I want to buy a flagpole for my frontyard. Most of the poles are just that, poles. A hollow tube 1-1/2" in diameter and about 10’ tall. How do I plant the sucker so it doesn’t move? I am not against making a small base for it that it can fit into, digging a small hole and cementing it in, but I would rather not. Any other ideas? It will be going into soil.
IMHO digging a good post hole and using cement is the best way but there are alternatives. If you don’t want that I’d suggest one good field fecce post driven into the ground so your flag pole can slip over it. A steel T-post as used with barb wire fencing should do the trick. You’ll need to borrow or rent a post setter, a heavy steel tube and end cap to drive the post into the ground. Don’t try driving it in with a hammer like a tent peg.
· Dig hole, bucket sized,
· Buy 2 feet of PVC pipe, of diameter of pole (pole will be inserted into pipe), set in center of hole
· Plumb the pipe (make level all around), hang a string with weight to compare
· Add in one bag kwik set cement mixed with water (recommended am’t)
· Hold pole plumb or prop up until cement firms up
· After 3-4 hours, set pole into PVC pipe/sleeve
Other options involve digging very very deep and getting a lot of stone, and doing a lot of compacting. Pole will move and you won’t like it very much over time.
The cement route is the easiest, yet strongest and SAFEST.
And by setting the pole in a sleeve as Philster recommends, you can easily remove it for stringing a new halyard. Or to prvent it being damaged on Haloween.
Here’s how I would do it if i did not want to use concrete:
Make a crosstrees with two 2’ lengths of 2 x 6 pressure treated lumber. Make a hole in the center of the cross so the pole fits into it snuggly. Dig a hole and place the crosstrees about 2.5 - 3 feet down. Adjust pole to vertical and hold there with stays to three spikes. Now the pole is held vertically while we continue work. Start refilling hole tamping soil down well. Another similar or slightly smaller crosstrees placed at about 8 - 10" below grade, while not strictly necessary will make it even better, especially if the soil is not hard. Finish refilling and covering with soil.
This is a bit more labor than using concrete but probably better in result and you can use some scraps of lumber.