Anyone put up a flag pole at their house? I'm thinking about things like lightning risk, distance from the house, inclement weather precautions, etc. What should I be considering if I decide to put one up? I'm thinking 20-25' give or take.
BTW, I wouldn't be flying a US flag, so lights and proper flag etiquette wouldn't be required. This is just decorative.
In reply to ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) :
Thank you for the last sentence. That's another pet peeve of mine. Damn I'm getting old and have too many get off my lawn issues.
I put a 20ft in my side yard. House blocks the predominant wind direction and it is just far enough that if it does fall over, it will not hit someone walking by on the sidewalk. I used 80lbs of concrete to secure it into the 2ft deep hole that I dug for it. I also put 4x 1ft rebar pieces sticking out of the concrete like a plus sign a few inches below ground for added stability and to give something to tie into if I ever decide to add more concrete. My house is taller than the pole and 15ft away, so not too worried about lightning. If anything, it may act as a lightning rod and direct strikes away from my house.
In reply to Stampie (FS) :
LOL, no I get it. No matter what my feelings are about our government, if one chooses to fly a US flag it should be done correctly per accepted protocol.
EDIT: I'm actually considering using an old sailboat mast if I could come up with one cheaply and locally.
Put it on a hinge, mess with your neighbors:
In reply to slefain :
Shhh...loose lips sink ships man!
In reply to ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) :
I have a 20 foot flag pole in the front yard about 70 feet from the house. I have an island in the middle of the drive and put it there. Planted it in cush and run about 2.5 feet deep. I never gave much concern to lightning because I have enough pines that will probably take the hit before the flag pole. We've been on the outer fringe of the tornado that hit this area a month ago or so and it never moved.
Dunno about residential units. Just make sure you have a way to service it if anything happens to the rope.....
Fun story about flag-poles related to that. Our work pole is 100' tall and last year the rope broke. I had to go up in the lift to replace it. (A JLG 125' lift btw) 50' up feels fine, 75' is a bit wiggly, at 90' my knees really didn't want to support me and it took a serious act of willpower to force myself upright and get the rope threaded through the pulley. Heights are weird.
KyAllroad (Jeremy) (Forum Supporter) said:Dunno about residential units. Just make sure you have a way to service it if anything happens to the rope.....
Fun story about flag-poles related to that. Our work pole is 100' tall and last year the rope broke. I had to go up in the lift to replace it. (A JLG 125' lift btw) 50' up feels fine, 75' is a bit wiggly, at 90' my knees really didn't want to support me and it took a serious act of willpower to force myself upright and get the rope threaded through the pulley. Heights are weird.
For me it's not as much the height, but what's around me. I'm happy to be up in the air with a bunch of tree branches around me, but at the same height (or less) in an open field, I squirm a lot more!
ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Stampie (FS) :
LOL, no I get it. No matter what my feelings are about our government, if one chooses to fly a US flag it should be done correctly per accepted protocol.
EDIT: I'm actually considering using an old sailboat mast if I could come up with one cheaply and locally.
It really bothers me that so many of my neighbors with flags on their dock fail to bring it down at night. (Illegal to have bright lights at or beyond shoreline). Fail to bring it down in the rain, and just toss worn flags in the trash when burning is required.
KyAllroad (Jeremy) (Forum Supporter) said:Dunno about residential units. Just make sure you have a way to service it if anything happens to the rope.....
Fun story about flag-poles related to that. Our work pole is 100' tall and last year the rope broke. I had to go up in the lift to replace it. (A JLG 125' lift btw) 50' up feels fine, 75' is a bit wiggly, at 90' my knees really didn't want to support me and it took a serious act of willpower to force myself upright and get the rope threaded through the pulley. Heights are weird.
I worked for a sign shop for years repairing and installing LED signs. Being up 40-50-60,' even 80', never bothered my as long as the basket was solid. Went up to 110' once on a winter day with a wind advisory. The basket was swaying 10' back and forth. I pulled the plug on that one. The other one that scared me was 80' up in an old truck whose boom was round and swayed like a fishing pole. The basket on it was the size of a large metal trash can. I'm tall enough that my height overcentered the basket pivots - if I leaned over with the pivots unlocked it would have dumped me. We used that truck several times for a specific sign by the interstate...
I also got stuck at about 30' when my one-person truck shut off and wouldn't restart. I literally phoned a friend to come by and jump start the truck so I could get down.
In reply to ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) :
Sailboard masts are generally 4.5 metres so may be a tad short.
I realize you don't need lighting, but there is an easy solution to this if you change your mind.
My neighbor has a flagpole with a solar light on top. It's ring-shaped LEDs with a small solar panel on top, and points down lighting the flag. It works really well.
Not sure what they cost, but it looks like it should be reasonable.
In reply to ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) :
I have some sort of sail & aluminum mast hanging in my garage if you are interested. I think it came from some sort of catamaran like a Hobie. Looks like 2 aluminum pipes about 12-14 ft long wrapped in a sail. Pipe looks to be 1.75" or maybe 2" OD. Located near Columbia, SC off I-26 Exit 101. Free, would like to see it go in the next couple months. I can get it down & measure/photo of you are interested. Probably be the weekend before I can get it down.
Since the future canoe maker brought this back up I'll just say that putting lighting on the flag is a Bob Costas ass move. berkeleying bring the flag down at the proper times like you mean it.
I get the "fly it proper" crowd, I do. I served my 24 years. But when people wear it as underwear, or bikinis (see budweiser ads), I cease to find it in my heart to give two berkeleys (wait- the berkeleys may never have been there!) if people fly a flag and forget to light it, or (insert pedantic trivia for proper flag display here). I fly a ginormous flag on the back of my garage and don't light it at night (gasp!).
In reply to ianmitch :
Canoes don't have flagpoles.
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