Uh three long spikes are long bars that Hold up a spike Directly up the middle and then he’s got When people buy a tree there they stand It up perfectly vertically And then he’s got a machine that when You press down it pushes a drill Bit up into the center of the trunk and It’s the tree is perfectly straight up Then when they go home They simply put the tree uh where the Hole is drilled in the trunk on the
Spike and it’s standing straight up And there’s not the crawling around Underneath the tree When they’re done so he uh glenn calls This the marriage saver christmas tree Stand and he giggles as he says Is it because he knows how the husbands Are crawling around underneath the tree Every year Trying to set them up but uh many people Have come to our farm And asked if we drilled that and When we said no we don’t they actually Left and went back To weisman’s or thorntons who both do That Not because they didn’t like our trees But they Have that stand they didn’t want to buy A new stand for one and two they like The convenience of that So we do have we have we’re given Actually a machine to drill Uh the hole up in the center of the Trunk but it was a broken machine we Need to fix that So we could do the same thing we can Drill the hole And so people that have that stand can Come to us but one of the things i don’t Think they intentionally did but one of The things that Thornton’s and wiseman number one and Number two in the county
For u-cut sales is once they sold this Stand People have to come back to someone that Has the machine and it’s a big machine To drill the hole in the bottom of the Stand so here’s some video Of of the stand itself Okay this is our tree stand this little Peg will hold up A nine or ten foot tree just fine Now if you get a big tree you may want To guy a little bit to a leg But i have a double on also And that’s a five quart water bowl And we have a a drill machine I’ll show you outside where we put it Okay but Real quick while we’re here so here Here’s your Supply of the stands i mean just the Wire and we’ve got the spike sticking up Here As soon as you stick this on here and This seals up enough that this is not Going to leak in the People’s homes you’re saying that Doesn’t leak I have sold thousands and thousands of Them I sell probably five or so hundred of Those a year And uh people we we call it the marriage Saving tree stand And i want to tell you guys come in here
And they’re a husky ai like you And he knows that he has to take that Tree home and get it straight Because he’s got a finicky little five Foot two Wife and he says i crawls out from under The tree after the three screws or four Screws and a collar he knows he cannot Go any further That way and he crawls out from under The tree and looks around says ah looks Looks pretty good to me and she says It’s still leaning to the left Look at that and he get in a fight over Within a tree straight or not And then if he starts shimming it well The cockeyed thing’s got the Three screws four screws it’s down here It’s got a little burst stick and i’m Supposed to be holding that tree Steady anything slips and he’s got to Start all over and he’s already It’s terrible missed half of the floor i Understand i have been The guy under the tree standing it up And i’ll tell you I have many customers that have been to Wiseman’s or you before And they end up on our place for one Reason or another and they ask about This stand And i are not just the stand because They have the stand already but they’re Like
Can you drill this and i said no that’s Why we’re working on getting Uh the machine to drill it which we Don’t have one that works But Now i’m just showing you the inside here Because we have another rod that goes up Straight now Let’s go on outside and i’ll show you The rest of it Because you you’ve got you’ve got to Have a plum You know what plum is i i used to be in Construction if i don’t know what plum Is i need to be shot Well i don’t know too much about it But see these two poles Yep those are pretty straight rods Yeah and you got and this is a pretty Level pad And we bolt that we bolt that Drill machine to here Okay and so Uh the machine actually faces this way With the guy with the handles here And so we got a guy like you standing There holding that tree He slices it right down the middle with That pole and i’ve got this pole that Goes up A little bit to the barn towards the Barn Away from the barn away from the barn or This guy says
Uh Towards the street towards the street Whatever description you know Everybody knows which way you’re Pointing and then you say She’s ready ready And then you put that stand on you know And these people are standing around Here You see this guy some looking guy And then i i walk around that standard For a little bit and i said hey How’s it going it’s going good And and and then no people tell me you Know i’ve been I’ve been thinking of coming out here Since august Now bruce gets he bruce is a salesman And he’s done a great job out there And um you’re Sound like you’re doing a pretty good Job too because you would would you say You got 75 Out of that tree this year
