This pier is well overdue!
I should have done this a looong time ago, but I live in a rental and wasn't sure about putting a pier in the back yard.
My Rent inspections are very infrequent these days, approx. every six months, and I'll have to remove the pier each time one is due.
Having to remove and replace/realign the pier has got to be less trouble than setting-up
every time I want to use my gear.
The idea is to have the base set into the ground so that I can cover the exposed concrete footings and studs with a cut-down irrigation valve box(see pic) which shouldn't attract too much attention from the inspector
I'm not going for an observatory unfortunately, there are too many sheds on the block already,
but I do plan to leave the mount set up on the pier with a removable weatherproof cover over it.
I have bought the materials already, these were offcuts from the local steel merchant.
The tube is 770mm long, 140mm OD with 5mm thick wall, the base plate is 200mm square by 10mm thick, top plate is 150mm square by 12mm thick.
Gussets are 5 or 6mm thick, 400mm long. These I haven't got yet but HRS strip is easily obtainable.
The studs for the footing will be M16, welded to a frame and concreted in.
The bolts that attach the mount adaptor are M10 in 316 stainless.
I'll be welding tomorrow, which concerns me a little as I haven't really used a welder since I was in high-school, so the welds are likely to be a dog's breakfast by the time I'm done
I have read about the plates warping during welding, but I plan to tack the buggery out of the pier before I go back and make short passes with plenty of cooling time between.
Dunno if that will work but I have my fingers crossed.
I have attached a couple of images from my roughly thrown together 3D model based on the materials I have, they're pretty basic, I haven't bothered to 'pretty picture' render them.
Bolts are shown in the place of studs as an example only. The studs will only have maybe 40 or 50mm exposed from the surface of the concrete.
For anyone interested in getting a better look, the following link is to a 3D PDF file that you can check out various preset views I have made, or, you can rotate and zoom the model.
To use:
Click and hold the Left mouse button while dragging to rotate.
Hold down both buttons at the same time to 'pan'.
Takes a little getting used to.
The link:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/download....29599595082340
EDIT: DO NOT open the pdf in a browser, it won't do anything bad, just that the 3D will not work.
It must be opened in Acrobat Reader for the 3D feature to work.