Dish 1000.4 ground pole mount: Fill with concrete?

[Pocono2000]

Greetings from a first-time poster. I was searching the archives and couldn't find a consensus as to whether a pole mounted in the ground should be filled with concrete. I am self-installing a Dish 1000.4 EA and will be mounting it on a 1 5/8" pole (standard 1 5/8" chain link fence pole from Lowes.) The pole is already plumb with 100 pounds of concrete around the base (in the hole that I dug in the ground). The part of the pole above ground is 5 1/2 feet long. The base seems nice and solid but the pole itself seems to be a bit springy (and the Dish isn't mounted on it yet.) Should I worry about this? I read that if I fill it with concrete, it may rust the pole out faster.

Thanks in advance for any advice on this.

Andrew

 

[primestar31]

It couldn't hurt, but 5.5' of 1-5/8" pole won't be helped much by adding concrete, it's too small a size. You'd be better served in this case by either adding bracing arms, or guy wires with turnbuckles. You can buy metal fence posts, and drive 3 of them into the ground equi-distant around the pole on an angle (angled top away from pole) Then guy wire from top of pole to fence post, with turned-out turnbuckles in the middle. Then you crank each turnbuckle tight equally around the pole, until the guy wires can be plucked almost like guitar strings, and the pole is still level both ways.

 

[Pocono2000]

That sounds like an interesting idea - thank you!

 

[MikeD-C05]

I used 2 bags of quickcrete around the base of my fence pole for my 1000.4 sat dish. It works fine and has worked fine for over 4 years.

 

[garys]

I packed sand outside and inside of pole and used turnbuckles to make pole stable. It is about 14 ft above ground and only loses signal during very high winds. No concrete used.

 

[Pocono2000]

MikeD:

That is how I set mine up. How long is the pole that you used (above ground length)?

 

[Baltzer]

Filling the pipe with concrete might help stiffen it, at least in theory. Don't know if the pipe would rust out sooner. I agree with primstar31 that guy wires would be best, but do you really need 5.5 feet of pipe aboveground? I used 1-5/8 (without filling with concrete) about 4 feet aboveground and have no wind problems. My main concern was bears thinking the dish might be a bird feeder and knocking it down, but that didn't happen. Let us know what you do and how it works out.

 

[the mack]

5.5 feet is pretty tall....how much is in the ground? those fence posts are usually only 6 feet tall.......

 

[Pocono2000]

Filling the pipe with concrete might help stiffen it, at least in theory. Don't know if the pipe would rust out sooner. I agree with primstar31 that guy wires would be best, but do you really need 5.5 feet of pipe aboveground? I used 1-5/8 (without filling with concrete) about 4 feet aboveground and have no wind problems. My main concern was bears thinking the dish might be a bird feeder and knocking it down, but that didn't happen. Let us know what you do and how it works out.

I will have to check if it can be shortened to 4' without creating any LOS issues. Shortening the length would certainly help.

 

[aaronwt6]

Personally I wouldn't worry about it. I've installed plenty 7'-8' above the ground using a 10' pole. Any minor rocking from wind, ect. just won't be enough to effect it. Also, I typically use (1) 50lb bag of fast set quickcrete. The 100lbs is more than adequate.

In fact, here's one I did last summer that was around 8'

 

[Pocono2000]

5.5 feet is pretty tall....how much is in the ground? those fence posts are usually only 6 feet tall.......

The pole is 8 feet long total; 2 1/2 feet is in the ground.

 

[Pocono2000]

Personally I wouldn't worry about it. I've installed plenty 7'-8' above the ground using a 10' pole. Any minor rocking from wind, ect. just won't be enough to effect it. Also, I typically use (1) 50lb bag of fast set quickcrete. The 100lbs is more than adequate.

In fact, here's one I did last summer that was around 8'

That is a great example. I am thinking that I may try it as-is and if I have any wind related problems I will add ground anchors and turnbuckles.

 

[aaronwt6]

You won't have a problem. I'd bet on it. I'd say 5' is what I usually average on them unless I go higher to clear trees. I've done 100s and not once had to reposition one.

 

[Pocono2000]

You won't have a problem. I'd bet on it. I'd say 5' is what I usually average on them unless I go higher to clear trees. I've done 100s and not once had to reposition one.

Thanks Aaron - I am crossing my fingers.

 

[aaronwt6]

Any time. And good luck with the rest of the setup!

 

[MikeD-C05]

MikeD:

That is how I set mine up. How long is the pole that you used (above ground length)?

I believe I sunk about 2 ft in the ground and there is around 4 ft above ground. It has made it through about 2 hurricanes( Humberto in 07 and Ike in 08), but I take my sat dishes off their poles before the storm hits, and return them when it's all clear .

 

[the mack]

I believe I sunk about 2 ft in the ground and there is around 4 ft above ground. It has made it through about 2 hurricanes( Humberto in 07 and Ike in 08), but I take my sat dishes off their poles before the storm hits, and return them when it's all clear .

if you removed the dishes before the storm, I am sure they made it no problem.....lol

 

[Claude Greiner]

You probably got it 2 1/2 feet in the ground because thats as deep as you could dig the hole.

The trick I used to use is to dig the hole as deep as you can, and then pound it in with a hammer so its below the frost line which is generally 42 inches.

Get a hacksaw and cut off a few inches off the top where you smashed it.

Reguardless, you should be fine without filling it with cement.

 

[Pocono2000]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I will post back once I have the Dish installed (hopefully by Sunday.)

 

[Stargazer]

I wouldn't fill the post with concrete. I think it will give you little to no benefit. If you ever want to saw the post off in the future and don't want a post sticking up out of the ground without a dish on it then you are going to have problems getting it sawed off. You may have to dig it up and pull it out with a tractor or vehicle if you fill it full of concrete. It is harder to do it that way.