We have a tree stand called Bowling's Last Stand and it's great - no way it will ever tip over -- it's cast iron. Kind of expensive but well worth it!

We also have a cast iron stand for our larger family room tree. It's very sturdy. I have one of those traditional red and green metal stands for my 7-8 foot living room tree. We've never had any issues with either, but both need to be shimmed a bit for the tree to stand straight - not a big deal. Paint stirrers work great! I always put down a plastic bag under the stand to catch any drips.

Make sure you cut off an inch or so off the trunk before you put it in the stand, and fill it with water ASAP. It will drink a lot, so be sure to keep the resevoir filled, especially in those first few days. If it runs dry, the bottom of the tree will sap over, and it won't drink anymore.

Enjoy your tree!

I've had one of these for years and am very happy. I cut and place the tree in the stand myself with no help. It's very sturdy and locks the tree in place, and is easy to keep filled (holds a lot of water).

Here is a link that might be useful: Swivel straight stand

Olychick got in as I was working on the link. I bought this stand 15 years ago (the day after we had the "mom throws the Christmas tree out the door and swears we will never have a tree again episode.) I swear by it; I have given it to people as a Christmas present. And it isn't heavy or very expensive or complicated. Perfect!

We have a metal stand. I bought it the year our plastic stand cracked and the tree fell, breaking a 75 year old ornament. While the metal stand will last forever, the water reservoir is about 9" deep, so we have to cut branches off the bottom, which takes away from the natural look of our tree.

We bought a Krinner about 5 years ago and it's the best one we've ever had. There are 2 sizes, we have the largest and it easily holds our 9 - 10' trees. It has 5 prongs to hold the tree and you simply depress the foot pedal and it ratchets the prongs to the trunk. The foot pedal even locks for safety. It holds a lot of water so you don't need to constantly refill the reservoir.

It's available on Amazon and other stores.

I should add that it's heavy - it weighs 18 pounds and has a 20" diameter base so it even remained steady and stable when my son's dog decided to jump over the couch and hit the tree about 2' above the base. That could have been a disaster.

Here is a link that might be useful: Krinner

This post was edited by maire_cate on Mon, Dec 16, 13 at 23:04

Thanks, thanks and many thanks for the tips! Sounds like they have improved a lot.

pork, thanks for the paint stirrer and plastic bag tip. See, I didn't realize they drank that much water and good to know about cutting a little off the trunk first.

I am off to look at all the stands!

saipanlady, I remember about wanting to throw out the one live tree we got many years ago-a good tree stand sounds worth it!

No matter what tree stand you buy, pick one of these Tree-sorbs up from Lowe's!! Our previous stand must have had a crack in it and all the water leaked out. Luckily we had this leftover from last year (because the stand did not leak last year and we saved it) and it really absorbed ALL the water from the stand!! Saved my wood floors! It is filled with some sort of product that absorbs the water. It's like a diaper. My dh calls it the tree diaper. For $5, it's great!

Here is a link that might be useful: Tree-sorb at Lowe's (probably avail elsewhere)

We have Santa's Solution and I'm really happy with it - has a big base (takes 2 gallons and I'm glad since our tree is going through a gallon a day!). It is crucial, however, to screw the disc on to the bottom of the tree. The Krinners look pretty nice though!

Here is a link that might be useful: Santa's solution steel arm plastic stand

We've had this one for at least 13 years, maybe longer. Works great and isn't expensive. I like the one olychick's uses. Mmmmmm, might be time to spring for another one. I use a small red throw rug under the stand to catch any spills.

Here is a link that might be useful: My stand