> > Guy wires >=20 > A recurrent theme :-). >=20 > I mentioned guy wires in my original list of commonsense/everyday solutio= ns, > and they certainly have some advantages - notably of reducing the require= d > force in a force x distance moment arm. > I've had about 15 replies and about 1/3 of them mentioned guy wires as th= e > or part of a solution. Certainly worth using in some cases. >=20 > Ideas welcome for cheap guy anchors that can be inserted and removed with > ease. Cost asymptoting to zero in modest volume always welcome. Various > screw and stamp in anchors exist. Some quite real galvanised ones availab= le > but unit cost such that they would not tend to be stocked liberally. Guy wires are the obvious 'light weight' scheme whatever one uses for the b= ase. I started off thinking in terms of the 4" square post holder that gets= hammered into the ground, as mentioned by someone previously, then guyed b= y wires off to similar items also hammered into the ground. However to keep= the unit cost down it may be better to have the guy wires go to tent pegs,= with the wires being the fine nylon or similar rope used for guy ropes on = tents, with the little plastic sliders to adjust the tension. If that is no= t 'man enough' then use some rebar (possibly reclaimed from demolished conc= rete structures - it would then probably come with the end already bent in = a U) with some steel wire for the guys, and tensioners like used on the sta= inless steel stays on yacht masts. Such tensioners are available in cheaper= versions as used on support wires that go across building spans to carry e= lectrical connections across warehouse spaces etc. All these items 'should' be easily removed from the ground with a car jack = sitting on a suitable plank to spread the downwards force on the relatively= soft ground. The post holder may need a bolt through the post for the jack= to lever on, but it could be the end of a bolt holding the post in the hol= der. =20 > "Warratahs" - solid metal 3 blade fence posts made to be rammed into the > ground and with total lengths of up to several metres, are available > locally at OKish prices even new. .... > One could make a hydraulic jack extractor but time taken would be > annoying. Any car jack should be potentially useable, it doesn't need to be hydraulic= , although that may give the most ergonomic method. =20 .... > If the car spring spiral anchor can be made to work well it may be an ide= al > quick cheap temporary support system component - either for a single foot > system or for a 3 guy system - far more "normal" but less minimalist and > higher visual impact. Well, of course if using a guy rope system of some sort, the bottom of the = pole does not need to go deep into the ground, just enough to stop the base= of the pole going sideways against the moment of the guy anchor point on t= he pole. This side force at the bottom of the pole will be considerably les= s than for an unguyed pole. --=20 Scanned by iCritical. --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .