First take a look at THIS_PHOTO of the sketch I made.
I dreaded the thought of digging a huge hole and pouring a ton of concrete so I came up with an alternate way which was purely experimental not having done this before but wanted to make things a lot easier and less expensive for myself.
The drawing is self explanatory but I'll fill in some details. I first cut the 3.5" dia pipe to 10 ft length from a 21 ft length that I salvaged free from a neighbor of mine, Wow! This conduit pipe is 1/4" thick wall and would have cost me over $200 if I bought it new so it pays off to look around or check the recycling centers in your area.
I then cut the 4 rails pieces of angle iron from a heavy duty king size bed frame, another salvaged item. Then clamped the rails to the post and began the welding process, finally ending up with the pattern shown in the drawing.
NOTE: I did not weld the rails to the post yet, I only welded the rails together because the pipe must first be planted in the ground and leveled. If I had welded the rail grid to the pipe I would not have been able to backfill the hole and tamp it down. I marked the pipe where the rail grid will be welded.
I first calculated the depth of the hole and exactly where the rails needed to be attached to the pipe.
I then dug the 6 ft deep hole with a post hole digger (by hand)... ugh!
Then I dug a square form/trench about 16 inches deep surrounding the post hole keeping it centered. Then I trial fitted the post into the hole and made necessary adjustments. Once I was satisfied and the pipe was at the correct height I then backfilled the hole with dirt and tamped it down hard but don't exceeding the depth of the form, periodically checking for level/plump.
Once the pipe was in I then slid the welded rail grid down over the pipe to the desired level down inside of the square 16" deep form, then welded the grid to the pipe. Then I mixed and poured the 500 lbs of concrete one bag at a time into the square form making sure the concrete filled in all cavities below the rail grid and above as well. I also filled the pipe with concrete for added rigidity.
After letting the concrete cure for a few days I then backfilled the form and leveled the ground surface around the post. From this point I then trial fitted the dish mounting post and continued the assembly process. By the time I was finished assembling the dish, the concrete and the soil was firm.
Also note that the soil in my area is decomposed granite and dirt that serves well even during the rainy days. I selected the location first by testing the ground soil for consistency, if it were soft soil I would not have chosen this method, make sense?
It has been at least 6 months since the dish was mounted and so far has survived 50 mph winds without moving or tilting the slightest. I have hung my weight and tugged on it and it won't budge.
This may prove beneficial to some who dare to try it and yet other's may not but this is for informational purposes only. If you choose this method, it will rely strictly upon the integrity of the persons ability to do the job correctly and the materials used if you catch my drift. If your soil is firm and the job is successfully performed, you should get the same results.
Good Luck
I dreaded the thought of digging a huge hole and pouring a ton of concrete so I came up with an alternate way which was purely experimental not having done this before but wanted to make things a lot easier and less expensive for myself.
The drawing is self explanatory but I'll fill in some details. I first cut the 3.5" dia pipe to 10 ft length from a 21 ft length that I salvaged free from a neighbor of mine, Wow! This conduit pipe is 1/4" thick wall and would have cost me over $200 if I bought it new so it pays off to look around or check the recycling centers in your area.
I then cut the 4 rails pieces of angle iron from a heavy duty king size bed frame, another salvaged item. Then clamped the rails to the post and began the welding process, finally ending up with the pattern shown in the drawing.
NOTE: I did not weld the rails to the post yet, I only welded the rails together because the pipe must first be planted in the ground and leveled. If I had welded the rail grid to the pipe I would not have been able to backfill the hole and tamp it down. I marked the pipe where the rail grid will be welded.
I first calculated the depth of the hole and exactly where the rails needed to be attached to the pipe.
I then dug the 6 ft deep hole with a post hole digger (by hand)... ugh!
Then I dug a square form/trench about 16 inches deep surrounding the post hole keeping it centered. Then I trial fitted the post into the hole and made necessary adjustments. Once I was satisfied and the pipe was at the correct height I then backfilled the hole with dirt and tamped it down hard but don't exceeding the depth of the form, periodically checking for level/plump.
Once the pipe was in I then slid the welded rail grid down over the pipe to the desired level down inside of the square 16" deep form, then welded the grid to the pipe. Then I mixed and poured the 500 lbs of concrete one bag at a time into the square form making sure the concrete filled in all cavities below the rail grid and above as well. I also filled the pipe with concrete for added rigidity.
After letting the concrete cure for a few days I then backfilled the form and leveled the ground surface around the post. From this point I then trial fitted the dish mounting post and continued the assembly process. By the time I was finished assembling the dish, the concrete and the soil was firm.
Also note that the soil in my area is decomposed granite and dirt that serves well even during the rainy days. I selected the location first by testing the ground soil for consistency, if it were soft soil I would not have chosen this method, make sense?
It has been at least 6 months since the dish was mounted and so far has survived 50 mph winds without moving or tilting the slightest. I have hung my weight and tugged on it and it won't budge.
This may prove beneficial to some who dare to try it and yet other's may not but this is for informational purposes only. If you choose this method, it will rely strictly upon the integrity of the persons ability to do the job correctly and the materials used if you catch my drift. If your soil is firm and the job is successfully performed, you should get the same results.
Good Luck
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