On Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:21:53 -0700, Nick Hull wrote:

In article ,
hubcap wrote:

writes:

I have a typical timber pole, about 35 feet long. A friend will be
helping me with his bobcat to auger a 12" post hole for the pole and
install the post within the hole.

I just cut down an old telephone pole on my property. I was left
with a 32 ft pole.

I'm in South Carolina, and I'm using the pole in a pole barn type
application, so I can't really address how far you need to sink
it, other than to guess that below your frost line is probably
as deep as you need to go - that's quite a few feet deep where you are.

I can say, though, that I cut my pole in two, and when me and my
neighbor and the front end loader were raising *that* pole it
was pretty exciting. Assuming your pole is anything like my
pole, it's like trying to handle a tree. My 16 ft long telephone pole
was in a way different class than the 16 ft long treated 6X6's
that I used in another part of the building.

I've raised telephone poles over 20' singlehanded. I 'balance' them
across my carry-all and flip them up while they drop into the hole. Id
you get the parameters right the pole will slide into the hole. If the
hole is soft-sided you might need a board to keep it from digging in as
the bottom slides into the hole.

My ex borrowed a friend's stake body to pick up a 25' pole. They lashed
the top end of it to the top of the stakes at the cab. Used a board as
you suggest, lined it up right, and it slid right in.