How to move a 12' Paraclipse without taking it apart.

Status
Please reply by conversation.

hags

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Nov 21, 2012
85
0
chain-o-lakes
Has this been done before? Can it be done? Anyone got any ideas? Is it worth the trouble? 12' is a little wide for the roads here, but I've only got 7 miles to go. Four bolts gets the dish off of the mount and then I can lay it flat on the trailer, button hook and all. Here's some pics, looks like it's in great shape with the exception of 3 small cuts in the mesh about 3-4" long which should be easy to repair.
 
Haven't done a 12 ft, but think a flat bed trailer with some old tires for 'cushion'. (that's how I transported a fiberglass 8 ft offset, 5 miles, with 3 miles on highway)
Stay off the main roads.[as much as possible] Have your helper follow you, in another vehicle, to act as 'look-out'. Maybe FRS radios for communications? Check with the local authorities about a wide load? (Permit?? YUK!)
Maybe someone here has partially 'knocked one down' into manageable sized pieces without completely taking it apart. I haven't. sorry.
Another wild idea. Weld a base on a 5 ft pole. Mount to trailer offset towards one side. Place dish on pole. Dish will be more vertical than wide. No oversize permit required. Still should be under legal height. (think that's 14ft 6in)
I'd still 'run with a look-out, and keep speeds reasonable.
 
I'll take pics if I'm not pulling my hair out driving this thing home. I thought about building a mount or a stand for the trailer to hold it semi vertical, but, it's not my trailer. I think I may just "go for it" sometime later this week, I've got the help lined up, hopefully I don't take out too many mailboxes.
 
I've been watching this dish for awhile. The property it is on was sold about a year ago and I stopped by to talk to the new owner last fall. He wasn't sure about the dish or his plans for it so I left my number. Well, he called me out of the blue on Friday evening to say it was mine if I wanted it. I was afraid the button hook base was rusted worse than it is but it looks to be just surface rust. I'm sure the wife will love it when she sees it.
 
I'm sure she'll appreciate your effort. I like the appearance of this design, the only one I've found around here appears much smaller and it's all beat to hell. Like someone got mad at it.
 
Standing up is pretty much your only option. Laying down you will be hanging over 4 feet too wide. Now, if you are in a small town with understanding constabularies, you might could get away with it. Do it early in the morning, on a Sunday even, so even less traffic. But in most places I think transporting it flat will get a LOT of attention from Johnny Law.

I took mine in half, 15 minutes. Broke some bolts, but hey, it worked. Wasn't hard to put back together either.
 
You don't have to take the 4 bolts out to get it off the mount.Just disconnect the actuator and you can lift the dish up off the axle.Or disconnect the elevation adjuster and remove the single large bolt that holds it to the top of the mount.
 
Standing up is pretty much your only option. Laying down you will be hanging over 4 feet too wide. Now, if you are in a small town with understanding constabularies, you might could get away with it. Do it early in the morning, on a Sunday even, so even less traffic. But in most places I think transporting it flat will get a LOT of attention from Johnny Law.

I took mine in half, 15 minutes. Broke some bolts, but hey, it worked. Wasn't hard to put back together either.
what he said
cops take up tooo much time
good luck
 
Ok, wish me luck. I'm separating the dish from the mount tonight and heading back at 5:30am to load and transport the dish, in one piece, 6 miles to it's new home.

I should have pics up later tonight and with any luck it'll be operational by the end of the weekend regardless of weather. :D
 
Easy Peasy

Alright, despite intermittent rain as we started, three generous souls and I got the dish down, the mount removed, and loaded the dish on the 8.5' trailer for a mock up so I would know what to expect.

While on the trailer my father in law pushed one side down and asked if that would help with narrowing the load, it sure did. With the dish cocked on one side and resting safely on the trusses it only had one foot of overhang on the low side. The high side looked like maybe the same, you can judge from the pics my 7 y/o son took.

We removed the 4 bolts that hold the assembled dish to the mount, it was awkward but with four big guys went smoothly. Once on the ground it was a cake walk as far as handling the dish was concerned.

In my backyard, next to the Birdview, that 12' Paraclipse is HUGE!!! It didn't look that big out in the open, especially next to the river.

I hope to get the Unimesh down and the Paraclipse at least on the pole by Saturday night.

Just in case any are curious, Paradise Cove is on the Fox River in Johnsburg, IL. It was bought by the new owner last fall. There are a hotel, boat launch, bar/restaurant, and boat slips in/on this property. It slipped into a state of disrepair over the last decade or so. Hopefully the new owner can bring it back to it's previous glory.

I brought my saws-all as I had intended to flush cut the pole that was left but it was filled with concrete. I"m not sure why, it adds no rigidity and deflection remains the same as with an empty pole.

Paraclipse dish 043.JPGParaclipse dish 053.JPGParaclipse dish 029.JPGParaclipse dish 034.JPGParaclipse dish 039.JPGParaclipse dish 038.JPG
 
Last edited:
Nice job, glad you got it.

I'm fairly certain that I need to add a Paraclipse to my dish garden, for 2 very good reasons:

1.) I don't have one.

2.) They look cool!

Hope to hear it is operational, soon. :up
 
Decisions, decisions..........

Mmmm, what to do. Get the Unimesh down off the pole first I guess. I'm afraid my mounting pole will be too short to have the dish completely vertical. dishes 003.JPGdishes 001.JPG
 
Status
Please reply by conversation.

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 0, Members: 0, Guests: 0)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)