Hinged mouting pole

[Lloyd]

I want to mount my sensors on a 14' alloy pole that I intend to mount to an existing 4" square wooden post, about 7' tall. Ideally I want to attach the alloy quite low down, and fix in such a way that by removing an upper mounting, I can hinge the whole pole down to the ground with it still attached to the bottom of the wooden post, for sensor maintenace. That's probably as clear as mud, but if anyone has understood what I want to do, and can suggest what mountings I can use for the hinge, please let me know.

Thanks

Lloyd

[Super-T]

Just use 2 bolts and remove one to swing the pole down....assuming you have room.

[Lloyd]

Just use 2 bolts and remove one to swing the pole down....assuming you have room.

Thanks, but I was trying to avoid drilling through the pole. (Thinking about it, I'm not sure why I have an aversion to doing this.) Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Lloyd

[bruce45]

what about making "u" bolts that could be used to hold the pole in place and fixed to a back plate. bigger version of exhaust clips type of thing?

[Ned]

Knowing the tube diameter and thickness would be useful, but you're right about drilling holes for bolts - a hole at the upper fixing will weaken the tube at the point of greatest bending stresses.
It would be preferable to pass the tube through a pivoting sleeve - the simplest way I can think of is to use a galvanised ring bolt, with a close fitting short PVC tube between them (to avoid a point load and eliminate galvanic contact between dissimilar metals).
A U-bolt as mentioned would suffice for the bottom fixing, again with an insulator between them such as rubber.

[Super-T]

Yes....mine is in fact not drilled at the upper bolt due to possible weakening.

[Lloyd]

Knowing the tube diameter and thickness would be useful, but you're right about drilling holes for bolts - a hole at the upper fixing will weaken the tube at the point of greatest bending stresses.

I'm proposing to use either 2" or 1.5" 16G (1.6mm) aluminium.

Lloyd

[Gina]

I'm planning to do something similar with aluminium pipe. Currently I have a multi-section mast made up of 2" galvanised water pipe at the bottom and copper pipe for middle and top sections with insulation between the galvanised and copper. It's attached to a 4" square fence post about 5ft high with a large jubilee clip. The bottom sits on/in the ground and I use the ground as a pivot when lowering and raising the mast.

My new mast will consist of a 5m x 50mm approx bottom section and a slightly smaller 2.5m length for the top. I'm planning to attach the new mast to the NW corner of my observatory with a pivot at the bottom. I have yet to work out the details of the two fixings but I have in mind a simple bolt at the bottom and maybe a U bolt at the top. OTOH I would like something easier to undo than a U bolt. I'll be working on a design soon and will post my thoughts and later on, photos of the construction.