30 Ft. Flag Pole

[E/S]

My wife has decided that "we" need a new flag pole, a 30 Ft. pole !

After pricing poles and recovering from the shock, I decided to build a tilt up pole. I have attached a drawing of what I plan to build and would appreciate your input.

One thing I should mention is that we regularly get 70 + mph. wind gusts and she intends for me to fly 2 - flags - 4 Ft. x 6 Ft.

E/S

 

[quazz]

Tell your wife that the length of the pole isn't that important.



oh yeah I think that your plan looks great. It will be solid.

 

[E/S]

Lol
Thanks quazz

E/S

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Design looks great, are you putting a pulley on the top for a rope or cable?

Double check for any HOA rules, or Community, city, or county laws, ordinances, or permits needed for such a thing, some have laws stating if it's going to be up in the evening/night hours it has to be lit!
I had a friend put one up and it ended up costing him a ton in legal bills.

 

[Dad03]

Typical street light pole bases have at least 8' in concrete in the ground and 2-2.5' in concrete above. I would keep what you have but put it another 3' in ground leaving only 2' exposed concrete. The concrete above ground really isn't needed other than protecting the pole from getting hit with something ( tractor, car...)

 

[BotaDriver]

Tell your wife that the length of the pole isn't that important.

Are you saying it's all about the wave of the flag?

 

[E/S]

Design looks great, are you putting a pulley on the top for a rope or cable?

Double check for any HOA rules, or Community, city, or county laws, ordinances, or permits needed for such a thing, some have laws stating if it's going to be up in the evening/night hours it has to be lit!
I had a friend put one up and it ended up costing him a ton in legal bills.

Thanks Wolfman,
Yes i'm putting a pulley on the top for the rope.

I have no HOA and live on 55 acres with no restrictions.
I will light the flag out of respect.

Thanks

E/S

 

[E/S]

Typical street light pole bases have at least 8' in concrete in the ground and 2-2.5' in concrete above. I would keep what you have but put it another 3' in ground leaving only 2' exposed concrete. The concrete above ground really isn't needed other than protecting the pole from getting hit with something ( tractor, car...)

The base will be 2 ft. round and 5 ft. deep cement w/ fiber.
The top of the cement will be flush with the ground.
I will also put holes in the base poles w/ re-bar.

Thanks

E/S

 

[85Hokie]

Thanks Wolfman,
Yes i'm putting a pulley on the top for the rope.

I have no HOA and live on 55 acres with no restrictions.
I will light the flag out of respect.

Thanks

E/S

I have heard of SOME people in certain places that were veterans and placed a 20' or so pole, got in deep crap do to the local rules about "billboards" and that kinda crap....... Have flag? wave it high and proud!

 

[Russell King]

You may have trouble getting the 1.5 pipe into the 2.0 pipe as far as you show it.

The ID of the 2.0 pipe will be larger than the OD of the 1.5 but there may be some curvature in both pipes. It may work - I have never tried it.

By math you should have ~.09 inch clearance on both sides of the pipe, which sounds like too much to be really rigid. I am assuming that you will drill some holes and plug weld the pipes together so they are rigid.

At the base, I am assuming that you will use some fairly tight holes/pins to hold it together. If you have too much slop your pins will wallow out the holes in the pipe.

 

[E/S]

You may have trouble getting the 1.5 pipe into the 2.0 pipe as far as you show it.

The ID of the 2.0 pipe will be larger than the OD of the 1.5 but there may be some curvature in both pipes. It may work - I have never tried it.

By math you should have ~.09 inch clearance on both sides of the pipe, which sounds like too much to be really rigid. I am assuming that you will drill some holes and plug weld the pipes together so they are rigid.

At the base, I am assuming that you will use some fairly tight holes/pins to hold it together. If you have too much slop your pins will wallow out the holes in the pipe.

Russell,
The I.D. of 2 in. pipe is 2.067 in., the O.D. of 1 1/2 in. pipe is 1.9 in.that gives me 0.167 in. It will be tight but it will work, I have done it before. I will plug weld the joint to keep it there.

On the base I will use 2 - 1/2 in. grade 8 bolts through welded in sleeves in the pipes. That will prevent play in the joints.

Thanks for your input.

E/s

 

[skeets]

OK what the duce is HOA?

 

[E/S]

OK what the duce is HOA?

Home Owners Association
( I cant put on here what I think of them )

E/S

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I too have no Restrictions or Covance's, others just up the road do and I laugh at them every time they get stopped for not being able to do things they want to do.
I lived with HOA's in Phoenix NEVER again!

 

[Kubota_Man]

We also DID have a HOA and some C, C & R's on our property. After we did our due research we (my family...brother, sister and parents) found a legal way to have all of them removed and did it. Then we waited for the proper amount of time to pass for appeals from any neighbors none were filed and started doing some little things. Now they hate when I can do something they can't as we left all of the neighbors property alone.

Yes HOA's and C, C & R's suck. I as well hate them too.

 

[D2Cat]

30' in the air, 70MPH wind, and two flags..... How big of flags you going to have up there? You have a boom truck available for installation and maintenance?

I appreciate and respect your intentions. I do think you'd have a much more stable display at 20', and none of your friends, relatives or neighbors will ever say, "Why didn't you put that up another ten feet?" So you send the same message with less potential problems.

 

[BAP]

Have you looked around on Craigslist for a used flagpole? I bought a used fiberglass one last fall for $120 and it included the mounting plate. I found others listed at that time. Might be a more viable option if you can find one. Also, flags flown at night are supposed to be lit up by the national flag etiquette code, so I am glad to here that you are doing that. I bought a solar powered light that goes on the top to light up the flag. As soon as it dries out enough, I have to dig a hole and pour a concrete base to get it up, hopefully before Memorial Day, weather permitting.

 

[cerlawson]

A civil engineer, soil engineering specialty here.

I'd not make any big decision as to depth of foundation or size until you know your ground conditions.

A design chart for foundations is attached, if you know your overturning moment (expressed in foot pounds). You can figure the wind load on the pole, also with formulas for pressure versus wind velocity. However, based on your design, I'd say your foundation is over-kill.

Wind pressures for design can vary from a low of 15 pounds er sq. ft. to as high as 40, depending on locations. Add to that what a flag could load,, if it survives.

Also will the pole bend over. I could figure that I suppose, but my gut says you are OK.

Oh, a kip is 1,000 pounds.

 

[cerlawson]

I did a quick estimate with 30 psf wind loading and a flag with about 10 sq. ft. loaded area and you are safe with that size pipe, for 9 ft. kips.. Looks like your foundation over designed if moment is 9 ft. kips.

 

[cerlawson]

Been thinking a little on this.

Where the pole comes out of the supports, it should not have any weak places, such as a bolt hole. Use one bolt hole at the bottom only.

Here is an idea that I used for a flag pole.

Note the drain hole for a pipe set in concrete, but filled with concrete up to the level of the foundation. Better yet put a cap of some type on those foundation pipes.

The upper clamping plates also could be angle iron, channels, etc.

There is no need for special rigidity in the bolts or sleeves in the pipes., due to the weight and closeness of the joints. If there is slop, you can always correct that later with filler metal. Pull up the torque on the bolts.

A cleat on the pole for the rope might better be welded on, but if needed use only tapped in bolts, galvanized. I'd do minimum welding of the joint up there, since welds tend to induce stresses that later cause fatigue cracks.

By the way your "cement" term is the glue used in concrete. No special fiber in the concrete needed. You can even mix up your own one part cement to five parts road gravel or just a clean sand and gravel. Keep the use of water to a minimum. The sloppier the mix the weaker the result.