Seemed Like Such A Simple Project

[dourobob]

Wouldn't we all /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
It is really interesting how this Simple Project thread has evolved.

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue> interesting how this Simple Project thread has evolved</font color=blue>

I'll bring it back on track here -- just got back from picking up 3 sacks of Fast-Setting Quikrete and a cap for the 2" PVC pipe I'm gonna use for the sleeve. Might as well keep stuff from falling into the hole when the pole is out.

Headin' up to the property tomorrow.

 

[TonyC]

Good luck Harv. I'll look forward to the continuation of the photo record on Monday!

 

[Golfgar4]

Yeah, good luck, Harv! Let's just hope your post for Monday is REAL short. Like - Here's the hole with the sleeve, see how the pole fits? Now wasn't that easy? /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>Let's just hope your post for Monday is REAL short.</font color=blue>

Ha! You should know me better than that by now! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Golfgar4]

I hope you didn't take that wrong! /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif I meant that everything went so well for you, you didn't have anything to write about! Of course, I DO realize you would still make that entertaining! /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[Harv]

Been sitting on these pictures for a week now, so I guess it's time to wrap this one up.

Although I wound up with precious little time to work on it, I finally got that danged pole planted. Turns out I not only had a piece of PVC pipe that was just the right size for a sleeve, but I found another short length o' plastic pipe that fit inside the sleeve like a glove. Since my steel pole is long and heavy, this short piece of plastic stuff made vertical alignment much easier.

I thought two sacks of fast-setting QuickCrete would do the job, so I brought three just to be sure. Guess I was thinking in terms of the ol' 90-pound sacks, 'cuz it took all 3 of these wimpy 50-pounders and begged for one more. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif I made up the difference by waiting for the concrete to set and then topping off the hole with the same crush I used for my culverts. Brought out my tamping tool and really packed it in. Not ideal, but the pole seems sturdy enough so far.

Rather than leaving the pole there all the time, just begging for some clutz with a tractor to bump into it /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif, the plan is to simply remove it whenever we're not there or when I'm working in the area. I let the sleeve protrude from the ground a couple of inches so's I could cap it off, hopefully preventing the sleeve from getting filled up with dirt, leaves, etc.

I probably spent more time taking the attached pictures than I did actually working on the project this time, but hey, once you start a photo documentary you just gotta see it through.

 

[Harv]

One last shot to show what this whole thing was about.

 

[MossRoad]

That IS what its all about. Great post (pun intended).

 

[EdKing]

Well, like they say Harv, all's well that ends well. I like the cap idea, I can see where it would be a real pain cleaning debris out of the pipe. Just make sure you don't mow over it with the finish mower./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>make sure you don't mow over it with the finish mower</font color=blue>

I made sure the cap is just a hair below grade, but of course that won't save it from being hammered by the guage wheel. Fact is, that's an area I generally control by spraying. I just wonder how long before I accidentally drive over it with a big ol' tractor wheel.

 

[ronjhall]

Harv
Your tetherball brings back old memories when I was your kid’s age. My parents built a Tetherball in the backyard. My brothers, sister and I spent many hours playing with it. May have been what kept us out of trouble more than any other playground equipment we had. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif Our parents built a teeter-totter, monkey bars, chining bar, and 2 swings. One swings was built 15 ft high. I can still remember the butterflies when we would pump it hard enough to get it almost straight out. /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif
Keep doing the great projects. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Hope the next one goes a little smoother than this one went. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[Bird]

That looks great, Harv. One little thing that makes me curious is the order of the pictures makes it appear that you poured in the dry mix then added the water (mixed it in the hole, I guess?) and I wondered if you did it in that order. I always poured in the bucket of water then the dry mix. Kinda curious as to whether the order in which they're put into the hole makes much difference.

 

[TonyC]

<font color=blue>I made sure the cap is just a hair below grade</font color=blue>

Great job Harv. I'm exhausted! I just hope the kids don't get tired of Tetherball too quickly. A comment on the cap. On a similar project a did a long time ago I used what's called a test cap. It is a flat cap with a lip that seats inside the pipe. There is no protrusion that way and you can bury the pipe virtually all the way up. You may have seen these already but thought I'd mention it.

What's our next project?/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[Harv]

Bird -

Up until this project I had always mixed the stuff in a wheelbarrow first, even though I had heard you could do it right in the hole. Guess I wasn't convinced it would mix properly.

This time, however, I grabbed a flyer at the store since I had never used the fast-setting stuff before. So for the first time that I can remember, I actually followed the instructions! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif (See attachment)

Oh, and Ron --

Yeah, the kids are reaching the age where I can actually remember what it was like. I loved the heck out of tetherball when I was my daughter's age, and now that she's challenged me to a game or two, guess what? I still like it. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Inspector507]

Bird,
I've seen the bags of Quickrete or whatever brand that you mix in the hole, but just never trusted them. I like to see it mixed properly I guess.

 

[MrP]

Harv,

Great job! Looks super. The kids will love it for years to come.

I used the quickrete no mix on my mailbox post three years ago. Still hasn't moved an inch. But when I did my flag pole, I used the old method.

 

[Bird]

Jerry, I used to be the same way, but it really is a lot easier to mix it in the hole, but everyone I know puts the water in first (thinking it'll get mixed better than way), but Harv's instructions showed to put the dry mix in first. Now I wonder whether either way actually works better than the other.

 

[MikePA]

Putting the dry mix in first, then adding the water is the same way I mix concrete in a wheel barrow. So, the instructions Harv posted make sense to me. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif