And now we have one.

I've always wanted a flagpole in the front yard. But good ones are expensive and my wife didn't like the idea. Then, about a week ago, over beers on our next next door neighbour's deck, he says "A friend of mine is giving me a flagpole." I mentioned how I'd always wanted one. "You can have this one."

Cool!

Next day he brought it over. "Flagpole" was a very kind description. It was 14' 8" of very ill-treated 2" O.D. aluminum tube with a raggedy cleat on it.

I decided to save it.

Cleaned it up. Cut off the old cleat. Bought a 6' section to extend it and an 18" piece to slip inside both to connect them. Some 1/4-20 stainless cap head bolts to secure everything, a new cleat, a truck for the top, a pole topper, some really nice 5/16" line from my sailing days and some fixed-eye bronze snaps.

On Monday put 30" of PVC in the ground; 6" of crushed, packed stone under it; 6" more around the bottom, then 240 lbs. of Quickcrete.

Finished assembling everything yesterday and rigged the halyard last night. Pole and flag went up for the first time at 08:00 this morning







ETA: Finally a bit of a breeze and I caught one with the flag flying.

Beauty. Nice way to celebrate the 4th.

Excellent! Happy 4th of July!

Nice! Can't even tell where you extended it.

There is something strangly calming to me to hear the clamps/snaps/whatever it's called clanking against the pole in the wind. No clue why, but it puts me at ease. Just the sight of the flag puts me at ease.

I'm always happy when I pull up to a customer's house and there is a flag flying, like a secret symbol that the owner of the house isn't all that bad, and probably someone I'd like.

Beautiful! Just in time for the for the Fourth.

I hope you remembered to place the razor, the match, and the round of 45 ACP in the truck

Outstanding!

Happy 4th of July.

what a great job

Very well done. Two thumbs up.

Hell yeah.

Now that's very very nice!

Well done, sir. And Happy Independence Day to you and your family.

Salute!

Nice!

A suggestion, put a ring of grease around the base of the pole just at the top of the pvc to keep crud from falling in and making it difficult to remove the pole.

Are you going to light it up so you leave it flying at night? We have a neighbor that does that and it's really nice to see it late at night. It's a calming sight.

Jim

Thanks, everybody! And a Happy Independence Day to y'all, too!

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
There is something strangly calming to me to hear the clamps/snaps/whatever it's called clanking against the pole in the wind. No clue why, but it puts me at ease. Just the sight of the flag puts me at ease.

Actually, just the line, itself, can result in that. Some people love it. Some people hate it. When we still had a sailboat we were expected to Take Measures to eliminate that. One time I forgot and found somebody had boarded our boat and done it for us.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
A suggestion, put a ring of grease around the base of the pole just at the top of the pvc to keep crud from falling in and making it difficult to remove the pole.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
Are you going to light it up so you leave it flying at night?

Neither the grease nor the light will be necessary. I generally fly the flag only on special days. The only time it's been left up at night has been on the rare occasions I've forgotten to bring it in in the evening. (I now set an alarm for sunset on my phone.)

Howdy,
Great job, I feel great when I see THE Flag in a breeze.
Many here in small town Texas fly it and the Texas flag.
We love life here.

Good job! My HOA doesn't allow vertical poles (I don't own the front lawn--they do) but I have a 45° pole on my front garage. The Flag flies 24/7 and is illuminated at night (with 2 lamps, one on a timer and the other by dark).

DSC_4906 by David Casteel, on Flickr

Happy 4th of July!

flashguy

... always a sight to see the flag moving in any breeze.

Freedoms.

Well done.

ps - mbinky - thank you for the trk reminder.

Nicely done ensigmatic. Happy 4th of July greetings from Belleville MI.

I’ve been the proud owner of a flag pole for a bit over 12 years. Similar setup, 2” aluminum tubing, but sections that are about 4.5’ long. It was 5 sections, so about 20’ above ground, also had truck, cleat, line, and a 3’ x 5’ polyester flag. It cost about $80 for the set at the time.

About a year after I got it, Lowes had a damaged/returned one on clearance. Missing the truck and one section was dented. Marked down to $19.97. I snapped it up.

Added one section to my existing pole to push it to about 24’ above ground. Kept the others as “spares” in case of damage. Have moved twice since original purchase and I just cut the pole at the ground to take it to the next house instead of having to dig it out.


At our current house, it is lit at night and flies 24/7 almost 365. I bring it down in heavy winds since 24’ of pole can get quite a bit of flex, even with a light 3’x5’ flag. I have a Polyester 3’x5’ “foul weather flag” that flies during the winter, 3’x5’ nylon one for good weather, and a 5’x’7 nylon one for holidays and occasions.


I also find the clinking of hardware on pole “comforting”. If the wind is blowing the right direction, the flag is visible from our bedroom window. I also get a comforting feeling when I happen to wake in the middle of the night to roll over or go to the bathroom.


Here is a photo of my pole with the flag at half mast with the Marine Corps flag in 2015 after the attack on the Marine recruiting office in Chattanooga TN killing four Marines.