Step Three: Kids at Play

Help from our friend, John J.

The result:

Step Two: Success

The post is in.

The hole is full.

All is plumb.

The boards clamped to the bottom of the pole keep it from sliding down too far into the hole.  The top of the pole is supposed to be exactly 108" above ground level.  In a couple of days, we will add the backboard.

Step Two: Failure

Q. Should you trust printed directions?
A. Never.  Nor did I.  They said to make the hole 36 inches deep, fill it with concrete and insert the pole 36 inches into it.  I added a couple extra inches of depth, but could have used six inches more.  The pole just wouldn't go down all the way.

Q. What do you do when you have a 12 foot steel pole sitting in 36 inches of concrete and you don't want it to set?
A.  You get it out . . . FAST.  Pole first and then the concrete.  The pole must weight 75-100 pounds.  Just pull it up.  The concrete was 7 bags at sixty pounds each plus about 6 gallons of water at 8.3 lbs per gallon for a total weight of about 470 total pounds.

Q. What is the (relatively) easy way for a smart person to get so much concrete out of such a deep hole?
A.  I haven't the foggiest idea.  But it is out.

Q. What next?
A. In the morning the sun will come up and we will try again.  Maybe dig the hole deeper.  Maybe make the concrete a little soupier.  Maybe . . .

Step One

A few years ago I poured this little pad for our portable basketball system.  Now we are installing an in-ground system, but we need a hole.  After spending myself with hand tools, it was time to admit that I am too old for that sort of thing.  So I rented this little jack hammer and used some child labor.

Everyone got a turn from Alan to Stephen.  Then, I took over and did the real work.  Even with this power tool, I was able to produce a little sweat.

In case you thought OSHA wouldn't like me doing this work with kids playing tetherball so nearby, here is one showing a little girl using the jack hammer in flip-flops.

More than one person had asked me how thick the concrete was.  I assured them it could not be more than three and a half inches thick.  As you can see in this picture, I was off by 5 inches.  Without that jack hammer, I would have never made it.

The hole is about 38 inches deep.

A Californian in Wisconsin

Isabel and Theresa visited Nora.

What the New Year Has Brought (so far)

A Bilingual Household

So, if you don't understand "Please knock," you get "Knock por favor".  We try to be helpful.

A Chicken in the Backyard

Just showed up.  Quieter than a dog.

A New Scooter Stand

I'm sure you see the problem: It holds nine scooters, but we have only seven.  Obviously, we need a couple more.