C BAND STEEL POST: WHERE TO GET A 3 1/2" ONE?

[T4Runner]

I picked up an old 5ft C-Band solid metal dish with actuator and the polar mount for free, but it appears the post needed is not going to be so easy. I though I would just go to LOWES or HOME-DEPOT like I always did for other KU dish projects, but they don't carry pipe that big?

Tried one pipe supplier locally and they wanted $75 for a 3" ID black pipe...

Where do I go to get a 3 1/2" OD post? Did I mention cheap price??

 

[Long Hair]

did you try the scrapyard ?

 

[cracklincrotch]

I'd call around to scrap metal dealers. Tell them you're looking for NPS-4 (3.5" OD) schedule 40 steel pipe and what length you want, and that it needs to be straight. They'll give you one of three answers: yes, no, or come take a look around.

There are companies that will sell you the pipe new but that gets very pricey.

 

[Lone Gunman]

RE: Straight? Actually the pipe doesn't have to be perfectly straight as long as one end of it is for about12" to 18" or so. I put a crooked one in the ground recently and the only thing you have to make sure of is that the part where the polar mount fits on is plumb. The rest of it could look like a black snake but as long as the part where the mount fits is plumb it really doesn't matter. ;-)

 

[primestar31]

I picked up an old 5ft C-Band solid metal dish with actuator and the polar mount for free, but it appears the post needed is not going to be so easy. I though I would just go to LOWES or HOME-DEPOT like I always did for other KU dish projects, but they don't carry pipe that big?

Tried one pipe supplier locally and they wanted $75 for a 3" ID black pipe...

Where do I go to get a 3 1/2" OD post? Did I mention cheap price??

Call well drillers, and ask them if they can sell you some 3" well casing pipe. You'll want about 5 feet above ground, and at least 3 feet below ground, minimum, and deeper is better. Don't be fooled by the small size of the dish, they can still have quite a wind load on a blustery day. A local scrap yard as others have said is also good. I've bought pipe from both, and they work well. Schedule 80 is better (thicker) than Schedule 40 pipe, and is best to use with the larger heavier fiberglass dishes.

 

[wallyhts]

There are companies that will sell you the pipe new but that gets very pricey.

Ya I got a quote for an 8 footer it was around $350 bucks. I told the guy he **** and fell back in it!!!

 

[T4Runner]

Okay, I will start calling the scrap yards and see what they have to sell.

The thought crossed my mind that those of you (me I hope sometime) that are able to pick up a C Band dish for free; are you digging up the old pipe support, concrete and all??

 

[Dishman Dan]

...are you digging up the old pipe support, concrete and all??

Yes! I use a tractor and wrap a chain around the 3 point hitch and pole. Move the control lever slowly and the pole lifts out concrete and all. I did a few that way and the next one I do I am snapping photos and posting them. Well, it has to wait until good weather this spring!

 

[Cadsulfide]

Try fencing suppliers

 

[coinmaster32]

This might be a bit of a stretch. I have seen poles still in the ground, just drive around and look. More then likely they will give it to you for having it removed. If it is a real tall pole, you could chop it off at the base and have enough to bury.

 

[sergei]

I've gotten all of my pipe from my local well driller and being it was used pipe it only cost me a dollar per foot, just don't ask for new. Most well companies will have old pipe laying around.

 

[greg harris]

There are many sources for black steel pipe in almost any decent size city in the U.S.
I bought a new 3.5 diameter piece for a 7.5 ft. dish a couple of years ago for about 70 dollars. It was schedule 40 black pipe.

Look around and you should be able to find a new piece. You can even order it online if you want to. GregH

OnlineMetalStore

 

[toucan-man]

I've gotten all of my pipe from my local well driller and being it was used pipe it only cost me a dollar per foot, just don't ask for new. Most well companies will have old pipe laying around.

That's the best deal of all, wish I had thought of it.

I bought from a scrapyard a 3 1/2" OD chrome plated hydraulic piston with 1/2" wall thickness for my BUD. (Even at that thickness the "pipe" does flex very slightly if you bang on it at the top.) If I recall it weighed 170 Lbs for 10 feet of it.

 

[Dah-Henny]

Yeah, I wish someone would come and get mine. It's 10 ft galvanized buried probably 4 ft down with loads of concrete. The walls on that pipe must be a quarter of an inch thick.

 

[wallyhts]

Yeah, I wish someone would come and get mine. It's 10 ft galvanized buried probably 4 ft down with loads of concrete. The walls on that pipe must be a quarter of an inch thick.

No plans for a solar tracker?

 

[Dah-Henny]

Nah, but wouldn't mind sticking another dish on it some day. I flew stupid about 14 years ago after a 60 mph gust spun the 10 ft channel master, and gave it to a neighbor, who BTW, never used it. If I ever get back in touch with the guy, I'll ask if he still has it.

 

[Lone Cloud]

I actually got a 20 foot by 3 1/2 inch OD pipe from a local scrapyard. I brought my dish mount there and found a good fit.

 

[T4Runner]

Well, unlike the snow in the East coast, the West coast has been getting rain forever, so my efforts to get a nice used well pipe casing as suggested by many above is running a little slow. But I do have a well driller outfit 2 miles down the road so I will inquire as to what he has to get rid of soon. I don't know why I didn't think of that as a source when I began searching last week...

 

[putney]

I got my 13' galvanized from a scrapper for $30. It was part of a fence he took down. he also had a 20' available.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/c-band-...ventures-dish-hunting-2010-a.html#post2127909

 

[Diamond Jim]

I got mine at an electrical warehouse, conduit. It's a lot heavier gage than the fence post I looked at. $65.00, but I have found out over the years it's better to pay a little more now than have to mess with it later.