how much cement for dish pole?

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Mar 14, 2006
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So I am going to be cementing an 8' dish pole soon.
The hole is 23 in. wide (diameter) and 36 in. deep
anyone have experience with such a job...say number of 60 lb fast setting cement bags.
Is it square or cubic yards? or neither...thanks
 
So I am going to be cementing an 8' dish pole soon.
The hole is 23 in. wide (diameter) and 36 in. deep
anyone have experience with such a job...say number of 60 lb fast setting cement bags.
Is it square or cubic yards? or neither...thanks
When dealing with bags of cement it's cubic feet. Using this calculator to get a rough estimate you would enter .958333333 (11.5/12) for the radius of the base, 3 for the cylinder height and set units to feet. This gives and answer of 8.6592 cubic feet. Yield on a 60 lb bag of Quikrete 1101 is .45 cubic feet. So, 8.6592/.45=19.242666667 bags. This assumes your hole is fairly round and does not account for the volume the pole takes up but I'd say 18 bags should be good but it doesn't hurt to have a little extra. Don't forget to put a rod or large bolt through the bottom of the pole so it can't work loose and turn in heavy winds. :)
 
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FTA4PA has his calculations pretty much spot on. Also it wouldnt be a bad ideal to add 4 to 6 inches in depth and put some gravel and a round paver in the bottom of the hole before you put your pole in. The pole is heavy and could sink in the dirt after you add the concrete as the surrounding soil sucks the moisture out of the concrete. When i planted mine a few weeks ago i went with a larger diameter hole(was what i was using at the time already and didnt make sense to swap augers for one hole) and we were using 3500 psi mix from the local plant as we were already putting posts for a commercial fence in.

If I recall correctly in a regular wheelbarrow we can mix 3 bags of 80lbs. concrete mix (this is very heavy) and 2 is way more manageable. Make sure you mix all of the powder and aggregate completely before pouring the mix in the hole, and dont add too much water. It takes a lot less water then youd think, and a thicker mix is generally better for posts and poles. A smaller shovel, and a garden rake will make mixing your concrete much easier. After you put your post in brace the heck out of it and check often to make sure it hasnt shifted. if its pretty cool out when you pour the concrete wait a minimum of 5 to 7 days for the concrete to cure before putting the dish on the pole. maybe Less if ground temps stay above 70 depending on soil conditions. No im not an expert at putting dishes up but i do a lot of landscaping experience (patios, driveways, footings for decks,and fences, ect). Just poured 16 yards of concrete for a driveway today. Just my 2 cents for what ever its worth.
 
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I always throw gravel in the bottom of the hole when setting C-Band poles or towers, etc. That way any water can drain instead of sitting in the pole.
 
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When dealing with bags of cement it's cubic feet. Using this calculator to get a rough estimate you would enter .958333333 (11.5/12) for the radius of the base, 3 for the cylinder height and set units to feet. This gives and answer of 8.6592 cubic feet. Yield on a 60 lb bag of Quikrete 1101 is .45 cubic feet. So, 8.6592/.45=19.242666667 bags. This assumes your hole is fairly round and does not account for the volume the pole takes up but I'd say 18 bags should be good but it doesn't hurt to have a little extra. Don't forget to put a rod or large bolt through the bottom of the pole so it can't work loose and turn in heavy winds. :)
I have a 10 foot high by 2 inch diameter round steel fence pole to mount two motorized satellite dishes on it; total weight on the pole should be around 50-55lbs max. I plan to dig a 1 foot diameter round hole, 3.5 feet deep, do I REALLY need all 16 bags of quick setting Quickrete to do the job?? I keep thinking that I'm going to use half that many when the hole is already full. The cubic feet on the bag says .63 at 50lbs on Lowes Website. But I do plan to pour the concrete down the pole too, as well as some rock and a few bolts at the bottom to keep it solid. The dirt where I live has lots of hard limestone and other rock in it. The digging is what I need the most help with.

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Christopher, was "2 feet diameter round steel fence pole" a typo? Maybe you meant a 2 inch diameter pole?
Yes! Sorry, 2 inch diameter is what I should have said, which would actually translate to a smaller round hole to dig. I was getting distracted with my wife's 3 minute memory, not remembering as to what I was trying to do, that we agreed on. I fixed my typo's. Anyway, the question is, how many bags of concrete do I really need? Is it still 16 or more??

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I have a 10 foot high by 2 feet diameter round steel fence pole to mount two motorized satellite dishes on it; total weight on the pole should be around 50-55lbs max. I plan to dig a 3 foot diameter round hole, 3.5 feet deep, do I REALLY need all 16 bags of quick setting Quickrete to do the job?? I keep thinking that I'm going to use half that many when the hole is already full. The cubic feet on the bag says .63 at 50lbs on Lowes Website. But I do plan to pour the concrete down the pole too, as well as some rock and a few bolts at the bottom to keep it solid. The dirt where I live has lots of hard limestone and other rock in it. The digging is what I need the most help with.
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Hi Chris! I would not recommend the Quikrete 1004 as it is fast setting (only 20-40 minutes). You will be mixing a lot of bags for this job and that is too fast a set time to keep up with. I use the Quikrete 1101 for all my sat poles. In either case, 1004 or 1101, the yield for a 50 lb bag is only .375 cubic feet.

1004: https://www.quikrete.com/PDFs/DATA_SHEET-Fast Setting Concrete Mix 1004-50.pdf
1101: https://www.quikrete.com/pdfs/data_sheet-concrete mix 1101.pdf

Using the calculator mentioned above for a 3 foot wide by 3.5 foot deep hole:

Radius of 1.5' and Height of 3.5' = 24.75 cubic feet. Then 24.75/.375 = 66 bags plus a little extra to fill your pole. Hope this helps! :)

PS: If you can bump up to the 80 lb bags you're looking at about 42 bags. :)
 
Hi Chris! I would not recommend the Quikrete 1004 as it is fast setting (only 20-40 minutes). You will be mixing a lot of bags for this job and that is too fast a set time to keep up with. I use the Quikrete 1101 for all my sat poles. In either case, 1004 or 1101, the yield for a 50 lb bag is only .375 cubic feet.

1004: https://www.quikrete.com/PDFs/DATA_SHEET-Fast Setting Concrete Mix 1004-50.pdf
1101: https://www.quikrete.com/pdfs/data_sheet-concrete mix 1101.pdf

Using the calculator mentioned above for a 3 foot wide by 3.5 foot deep hole:

Radius of 1.5' and Height of 3.5' = 24.75 cubic feet. Then 24.75/.375 = 66 bags plus a little extra to fill your pole. Hope this helps! :)
Hey FTA, I'm sorry, as Armadillo pointed out correctly I actually have a 2 inch round diameter pole, not two feet. I was getting distracted with my wife's memory malfunctions regarding this project that I thought we agreed on.

So starting over...... I have a 10 foot high, 2 inch round diameter pole. If I dig a 3.5 foot deep hole, at 5 or 6 inches in diameter max, as well as filling the post itself with concrete, how many bags would I still need? The weight on the pole will still remain the same. I'm trying to please the wifey by relocating the whole dish farm off the roof so it could be reshingled properly in the near future. I'm sorry for the confusion earlier, I appreciate your help, I'm just having difficulty trying to get my mind around the math of it.

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Hey FTA, I'm sorry, as Armadillo pointed out correctly I actually have a 2 inch round diameter pole, not two feet. I was getting distracted with my wife's memory malfunctions regarding this project that I thought we agreed on.

So starting over...... I have a 10 foot high, 2 inch round diameter pole. If I dig a 3.5 foot deep hole, at 1/2" or 3/4" inches in diameter max, as well as filling the post itself with concrete, how many bags would I still need? The weight on the pole will still remain the same. I'm trying to please the wifey by relocating the whole dish farm off the roof so it could be reshingled properly in the near future. I'm sorry for the confusion earlier, I appreciate your help, I'm just having difficulty trying to get my mind around the math of it.

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Ok, the depth of the pole is going to be 3.5 feet. Do you mean 1/2 or 3/4 ft wide diameter hole instead of 1/2 or 3/4 inches?
 
For anyone reading this thread, another option to consider:

If you have any connections with the local concrete plant (or even if you don't) give them a call and ask them to send a truck by that has a little bit of mix left on after a pour.

I've done it many times for small pours, they will usually do this for just a delivery charge (or free if they are not real busy & you are on a first-name basis with the dispatcher ;) ).

This assumes that the pole location is accessible to a truck, you don't mind getting a truck in your yard, that you can be "on call" to meet it, etc.

The closer you are to their plant the better, if you are way out in the sticks its not usually practical unless there is someone pouring in your vicinity.

Beats the heck out of buying/hauling/unloading/mixing 10-20 or more bags of Quikcrete...and probably cheaper too.
 
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Yes!! I just realized my errors corrected my post again. Jeeze! Comon Core is so frustrating!! Lol!! It would me 1/2 to 3/4 ft wide diameter.

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Ok, got it now. I would not go any less than 9 inches across and would probably recommend a foot or better. Here are a few figures for different diameter holes at 3.5 feet deep using the 50 lb bags you mentioned. :)

9" wide hole = 4.12 bags
12" wide hole = 7.33 bags
15" wide hole = 11.46 bags
18" wide hole = 16.5 bags
 
Using the calculators, if I dug a hole 3.5 feet deep at 1/2" inch diameter, it said I would need at least 7 60lb bags. But if I widened the hole to 3/4" diameter, the calculator says I need at least 17 bags 60lb bags. Youch!! My wife will freak out about the cost of all that! I do like the idea to of having a cement truck come by, as I would actually be doing two poles in the ground.

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Ok, got it now. I would not go any less than 9 inches across and would probably recommend a foot or better. Here are a few figures for different diameter holes at 3.5 feet deep using the 50 lb bags you mentioned. :)

9" wide hole = 4.12 bags
12" wide hole = 7.33 bags
15" wide hole = 11.46 bags
18" wide hole = 16.5 bags
Yeah, like you said, you can't go wrong with more!

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