Ground mount pole depth?

[Matt34]

Hi All,

I'm just about to erect a pole to act as a ground mount for a motorised system. I have a 2.6 metre length of scaffold pole and I was wondering just how deep I need to dig the hole to ensure it won't move. The dish going on is a 1m aluminium Gibertini and the location is sheltered so the wind loading shouldn't be excessive. The dish will be mounted about 1.5 metres above the ground. Will I be ok with a 60cm deep hole with the pole concreted in, or do I need to go deeper? The soil seems to be stable with a fair amount of small rocks in it (its certainly hard work digging the hole!)

All advice very welcome.

Matt

[madrat]

18" minimum I would say

[RimaNTSS]

I always dig holes at least 1meter deep, so poles have no any play. For this one also added more than 100kg of concrete and couple of baskets of broken stone.

[Matt34]

Thanks both,

Basically the deeper the better. Looks like I need to keep digging for a while...

Matt

[ABA]

if your pole is round try welding some Barr's to the side of it below the concrete level to stop the pole spinning round in the ground
most poles are hollow so if you want to bury say 18 inches in concrete dig a 18 inch hole place the pole in the hole get a heavy hammer and knock the pole in to the ground be for you concrete it in
this will make the pole more stable the deeper the pole the more stable it will become

[Matt34]

Thanks ABA
The pole is round but I don't have easy access to welding gear. However, I could drill through the pole and put a steel rod through. This would prevent it turning once it's concreted in.
Thanks for the advice.

Matt

[pedro2000uk]

All the above plus 1.5m is a long way for a scaff pole to take a 1m ... you might want to add more strength .. fill it with something.... a decent fine gravel concrete mix.. and\or add bracing etc...

[Matt34]

Thanks. I could probably drop the dish height a little but that will be down to trial and error when I mount it. Filling the pole with a fine concrete mix sounds like an excellent idea. Will see how it goes and provide additional bracing if it needs it.

Still easier than installing 10ft up a ladder which is what I had to do at my last place....