Need T-14 pole advice please.....................
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geneinmurphy
- Posts: 348
- Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2003 12:09 pm
- Location: North Carolina/Murphy
Just bought a T-14 real cheap and plan to use a 6" X 6" solid wood pole or the laminated 2X6's and 1X6 together as in the Troyer assembly manual. I prefer not to use the 6" X 6" pole due to it's heavy weight and the difficulty of moving it around. Are the two 2X6"'s and 1X6" combo as strong as the 6X6 pole??? The longest 2X6's I can find in my area, by hte way, are 16' long....Troyer recommends 20' ones.....thoughts??
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yvesquad
Hi,
Or maybe a round steel pole ???
http://home.earthlink.net/~chuckabare/t14mtg.htm
Have a nice day
Yves
Or maybe a round steel pole ???
http://home.earthlink.net/~chuckabare/t14mtg.htm
Have a nice day
Yves
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Guest
I special ordered a 20 foot 6 x 6, and then cemented 2 steel plates in the ground that had 3 holes in them. I attached the 6 x 6 inside these steel plates through the 3 holes. We put the bolt in the center hole, and then two men tilted it up until we could get the other two bolts in.
I wanted it out of the ground so the wood wouldn't rot, and it also gave me more height to give better tree clearance.
It has been up for about 8 years and doing fine.
I also drilled about a half inch hole about 6 feet up from ground and put in a steel rod that sticks out about 8 inches on each side. this is a safety feature in case the wench gets away from me when I am putting the house up and down.
put it is a heavy pole, and it does stop me from taking it down and improving on the perches on top
I wanted it out of the ground so the wood wouldn't rot, and it also gave me more height to give better tree clearance.
It has been up for about 8 years and doing fine.
I also drilled about a half inch hole about 6 feet up from ground and put in a steel rod that sticks out about 8 inches on each side. this is a safety feature in case the wench gets away from me when I am putting the house up and down.
put it is a heavy pole, and it does stop me from taking it down and improving on the perches on top
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Emil Pampell-Tx
- Posts: 6743
- Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 1:26 pm
- Location: Tx, Richmond (SW of Houston)
- Martin Colony History: First started in Gretna, La in 1969 with a small homemade house, have had martins ever since at 2 different homes in Texas
Sharon, you have some excellent ideas! I also had to raise my poles, as I had some that rotted at the top of the ground and fell over. Another thing about your idea, that pole should never break no matter what you put on it.
If someone wishes to use a wooden pole, I think that your idea is the very best!
If someone wishes to use a wooden pole, I think that your idea is the very best!
PMCA Member, 250 gourds, 6 poles, 2traps
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geneinmurphy
- Posts: 348
- Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2003 12:09 pm
- Location: North Carolina/Murphy
rdharlin...this 3" square steel tubing.....do you have to paint it to keep it from rusting???
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Laverne
- Posts: 2216
- Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2004 1:58 pm
- Location: TX/Alvin
- Martin Colony History: Erected 1st house in 1997. Birds were checking it out before Mike got down from the ladder. Six cavities had a little colony 1st year. Grown to 88 cavities all gourds with near 100% occupancy. Most important factor for success is rain = bugs.
My housing has always been mounted on pipe. Plain old galvanized pipe. It is inexpensive - readily available - not too heavy to handle - and strong. We use schedule 40 2" that has been cut to 10'6" lengths and threaded for simplicity in hauling. We couple two sections together (cutting one end off to a total length of 16 or 17 feet), drill a hole in our very hard ground and sink about 3 feet of the pipe in the ground (that puts the top of the pole 14 - 15 feet up). Putting a sleeve in the ground would keep the pipe more secure in high wind, especially if your ground is soft. The coupling acts as a stop for the house to sit on when lowered. The only problem for me was that this was too high for me to reach the houses from the ground (So, I suppose you could have the pipe cut to the proper length without a coupling). I always had to use a ladder for nest checks. Now that we've switched to gourds - the racks stop at just the right height for me to check them from the ground.
A house with a square hole can be modified with a square piece of wood or metal with a round hole cut in it to fit the size of the pipe. We built the floor of our houses from a solid piece of wood with the circle cut to fit the pipe and then inserted a wooden assembly at the top to hold the house vertically straight on the pole. The cable used to raise and lower the house was attached to the flooring piece and threaded through a small hole at the top of the house. To maintain the proper orientation for the Purple Martins, we drilled a hole through the top of the pole, installed a piece of allthread that would catch in a slot on the top of the house to anchor it in the proper position. All of this worked very well for us. When we first erected martin housing - it would have never happened if it was too expensive. Where there is a will, there is a way!
Have fun!
A house with a square hole can be modified with a square piece of wood or metal with a round hole cut in it to fit the size of the pipe. We built the floor of our houses from a solid piece of wood with the circle cut to fit the pipe and then inserted a wooden assembly at the top to hold the house vertically straight on the pole. The cable used to raise and lower the house was attached to the flooring piece and threaded through a small hole at the top of the house. To maintain the proper orientation for the Purple Martins, we drilled a hole through the top of the pole, installed a piece of allthread that would catch in a slot on the top of the house to anchor it in the proper position. All of this worked very well for us. When we first erected martin housing - it would have never happened if it was too expensive. Where there is a will, there is a way!
Have fun!
Sincerely,
Laverne
Laverne