on pole size i good for info,but what type

[gardenman2002]

I am installing my 10ft dish and would like to know if anyone has used
galvanized 3 inch steel conduit pipe with concrete inside. would that give close to the strength i need for this dish? I cannot find black solid steel pipe here unless i pay an arm and aleg for it.

 

[gardenman2002]

what type of pole for mast

hey everyone gardenman2002 here.
I am installing my 10 ft winegard mesh dish this holiday and talked with sergei on this website , and obtained some good info. I have two questions.
the black pipe needed is hard to find and expensive here. can i use galvanized 2 1/2 to 3 " steel conduit pipe with concrete inside?will it flex too much?

I plan to keep the dish closer to ground so i wont have alot sticking out of the ground.

 

[rv1pop]

lightly qualified YES. Depends on if you have strong winds. My pole did not bend, but the wind pulled the pole out of the ground before the bolts broke on the mounting angles.

 

[gardenman2002]

Thanks rv1pop,

I will try it out. i live in norhtern indiana and it gets breezy here, and with my 6 ft dish from wsi, i used a fence post that already had concrete around it. i used a car jack ,chains and a board to pull post out to reuse it. and i used 2 bags of quikcrete in the ground. I was kind of leery of setting up my newly aquired 10 winegard dish since i am having trouble finding black steel pipe. You sound like you had a tornado or about 70 to 80 mile an hour winds

 

[toucan-man]

The scrapyard here has the best prices. I've picked up some beefy poles there.

 

[Anole]

There's always a place to get a pipe.

The scrapyard here has the best prices. I've picked up some beefy poles there.

I grabbed one BUD which was 9 or 10 feet out of the ground.
By cutting the pole off at ground level, I had plenty to re-plant at home. - :up
Take down a junker dish just for the pole, if you find one.

Conduit? I wouldn't.
But if you do, I'd drop a piece of rebar down it along with the cement.
That's because I have no confidence in the walls of the conduit for strength.

More importantly, get the right size to fit your mount.
Saying 3" or whatever is not the whole story.
Find out what range of pole the mount will take, then go shopping for a pole with your ruler in your pocket.
Pipe is measured by inside diameter, and the grade determines the wall thickness.
So, two 3" pipes may not have the same outside diameter.

I'm clueless on conduit, though.

 

[dougruss]

Check out Lowes or Menards and look at the "Jack Post"there. They are 3" Diameter and come in various lengths.

And could be Modified to work...........

• Durable powder-coat finish
• 3 in. O.D. rod adjusts from 8 ft. to 8 ft. 4 in.
• Designed and engineered for new home construction and primary support under steel or wood beams
• 11,497 lb. maximum weight capacity at maximum and minimum extension
• Fully assembled and ready to use
• 1 person can install quickly
• Compliant with ICC, IRC, IBC 2006 building codes
• MFG Model # : 3A-8084
• MFG Part # : 3A-8084

 

[Lone Gunman]

Don't know what kind of mount your Winegard dish has, but mine required a 3.5" OD pipe and I used a schedule 40 pipe (.200+ thick wall) for that mount! Even my 7.5ft SAMI dish required a 3.5" post also.

IMHO the final install of this dish will only be as good as the foundation you start with, which is this mounting post. It's much easier and less expensive to do it right the first time, than have to do it all over again! Mine is in a 24" diameter 36" deep hole just to make sure it will stay when those occasional 60 MPH thunder storm winds come blowing.

If you check at your local scrap metal yards you "might" be able to find what you need for cheap as that's what I did. And it doesn't matter if it's a little beat up. Just make sure that the dish mounting end is straight for about 2 ft and not boogered up, ie, out of round. After it's up, wire brush it and add a coat of battle ship grey rust oleum paint which will make it look like new from a distance! ;-)

 

[Phottoman]

Try your local scrap yard, you may be surprised what they will charge for the right pipe.

Photto

 

[stone1150]

Hey guy, I live in shipshewana in northern indiana. I have a dish, pole, mount wall brace, actuator. (superjack). The dish is an 8 footer but it is junk as a tree brance hit it. That said the pole might be what you need along with the actuator and maybe some other parts. Hell I even have a GI analog receiver you could have to move the dish with.... Now the trickey part... price.............. Free if you want it. The dish is mounted at the end of the house and on about 20 foot of pole with a brace bolted to the house. If I am not mistaken the pole needed should be the right size. If you are interested, let me know and I will help you take it down. i would just sawsall at the base and drop like a tree only easy down. Just thought I would say something. Have a great day!

I should add the dish was installed by elkhart satellite. The pole should be the pole you need as far as strength goes.

 

[sergei]

hey everyone gardenman2002 here.
I am installing my 10 ft winegard mesh dish this holiday and talked with sergei on this website , and obtained some good info. I have two questions.
the black pipe needed is hard to find and expensive here. can i use galvanized 2 1/2 to 3 " steel conduit pipe with concrete inside?will it flex too much?
I plan to keep the dish closer to ground so i wont have alot sticking out of the ground.

Around Lafayette I'm sure you've got some well drilling companies that have some old pipe laying around, make them an offer of a dollar a foot. I've talked to the guy who installed my well again and and he's still going to sell me 12 foot sections of pipe both 4" and 3.5" for a dollar a foot, always put 4 feet in the ground, I like to make sure I can mow under them.
The pipe I get is heavy gauge and none of my poles are filled with anything and being out in the county have survived all the wind and ice that mother nature has thrown at them. Even if you fill the pipe make sure you add some gravel in the bottom of the hole to allow for drainage from the pipe.

 

[sergei]

I am installing my 10ft dish and would like to know if anyone has used
galvanized 3 inch steel conduit pipe with concrete inside. would that give close to the strength i need for this dish? I cannot find black solid steel pipe here unless i pay an arm and aleg for it.

In my opinion a real bad move, as you need 4.5 OD pipe and your best source I think would be a well drilling company as most have old pipe just laying around, they might cut it for you or not, myself I cut my own.

 

[Mr Tony]

merged threads together

 

[gardenman2002]

Well ,

I never thought to check with the scrap dealers. and the offer from stone1150 is great , just have to squeeze some time in to come and get . thanks,for the offer- i will try to take you up on that, and thanks guys for all the input. Its great to get feedback from others who have "been there"

 

[Lone Cloud]

I must disagree with some of these folks. My first c-band dish I got a thin wall 3.5 inch OD pole from a local scrapyard. Was maybe 65 bucks.

I wasn't able to dig a deep footing. The pole runs down the side of my house and through the eaves. It goes down into the ground maybe two feet if not less.

I made "L" shaped rebars to go out the bottom of the pole, and I did fill the pole with concrete. Later when I got the Birdview, I put that five or so feet of 6 inch OD mast over the smaller one, and filled it with concrete.

For both dishes I did not honk down hard on the cap over the pole. I got it where I liked the aim and marked where it was with a punch. I didn't tighten hard so, in the wind, if it had to turn, it would do so without torqueing everything into a pretzel. In four years there has only been one time that I had to line up the punch marks.. Sure is better than twisting everything to hell

I think people can do with a lot less digging, footing and expense if they do things this way.

 

[rv1pop]

Lone Cloud, it depends on location and weather. Mounting to the side of my house would not mater... The truss steel building now leans about 1 inch toward the North East from the constant wind. I am going to have to retighten the 1 inch steel rod-bolts again to pull in into a better alignment.
My C-Band pole is going down in the ground 50 inches, then drilling down another 4 inches into the bedrock. Then a 2' square concrete foundation block 40 inches up to about 10 inches below the ground to keep the frost from getting a pull up in the block.

 

[sergei]

I agree with you rv1pop, it going to depend on his weather and location along with how he installs the dish. If it's in the open and not supported by a building then best do what some would call an overkill. You've got a 10' dish when ice or snow gets on it and you get a strong wind in the winter that pole is going to have to be installed correctly. as you will have a lot of load on it.
Not knowing where Lone Cloud lives, so his installation may work OK him where he lives, but sure wouldn't work in my area.

 

[gardenman2002]

Hey everyone,gardenman2002 here.

I checked with srap,no go checked with plumbing supplies, 320.19 for a 20 ft piece and i haul and cut.
No way can i haul that . checked for electrical conduit and no go for now on 4inch pipe. How about 3 1 1/2 rigid pipes together and guyed with a yard of concrete?

 

[sergei]

Hey everyone,gardenman2002 here.

I checked with srap,no go checked with plumbing supplies, 320.19 for a 20 ft piece and i haul and cut.
No way can i haul that . checked for electrical conduit and no go for now on 4inch pipe. How about 3 1 1/2 rigid pipes together and guyed with a yard of concrete?

Have you given your local well drilling company a call, if like mind they'll have old pipe that they no longer use laying around..

 

[Lone Cloud]

Lone Cloud, it depends on location and weather. Mounting to the side of my house would not mater... The truss steel building now leans about 1 inch toward the North East from the constant wind. I am going to have to retighten the 1 inch steel rod-bolts again to pull in into a better alignment.
My C-Band pole is going down in the ground 50 inches, then drilling down another 4 inches into the bedrock. Then a 2' square concrete foundation block 40 inches up to about 10 inches below the ground to keep the frost from getting a pull up in the block.

I understand your leaning house issue. I have the same thing. before I decided on pole placement, I dropped a string with a plumb bob - essentially a weight on the end of a string. Then I measured from the wall to the string and found that the house was out about an inch at the top.

For that condition, I just moved the whole thing out about five inches from the house. I also cut a bigger hole at the top (now filled in but can open it up if I choose) so that if the house leans more, I can replumb the pole as I did before.

I get that people want to feel secure. I live in a windy canyon. No snow, true, but wind in surplus supply. It took winds over 60 mph before the dish twirled on its cap mount, There were plenty of 40 + mph days with no issues. Even assuming that the pole is deep and reinforced like the Maginot Line, a deep and rigid mounting also exposes the dish to bending in the wind. My system avoids that risk to a much greater degree, because instead of bending, it spins on the pole.

This whole thing about hiring contractors and machines and digging huge, cubical holes I found unnecessary. Just mark the position well, and let the whole thing spin if the wind is so high. Bags of cheap, ready mix concrete and thin 3/8 inch rebars was all I needed.

I respectfully disagree gentlemen.