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13th Nov 2014, 05:35 PM #1
Wanted: 20m or taller steel street light pole....
OK. This is really just to get a sense if something like this is even available second-hand, e.g. from a scrappy.
I want to install a small 1.8m diameter wind turbine (1.5kW or so) and need a pole to position it above the tree top level. Looking around, I can see that similar installations are done on what appear to be the same octagonal tapered galvanised steel poles used for freeway-type street lights.
If someone knows of a source for those poles - at a reasonable price - I'd be interested to look more closely at that project.
Looking at catalogues form manufactureres, I can see that I can expect a pole to be somewhere between 700 and 1000kg and around 600mm across at the bottom.
Anyone seen that sort of thing around?
I'm in Central Victoria and would cart one maybe 400km or so at the right price.Cheers, Joe
retired - less energy, more time to contemplate projects and more shed time....
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13th Nov 2014, 05:53 PM #2
Can't help with the pole but I would consider something different. With a monopole, you have to get up there to do anything with the turbine. You can make a tower that articulates in the centre so that you can lower the turbine to ground level and put it back up easily. Usually made out of gal pipe, but they need guys.
Basically it has two stanchions that go to roughly half the full height, then a second pole which holds the turbine is fixed on a pivot between them. It is the full height of the tower. You put a bit of cable on one end and the turbine on the other. When you want it up, you pull the cable down and the centre pole swings up like a see saw. The free end is then clamped in place at the base between the stanchions.
Anyway, just something to consider."I don't practice what I preach because I'm not the kind of person I'm preaching to."
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13th Nov 2014, 07:07 PM #3
As the man said...a 60 foot pole is going to be something.
Good luck getting one of those...then you have to transport it.
I doubt that a plain ordinary light pole will be strong enough to handle the side loadings associated with a wind turbine..
And one strong enough is not gong to come in small pieces....so it will be an over dimension load.
then there is the bigg ass crane you will need to errect it AND mount the head.
The whole idea of a second hand 60 foot light pole.....aint a cheap one.
SAY..why don't you just do what is traditional.....put ya windmill on.
A
Windmill tower.
You can get them new from both southern cross and towner.
60 foot is still a danm big windmill tower.....not even sure if they make em that big
One that big aint going to ship on the back of a ute....but I recon it will come in a coupe of crates small enough to fit on a car trailer or a medium rigid.
And calling you local windmill doctor to errect it will be a hell of a lot cheaper than the whole over dimension load and big ass crane exercise.
I don't know about the mill head you have in mind......but a crew of two or three experienced blokes will assemble and errect a 30 foot towner or southern cross mill in a bit over a week if they don't muck about, the site is good and the weather holds.....and if they do it the traditional way the only heavy equipment they will need is a 4wd.
BTW..my brother is a windmill doctor.
cheersAny thing with sharp teeth eats meat.
Most powertools have sharp teeth.
People are made of meat.
Abrasives can be just as dangerous as a blade.....and 10 times more painfull.
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13th Nov 2014, 07:18 PM #4
Thanks for the quick replies. A see-saw tower would be great! They make large lightpoles that way too.
A windmill tower would be nice but also takes a lot of space, not that that is much of an issue. I suspect - as you do - they are rare that tall.
My antenna tower is 23m tall and standing on a 4m mound. It would not carry a turbine though. I put that up by myself....
The poles I'm thinking of usually come in telescoping or flanges sections. Yes, I will still need to rent/borrow a decent truck to carry the sections at maybe 6 or 8m long each. I wasn't thinking of using a ute...Cheers, Joe
retired - less energy, more time to contemplate projects and more shed time....
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13th Nov 2014, 07:32 PM #5Pink 10EE owner
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13th Nov 2014, 07:37 PM #6
so how lond do you revcon it should take
Any thing with sharp teeth eats meat.
Most powertools have sharp teeth.
People are made of meat.
Abrasives can be just as dangerous as a blade.....and 10 times more painfull.
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13th Nov 2014, 07:39 PM #7
tower
You could copy the design that the ham radio guys use for their towers . Typically it is a triangular section that telescopes into three sizes of triangle section . After the 3 sections are telescoped down, the whole thing tilts over for access to the larger yagi antennas
You might get some ideas here
http://www.nallyradiotowers.com.au/news1.html
Mike
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13th Nov 2014, 08:19 PM #8Pink 10EE owner
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13th Nov 2014, 08:44 PM #9Most Valued Member
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Do a midnight run and steel the hose tower from the local fire brigade. They are usually about 20M tall. Loosen 12 bolts and it's all yours!
I bet you already thought of this too!
SimonGirl, I don't wanna know about your mild-mannered alter ego or anything like that." I mean, you tell me you're, uh, super-mega-ultra-lightning babe? That's all right with me. I'm good. I'm good.
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13th Nov 2014, 08:49 PM #10New Member
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13th Nov 2014, 08:55 PM #11Cba
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Just thinking... in Australia, this is a fairly common country panorama:
disused.jpg
Maybe if you talk to the owners, many would be happy if you offer to remove grandpa's unsightly tower.....
But better consult with your own neighbors, before putting up something like this on your own place. Some people hate the noise wind turbines can make.
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13th Nov 2014, 09:17 PM #12
Or install a vertical axis wind turbine to reduce the need for such a tall tower...
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13th Nov 2014, 09:19 PM #13Senior Member
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About 10 years back we, Telstra changed a guyed mast at Greensborough, no body wanted to take it so my mate from work had it dropped at his place. Sat there for years until he finally put it on Flebay. Bugger as I could have got it for you, had all to install, beauty is once up you can climb it like a ladder.
cheers Bruce
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13th Nov 2014, 09:41 PM #14Pink 10EE owner
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You still need to get to the wind, plus the vertical ones are extremely inefficient..
With vertical ones, you have to remember that at any one time you have the vanes moving into the wind which are sucking tpower away that the vanes being pushed by the wind are making...Gold, the colour of choice for the discerning person.
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13th Nov 2014, 09:43 PM #15
All interesting suggestions and ideas! Thank you, keep them coming.
The price for a vertical axis turbine seems to be about double or more the price of a horizontal. I am looking at several. How does it reduce the mast height need though? That is determined by the trees nearby.....? About 20mCheers, Joe
retired - less energy, more time to contemplate projects and more shed time....
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