The Flagpole Project

The Old Man has been looking to get a flagpole but the good ones are expensive, even the cheesy ones are expensive.

My brother found one on Craiglist yesterday that was only on there for an hour, we went and looked at it last night and it's a real flagpole that you might find at government building or something like that. It's 20 feet high, all aluminum. Maybe 5 to 6 inches at the base and has this large American Eagle on the top. The Eagle might be brass or some other alloy but it's pretty grunged up and hard to tell. By the looks of the concrete base it must have been there for 40 years if not more.

Got it for $200 but we have to remove it ourselves. Todays project is to take the jackhammer to the concrete and get it here. I'll post some pictures when I have a chance.

Best part is the Old Man is on vacation, going to be a nice surprise if we can get it planted before he gets back.

Good deal Richard. Can't wait to see the pics. You'll make your dad proud.

Good for you my friend.

Any suggestions for cleaning the aluminum? It's oxidized but no pitting or anything like that. I'm thinking of just going to auto store and get some aluminum polish and finish it off with a coat of car wax.

Richard S. wrote:Any suggestions for cleaning the aluminum? It's oxidized but no pitting or anything like that. I'm thinking of just going to auto store and get some aluminum polish and finish it off with a coat of car wax.

Try this.....it may work.


http://www.stain-removal-101.com/homema ... eaner.html

Richard,

Try this product if you can find it.

http://www.buschshineproducts.com/index ... ucts_id=25

Should be available at most auto supply stores. I used it on an all aluminum jet boat to clean the outside.
Be aware that there is some odor due to the phosphoric acid so make sure you are in a well ventilated area.



Rick

Richard S. wrote:Any suggestions for cleaning the aluminum? It's oxidized but no pitting or anything like that. I'm thinking of just going to auto store and get some aluminum polish and finish it off with a coat of car wax.

Investigate carefully before you use harsh chemicals. It might be anodized. A very hard electrolytic passivation process the protects it. I'd just wash it with detergent and fast orange pumic.

IF it does not have a coating, the auto stores have an aluminum wash for NON clear coated wheels, then a follow up with aluminum polish. Keeping something like aluminum polished like chrome will require alot of up keep, and all the dirt, etc. will show, where a satin finish is more practicle. Will you be aluminating the flag at night ?

Do you know how deep it is buried in the concrete? I did some research on those poles a while back, and some of them maybe as deep as 5ft. Doubtfull its that deep though, if its only 20ft tall, probably closer to 3ft deep.

Good score Richard! What a great gift for dad!

My redneck method of polishing aluminum ..... I take a drill at full speed & jam it into a rag so it wraps all around it tight, then smear Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish on the piece, then buff it out with the redneck buffer you just created. Works great & saves lots of time - just make sure the drill is completely covered for obvious reasons. You'll have to go back over it with a clean rag, & polish up & remove all the black crap afterward.

sterling40man wrote:
Try this.....it may work.

I tried some white vinegar, didn't touch it. Going to the auto store tomorrow.

Yanche wrote:Investigate carefully before you use harsh chemicals. It might be anodized.

I'll do a test area first, I was watching a video on the "Mothers" product and they said you should see a black film once you start polishing. If not you should stop because it's probably coated or anodized.

AA130FIREMAN wrote:Will you be aluminating the flag at night ?

There's wire running out to some lights in the trees in the front, just not sure exactly where it is buried but it should be close. I was also looking at some solar <gasp> lighting which would be pretty ideal for this so I don't have to mess around with hard wiring it, just not sure if it will be bright enough.

DVC500 at last wrote:Do you know how deep it is buried in the concrete?

I know now! About 3 feet but we were starting to get worried when it wasn't moving at all after 2 feet. They had some well casing about 2 feet long they welded a flat piece of steel to the one end, they put the base of flag pole inside the well casing and filled it with concrete. This casing is still on it. There was a layer of large rock and concrete around the casing about a foot and half high and 2 1/2 feet in diameter. It was capped with finished concrete about 1.5 feet high and 2 feet in diameter, very white and very hard. The finished concrete was the hardest part but it came off the bottom layer, must of been poured separately. We started getting worried because we could see the top of this well casing, more concrete and what looked like some wire and rebar , the damn thing wasn't moving in the ground at all..... Turns out the "rebar" and wire was a lightning rod. That second layer busted up a lot faster and once we got most of it out we were able to push it over. Took about two hours, but we had a jackhammer.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Here's some pictures, my Brother has the ones when we taking it out so I don't have them.

Here's the whole pole, about 24 feet in total. The exposed base of the pole is just over 4 inches in diameter.



Here's the well casing, the white part indicates where the concrete started.


Here's the eagle on top, the gold is most likely paint. Whatever it is it's coming off. It's hollow. Not sure what I'm going to do with it but I'll clean it up first to get the paint/plating off and take it from there.


Here's the company that made it:

Good find!

Are you going to be able to remove the well casing and get to the bare pole? Or, will that stay & be a forever part?

I thought I'd share how our flag pole is held up. A few years back Marty bought a flag pole for my birthday. It's 25 feet if I remember. Similar to yours, it's about 5" at the base. It came with a plastic sleeve, I can't remember if it was 3 or 4 feet long, but it was an inch or so larger than the pole, perhaps 6" inside. Anyway, I followed the directions: Dig, or bore a hole that the sleeve fits down into, The top of the sleeve level with the ground surface. Using a 4' level, so the sleeve is correct, fill in with concrete so the sleeve is secure. After the concrete is set, stand the pole in the hole. While someone holds the pole level, fill in around the pole with fine sand. Job done. Now if the pole ever needs to come out, it's an easy job.

I'm anxious to see it up!

Freddy wrote:Good find!

Are you going to be able to remove the well casing and get to the bare pole? Or, will that stay & be a forever part?

I don't see any reason to take it off and even if I did that would a lot of work.... It's going in the ground as it is. Basically the same way it was installed before.

. Using a 4' level, so the sleeve is correct, fill in with concrete so the sleeve is secure. After the concrete is set, stand the pole in the hole.

I'm guessing they did something similar here but the casing is not exactly even with the pole. They probably installed the casing first with larger rock and concrete in the lower layer. After that was set they must of set the pole in the casing, leveled it and filled it concrete. I think what I'll do is put an inch or two of concrete in the hole and then put the pole in the hole, that way I'll know there isn't any voids below it. I'll level it off with some supports and then add a foot of rocks and concrete. Once that sets up I'll do the cap.

That will look nice. Just a reminder, don't go sticking you toung on the pole in winter, or you'll end up like Ralphie's friend on the triple dog dare 'ya