Weight of 10ft fiberglass dish?

[CFreak]

I spotted a 10ft fiberglass dish in someones yard. And the owner said I could have it. The dish doesn't looked warped. I have had a mesh 10 ft dish before and it wasn't that hard to handle with two people. But I hear the the fiberglass dishes are much heavier. Could two people of average strength take one off a pole and put it on a new pole at the new location? Also has anyone every used a pick up truck to haul away a 10ft dish?

 

[Pixl]

Forget the fiberglass dish, if it is more than 3 years old it has probally lost gain due to warp that you can't see. Since they are very heavy, the mount and pole are worth rescuing because it would be heavy duty and worth mounting some other dish on it. If the fiberglass dish doesn't perform it will cost a bundle to properly dispose of it, like $50 or so. A metal dish can actually bring a few bucks at the salvage yard if you need to get rid of it.

Jim

 

[ACRadio]

Forget the fiberglass dish, if it is more than 3 years old it has probally lost gain due to warp that you can't see.

I'm afraid that isn't always the case....I have a fiberglass dish that's more than 25 years old, and I'll put it up against any comparable size mesh dish that's ever been made...

 

[FaT Air]

has anyone every used a pick up truck to haul away a 10ft dish?

Yes, pulling the car hauler trailer with the dish on it.
If you can break the dish into halves, you can lag bolt most onto the car hauler bed planks.

 

[CFreak]

I am not a %100 sure it is fiberglass. Looking at the back of the dish I can see fibers or something that looks like fibers under the white paint. It is a soild one piece dish thats for sure. I have had a mesh dish before and it was really easy for me to see warp in it and that was minor. If dish is warped it is very very hard to tell. I guess the only way to tell for sure is to do a string test on it. I can tell its a very old dish due to the mount on it has like 95% rust. But the actual dish looks great. But my eyes could be playing tricks on me

 

[toucan-man]

So what do they weigh?

 

[Anole]

I think it's how you define a fiberglass dish.
The one-piece molded dishes of the 80's (?) may have earned a bad reputation.

But, I think the commercial Channel Master / Prodelin / etc. molded dishes, with reinforcing ribs on the back (and which break down into four wedges), are much better.
ACradio has commercial Channel Masters in 8' and 10' size, so he might offer a weight.
I'd guess 250 or more lbs. for 10', one-piece ...(?)

Can't recall the commercial Prodelin 6' weight, but I think it was around 80-90 lbs, just for the reflector.

 

[CFreak]

The dish I have my eye on doesn't have any ribs. It has a big square rusted mount on it. How much would the mount add to the weight or should I remove it from the reflector when moving it.

 

[ACRadio]

I can break the mount into 2 pieces with the CM's. I had 6 people total to set the 10 foot reflector back on the mount...5 to handle the dish and 1 to secure the brackets. Only 2 people were necessary to set the 8 footers. The green one is on the mark as I'd imagine it weighs at least 250 pounds. If it isn't a commercial dish (as described above) then I would probably pass.

It's not really fair to make an all inclusive statement about fiberglass dishes being all bad...although I will admit there are more bad ones than good. More information would usually be needed to determine if the dish rescue would be worth the effort. I definitely wouldn't bother with 1 piece reflectors (but I can name an exception) , and I would break down ANY fiberglass dish into pieces before transporting. I would then reassemble the dish on-site in the proper manner, swapping a pair of opposite panels.

 

[CFreak]

I assume you couln't break down a soild one peace fiberglass dish and put it back toghter or can you? After hearing everyones input I will most likely do a string test before taking this dish.

 

[Anole]

a picture is worth . . .

Until we see your pictures, here is what comes to mind:
Castenadas 10' One-Piece Fiberglass Dish

On the other hand, take a look at this:
JRturbo Finds a 10' Channelmaster Molded Commercial Dish
...drat, no pictures of the back side of that dish!

The first dish is one-piece molded, and has no ribs on the back side.
The second dish is in four slices (or more), and breaks down for transport, AND has molded-in ribs on the back, much like this dish in the ACradio collection.

See also the link in my post above, showing a 6' Prodelin, with molded ribs on the back side.
It's small enough to be one-piece, but it's still a proper commercial dish.

One-piece spun aluminum are good, one-piece fiberglass ... maybe not.
Anything with the molded-in ribs on the back side gets my vote. -

 

[Auric]

I have a 10'...It is heavy heavy heavy...I have 2 mesh dishes & both are much nicer.

 

[CFreak]

Anole, it looks more like the dish in the first link but in much better shape. Within the next day or so I am going to out and look at it again and do a string test. If its not warped I may just go for it. I haven't seen many dished around my area that are 10ft. I don't have any pictures of it.

 

[Anole]

We'll look forward to some pictures.
I'm sure the guys here will be able to give you a better idea, once they see it.

Oh, and I see I used some confusing language above.
What I meant to do was draw a distinction between a one-piece fiberglass dish that may have been made on a one-sided mold.
The face is smooth , but the back side may look haphazard.
I think these dishes were made with the same technology as boats, or dune-buggy bodies.
Possibly with a gun that sprays chopped up fiberglass fibers and epoxy onto a form.

The technology of the commercial dishes employs a two-sided mold.
I believe the material is a thermo-setting resin, or mold-able plastic.
The dish has very accurate and well defined edges, ribs on the back side, and is probably lighter (tbd).
Internally, they are fiberglass reinforced, but the build technology is all different.
For small sized dishes, they're one piece; for 8', 10', and 12' dishes, they're made in wedges.

I think the links I gave above should show both types.

 

[eurosport]

So what do they weigh?

I have a 1995 Ford Ranger, and a 2007 Ford F-150.... The 10ft fiberglass dish's weight is somewhere between the two!
... Actually I think about 250 LBs.

 

[CFreak]

Update: I just went and picked up the fiberglass dish and brought it to my backyard. To my suprise it wasn't that heavy. The dish had most of the back brace on it also. It was heavier than an aluminm mesh dish but it wasn't much a problem like I though it might be. It was only me and a retired neighbor (70 years old or close to it). But I may have a big problem mounting the dish on any pole. Part of the brace that connects to the pole is stuck on the pole. Even if I had the hole pole in my back yard and had the dish mounted back on it. I still would not be able to aim my dish by rotating it on the pole due to rust( I wasn't planning on using a motor) I was just going to getto aim it. I would appericate any ones input on this. Also was wondering if there are any places I could buy a new mount for C band dish these days. I may be able to post some pictures within a few days.

 

[CFreak]

The fiberglass dish I have is light weight especially after I took the back brace off that attaches to the pole. Not much heavier than the aluminum mesh dish I use to have. I am not kidding. I am beginning to think its not a fiberglass dish but it looks like one.

 

[Anole]

penetrating oil ?

I was going to refer you to this thread, for some penetrating oil ideas...
Removing rusted polar mount from rusted pole?
...but it seems that IS your thread.
Did you try the recommendations?

I need to find a NAPA store and get a can to play with.
The things ya learn, hanging out here on the forum . . . -

 

[CFreak]

Anole, I will post update about the rust removel in that other thread. I should have my dish up by today or tommorrow. Depening on the weather. The bracket that connects to the pole and the dish can be broken up in two parts. The bottom part is rusted to the pole and so far unmovable. The top part is attached to the dish and can be removed from the dish to make it much lighter. It is rusted but only had to cut one bolt off to remove the back brace from the dish.

 

[phlatwound]

Penetrating lube/hammers/patience usually work for me, another possibility is using heat (acetylene torch) in combination with those things. A rosebud-type tip works best.