# 20’ light pole



## Cow (Jan 16, 2008)

rent a 19' scissor lift, they're cheap.


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## WronGun (Oct 18, 2013)

Cow said:


> rent a 19' scissor lift, they're cheap.




The ground is a little rough where this is going as the pole is on grass about 8’ away from the uneven roadway. 


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

They make bucket trucks with booms that are rated for a lot of weight. The type on a flatbed truck. They have outriggers so they will work on the uneven ground. Many have 60' booms so you can stay far back on the pavement.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

You won't need a very big truck to go over 8 and up 20. They have a lift rating, 200 pounds is nothing. I think the ones built on an F450 with 35' boom will probably handle this but check with the rental people.


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## Jlarson (Jun 28, 2009)

Call a crane company, if you have the pole sitting there and the base all ready to pick it shouldn't cost too much. At least here it wouldn't.


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## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

Heave that mother.


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

WronGun said:


> The ground is a little rough where this is going as the pole is on grass about 8’ away from the uneven roadway.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Rent a towable. Send the skinny kid up to hold on to it.


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## Signal1 (Feb 10, 2016)

HackWork said:


> They make bucket trucks with booms that are rated for a lot of weight. The type on a flatbed truck. They have outriggers so they will work on the uneven ground. Many have 60' booms so you can stay far back on the pavement.


These are commonly referred to here as a Materials Handling unit.
@WronGun- they have them for rent at Colvin's

http://www.colvins.com/truck-for-sale/392/43'-Material-Handler


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## catsparky1 (Sep 24, 2013)

Put the heads on it wire it up then toss it on the rack on the truck . Back the truck up to the base about 2 feet away . Slide pole onto base with bolt holes over the back 2 bolts . Take a rope make a loop so the pole can't fall over and tie it to truck . Tie another rope to pole and set it up and slap washers and nuts on as fast as you can . 

See that was easy . Now go get that check .


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

If you're a boy scout, you can raise this easily with three sticks of 1" EMT and a knot called the "icicle hitch" but @WronGun is no damned boy scout.


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## kb1jb1 (Nov 11, 2017)

I have set dozens of 24 foot steel poles off the roof of my truck. It might not be a recognized safe way to do it but it is quick and easy. Then again I have a 11 foot high box truck. I built a platform with safety rails.


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## WronGun (Oct 18, 2013)

splatz said:


> If you're a boy scout, you can raise this easily with three sticks of 1" EMT and a knot called the "icicle hitch" but @WronGun is no damned boy scout.




I would actually pay to see this done. Especially, on this 20’ light pole I have.... 


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## trentonmakes (Mar 21, 2017)

splatz said:


> You won't need a very big truck to go over 8 and up 20. They have a lift rating, 200 pounds is nothing. I think the ones built on an F450 with 35' boom will probably handle this but check with the rental people.


4 head, 30ft pole

Put the head on and strapped it and up it went.

Difficult part was rotating it so the base lined up on the bolts.

Heads kept hitting the boom when trying to turn the pole









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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

trentonmakes said:


> 4 head, 30ft pole
> 
> Put the head on and strapped it and up it went.
> 
> ...


Nice job but, If you setup a little different...


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## trentonmakes (Mar 21, 2017)

Southeast Power said:


> Nice job but, If you setup a little different...


Theres only set screws holding the heads on.

I was nervous as hell the strap would slide up and take the heads off!

Strapped the pole and it never did move, it tightened a bunch, but didn't move. Lol

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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

trentonmakes said:


> Theres only set screws holding the heads on.
> 
> I was nervous as hell the strap would slide up and take the heads off!
> 
> ...


I see now.
I like to try to bind the sling just above the tipping point if possible but, it looks like that pole could be too smooth for that.
We dont see many steel poles here, usually direct bury concrete. 

One exception coming up for us are some short poles on concrete bases.

segue into another topic..


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

Use a hook on the end of your rope or strap. Put a piece of cardboard into the access hole and hook the hook there. Then put a couple half inches around the pole and make the last one right above the center of gravity. It will never slide that way.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

This is the idea but like @HackWork says you don't need the big knot at the end, you can just hook it to the access hole.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

WronGun said:


> I would actually pay to see this done. Especially, on this 20’ light pole I have....


I think the American Electrician Handbook has this method illustrated - the book is 100 years old now - they still show the old Amish style pre-equipment methods. 

It looks something like this










In 2019, the bucket truck makes more sense.


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

HackWork said:


> Use a hook on the end of your rope or strap. Put a piece of cardboard into the access hole and hook the hook there. Then put a couple *half inches* around the pole and make the last one right above the center of gravity. It will never slide that way.


I can't edit my post, so I will say it here. Siri auto-corrected what I said to "half inches". I meant "half hitches".

I always put a minimum of 2 but on a long pole I would put 3 or 4 along the length of the pole, with the last one being right above the center of gravity.


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## Jarp Habib (May 18, 2014)

Do you know any Scotsmen proficient in the caber toss?


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

_One time_, another guy and myself put up a 30-something ft. pole light in the middle of a busy parking lot with cars and people with nothing more than a bucket truck and a tow strap...

That was probably the most ridiculous, 3-ring circus, cowboy nonsense I've ever done in this trade. I almost dropped it several times. It was the grace of God alone that nobody got hurt. 

Our faces were stone cold for about 20-30 minutes. Lol


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## Tonedeaf (Nov 26, 2012)

you can definitely use a genie boom or bucket truck.......But I usually troll around looking for a local sign guy in the area ......I can usually find a guy for 250-500 bucks to lift a pole just work with their schedule....get them to do it coming back from another job its easy money for them.


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