Cheap parkinglot poles

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quogueelectric

quogueelectric

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Location
new york
Does anyone have a suggestion for a decent cheap parkinglot pole in the 15 foot range Emphasis on price I saw what looked to be a plastic coated or fiberglass one today but it didnt seem to have a name on it and too much poison ivy to investigate too closely?? Not near vehicular traffic so large concrete base is not necessary.
 
A number of the cheap pole lights out there have no listing, so if it is for a parking lot, it may not pass the inspection.
 
Good point the old poles were homemade jobs from 4" rigid with a cap and a 500w quartz light on top.
They all rusted out and fell over at the bottom threads except for 2 which are about to go. They probably lasted a good 30+ years.
Customer is a friend and I am looking for as cheap a solution as possible for him. I would prefer a 175w hid coach type head on a decent pole but I am concerned with light polution in this area I only want the light to go into the parkinglot.
I have all week to figure this out. I see prices between 300-600 per 600 plus+ plus install will give him chest pain. Will definitely be dog and pony show to find where these are fed from about 30 or better tennant spaces hacked together over the last 40 yrs
 
quogueelectric said:
Good point the old poles were homemade jobs from 4" rigid with a cap and a 500w quartz light on top.
They all rusted out and fell over at the bottom threads except for 2 which are about to go. They probably lasted a good 30+ years.
Customer is a friend and I am looking for as cheap a solution as possible for him. I would prefer a 175w hid coach type head on a decent pole but I am concerned with light polution in this area I only want the light to go into the parkinglot.
I have all week to figure this out. I see prices between 300-600 per 600 plus+ plus install will give him chest pain. Will definitely be dog and pony show to find where these are fed from about 30 or better tennant spaces hacked together over the last 40 yrs
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We have a few towns around here where they really look hard at commercial buildings and lots, approval for a sign is almost an act of congress, one car dealer had a EC install new lighting, he din't think and started replacing without permit, he ended up eating the new lights, paying a fine, zonning laws can bit you if you don't check first, yup light polution, is something to be think about.
 
satcom said:
We have a few towns around here where they really look hard at commercial buildings and lots, approval for a sign is almost an act of congress, one car dealer had a EC install new lighting, he din't think and started replacing without permit, he ended up eating the new lights, paying a fine, zonning laws can bit you if you don't check first, yup light polution, is something to be think about.
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Why would anyone want to run company in a state that is so unfriendly to business? :-?
 
iwire said:
Why would anyone want to run company in a state that is so unfriendly to business? :-?
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I guess if you get the system figured out, you can have all the work you want? Just a guess. I hear some of the wackiest stories from NJ, and I'm glad I'm not there. CA is a close second.
 
iwire said:
Why would anyone want to run company in a state that is so unfriendly to business? :-?
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You don't think that may be the reason they are leaving in droves, unfrendly is being very fair, we must be proud to have morons running the state. the peoples choice.

I wonder what NC is doing to attract business, you would thing Jersey would try to find out what they are doing right down there.
 
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We get everything from Ruud.

In the old days I installed inexpensive poles by using 4" round galvanized schedule 40 pipe. The fence companys would use them for tennis court light poles. They would bury them 4' deep in a 12" hole, concrete them in place and leave about 20' up. You need to engineer fittings to mount your fixtures but it aint rocket science. Drill the bases and mount a wp box for wiring. Use 20 mil tape on the bottoms, up to 6" above grade for rust protection.

If you want to use smaller fixtures you could set smaller diameter poles. I believe that a standaed fitting size is around 2". I mounted a couple of 1000 watt fixtures on a 2" pole about 15 years ago. It looked weak but hasn't blown over............. yet......last time I looked.

One job I did about 15-20 poles. I had a fence company install them. It was surprisingly inexpensive.

Direct bury poles are way cheaper but you better set them plumb.
 
The only reason some things are different in nc is because we dont have the mass population of the larger towns in jersey. I remember just 25 or so years ago in raleigh there was down town, which had maybe 10 buidlings over 20 stories and a mall just outside of downtown and that was it. once you left downtown it seemed to take forever to get to the next town. Now you cant even tell when you leave raleigh and enter what used to be a town right next door. We are catching up to the larger metro area's mostly because alot of people are making big bucks in places like jersey and new york and cali and moving here. Wake county is the fastest growing county in the country and has been for a year or two.
 
The 4' rigid is tempting but this is what all fell to the ground in the land of the rich and famous all one would need is a 15' stick of 4" rigid to fall over on someones 4 door Ferrari. Not to mention I am not really crazy about the look.

I own a one man auger with an 8" bade for footings for decking and fencing. I can get down 3' with one extention it would take 2 men and 2 extentions to get down 4'. 3' by 8" gives me a code compliant footing around here.

I think I remember seeing a fiberglass pole that was pretty cheap. I really never had to buy one only install many hundreds of them for other contractors and I knew they were about a grand apiece with hid fixture.

I am only going 14' so 3' by 10 inch hole should be plenty about 2 1/2 bags of redi mix for each. I just put in a fence for a customer last week and that machine is the bomb. It dug 10 posts 3'X8" in less than an hour it uses a richer fuel mixture though 24:1 so if you dump chainsaw mix into it you will surely damage the engine.
 
Qoug
You may have to show the wind tolerence for lighting poles over 12 ft in commercial locations (some form of engineering).
I would find out first from your building department, you do not want to do a favor for a friend and have to 'eat' the cost.

Just a quick thought.
This friend of yours has 30 tenants. I understand you want to do him justice with these lights. There is a law in NYS about the commercial property owners providing light in the public areas, including parking lots. Just be careful that someone who understands this does not notice if you are making any required installation mistakes.

(the law was developed after an incident in an IBM parking lot years ago)
You mentioned the lights were installed 30 years ago, the law came into effect about 15 yrs ago
 
The 4' rigid is tempting but this is what all fell to the ground
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Simply use pipe wrap where it exits the ground. Galvanized fencing is constructed like this every day. If you get the materials from a fence supply it wil be less expensive than actual pipe and it's designed for the purpose.
 
Is this even legal?

Is this even legal?

220/221 said:
Simply use pipe wrap where it exits the ground. Galvanized fencing is constructed like this every day. If you get the materials from a fence supply it wil be less expensive than actual pipe and it's designed for the purpose.
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I really like your idea, but I gotta ask, is this even legal?

I know 4" can hold a lot of weight, and putting 20 mil tape on will certainly work, but will this pass inspection?

Someone earlier posted about using: e-conolight. They have some great prices, and I haven't even come close with anyone else's pricing.
 
220/221 said:
Simply use pipe wrap where it exits the ground. Galvanized fencing is constructed like this every day. If you get the materials from a fence supply it wil be less expensive than actual pipe and it's designed for the purpose.
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410.15(B)? .
 
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