New Project Coming Up -- Pole Mount | Page 3 | Alternative Energy | Forums

KVR I am thinking of putting sand in the 6" vertical pipe for support and strength... But worried about corrosion. Your thoughts?

Yes, this will be the 6" pipe that will bear the weight of the panels. Good idea about dropping concrete down there.

Check out the progress...

Marked the hole.

Started the hole.

Getting further down.

I made a mistake and didn't prep the poles first before digging the hole -- the hole started to fill in with water and filling with sand. So then I started working on the poles.

Drilling through the 20" 'form' pipe. Cutting oil really helped out here.

Note the pipe within a pipe. I put rebar through the larger pipe I was using as a form and through the 6" pole to stop the pole/form from twisting in the ground when there are high winds. I am glad I did this but it was a pain to work with.

I used the tractor to push/lift the assembly into place using the carry all. I backed up, said a quick prayer, and it fell in partly. Then I hopped on the elevated carry all and started pushing in into position.

Yes, a minivan can hold 18 bags of concrete without bottoming out.

I used 12.5 bags filling the form and mounding around the top.

And done. We had to leave our mark.

Next steps are running wire underground, painting the poles with better rust resistant paint, and trying to source the Unistrut I need for mounting the panels. I should be picking the panels up in 2 weekends and want to get those up as soon as I can.

Thanks for the help, KVR. I think i will dump my extra 5.5 bags of crete down the pole.

No spring replacements yet on the van.. She is a beast of burden.

I dug the hole almost to 4 feet but it kept filling with water and soft sand. I think it is probably 3.5 feet deep. I wish it was deeper but I just couldn't make it happen. The pipe was heavy and sank down some before I filled it with crete.