Installing C-band pole.

[Kraven]

Just curious as to how most of you folks got the hole made --> shovel or a gas powered driller?
IE- going to dig a 4 foot hole for the pole soon. Local store wants 80$ to rent out a gas driller; so am wondering if the pain and suffering
of actually digging a 4 foot hole justifies the savings.

Cheers, K

 

[TVHabit]

Post hole digger, shovel and sweat...worked for me.

 

[Anole]

I have an articulated post hole digger.
Got it on clearance few years back for about $40.
Has some sort of cam arrangement so you don't have to pull the handles very far apart to close the mouth.

But I've been remembering a trick from childhood.....
How 'bout attaching a 4' pipe to your garden hose?
Turn on the water and press the tip vertically into the ground.
Only down side I see is getting wet or muddy.
Do it on a hot summer day & enjoy.
Just wait 'till next day to set the pole.


iPhone 4

 

[Magic Static]

Depends on the kind of ground you are digging in. In my case the ground would cave in to easily. I had to use a form. But the rocks were so big I wished I used a backhoe.

 

[primestar31]

Post hole digger, and lots of sweat! Works for me, but my soil is sandy and dirt. (Loamy sand). Great unless you hit a pocket of hard clay, or some strong roots.

 

[rv1pop]

No roots but lots of rock ... 5 feet down with a backhoe.

 

[BattleOP]

It depends on your soil. Here I had a 10' mesh dish with a 24" deep by 6" diameter hole and 1 bag of quickkrete red. That one lasted 4 years two near by tornadoes and 3 tropical storms and was taken down when I moved. The second one had a similar hole with an 8' mesh and it has survived several tropical storms and the 2010 April South East Tornado outbreak and has been up for 8 years.

 

[T4Runner]

Depends on the kind of ground you are digging in. In my case the ground would cave in to easily. I had to use a form. But the rocks were so big I wished I used a backhoe.

That crater of yours looks exactly like the hole I dug by hand for my 62ft ham tower! I forget how many yards of concrete I poured that day.

Here I only had to dig 3 1/2 ft post hole for my 7 1/2 ft C Band. No rocks. Two bags of quikcrete.

 

[LocutusOfBorg]

Post hole digger, shovel and sweat...worked for me.

I hired the neighbors kid to dig my hole.

 

[rv1pop]

I hired the neighbors kid to dig my hole.

My neighbor kid is 64 this year! He doesn't have time to help me. He just got his hay in the barns, cut and baled from 6300 acres.

 

[JFOK]

Kraven,

When I dug the base for my 9 foot C-Band dish in 1991, I did it the old fashioned way...by shovel.
It took me about an hour to dig a hole 3 feet deep, 3 feet wide and 3 feet across. I then used approx. 15 bags of cement to fill it in, carefully positioning the base tripod and bolts before it fully dried.
Total build time was about 2 days...allowing for the cement to cure before I added the pole and dish.
That base lasted me the entire time I lived in Connecticut (11 years) and survived some brutal New England weather.

John

 

[wallyhts]

No roots but lots of rock ... 5 feet down with a backhoe.

Lol i was going to say if you did that with a post hole digger. Props to you.

Very nice

 

[Kraven]

I decided am going to start w/ a shovel and see from there. My main concern is all the underground wiring (phone, cable, power, gas, pool etc), so am hoping the property plans are accurate.

If I was back in New Brunswick, it wouldn't be much of a issue...I'd dig a small hole then shove a stick of dynamite in it..4 foot hole complete.

Cheers, K

 

[gpflepsen]

Down here it's the law that you call for a utility locate before digging. It's free and prevents personal injury and some pretty expensive repair and recovery cost.

Good luck going down.

 

[primestar31]

Down here it's the law that you call for a utility locate before digging. It's free and prevents personal injury and some pretty expensive repair and recovery cost.

Good luck going down.

Yeah, God help you if you cut through fiber cables. It'll cost a fortune to fix them, and they WILL bill you for it.

 

[sergei]

I'd dig a small hole then shove a stick of dynamite in it..4 foot hole complete.

I might just need some of your dynamite as today I was trying to dig holes using a auger style post hole digger for some 4x4 post for my target range and the ground is so hard from the drought it just might be easier breaking up rocks as I could only get down about 6 inches before giving up.