Concrete Hitching Post

3488 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by de-nagorg, May 12, 2016

Master Brian

Discussion Starter · May 11, 2016

For those that aren't sure what they are here is a picture similar to what I'm thinking of.

In any case I live in a neighborhood from the early 1900's and there are several houses that have various versions of these and I've always thought they were pretty cool....not something everyone has.

In any case this past weekend I came by an all concrete one. I'm thinking it was vintage as was in antique mall and looked pretty old. I tried picking it up to see the bottom, but it was heavy and behind a few things I didn't want to move at time. So the question is how would someone go about securing one of these so that someone doesn't decide they want to take it to their house!

I'm basing the assumption that it's solid cast concrete and doesn't have any sort of hole for post, etc... Any ideas?

I'm guessing 1st order of business would be to dig a hole and set a footing for it, but that begs how deep would I need to go? I know some will say below frost line, which is about 32-36" here, but is that necessary? One thought I've had is sticking a piece of rebar into the center of the footing and sticking it up a good 18", then drilling into the base of the hitching with a concrete bit, using an epoxy or construction adhesive on the rebar and slide the post over.

Does anyone else have any good ideas to secure this as it would be out by the curb and thus a very easy target for thieves, if not secured.

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de-nagorg

· #2 · May 11, 2016

They were generally cast with a hole in the bottom to go over a re-bar. As you suggested, on a pier foundation like structure, in the ground.

out by the curb is asking ol DRUNK BOB to come along and run it down.

There was a person here a few decades ago that had many molds to cast concrete things like that.

He had ducks, all kinds of forest critters, even gargoyles and other imaginary things.

And made a good living casting concrete lawn doodads.

ED

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mako1

· #3 · May 11, 2016

I think you've got a good plan.Don't think you would need to drill 18" into it.8-10 should be sufficient.I would go below the frost line .It would be a shame to do the job and have it heave after a winter.

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Master Brian

Discussion Starter · #4 · May 11, 2016

mako1 said:
I think you've got a good plan.Don't think you would need to drill 18" into it.8-10 should be sufficient.I would go below the frost line .It would be a shame to do the job and have it heave after a winter.

Is concrete alone enough or should I add in some sort of wire/steal other than the rebar I plan to mount it to.

My thought is if the base is 10" diameter, I'd make the footing about 2-4" bigger all the way around. Maybe a 16" square footing or something. Just seems like there will be more concrete below ground than the structure on top, but of course I guess that's why they call it a foundation!!

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Oso954

· #5 · May 11, 2016

I'm basing the assumption that it's solid cast concrete and doesn't have any sort of hole for post, etc... Any ideas?

You need to verify what it's made of. The ones in your photo are almost certainly cast iron, not concrete.

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Master Brian

Discussion Starter · #6 · May 11, 2016

The one I'm looking at buying is most certainly concrete. The picture is an example only.

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Msradell

· #7 · May 12, 2016

You wouldn't need to put any other reinforcing in the footing. It probably would be easier to get a short piece of 12" Sonotube to use as a form. I would let it go a couple of inches above grade when you finish it. There would be no need to put a square base underneath the tube because it is really going support that much weight.

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Master Brian

Discussion Starter · #8 · May 12, 2016

Sonotube is a great idea! I thought square only for cosmetic reasons. Thought if base of post isn't square a square footing might look good. I'll figure that out when/if I buy it.

Also, what is a good rule of thumb when I could set the weight of the post on the foundation? A few days or a week?

Thanks for the feedback

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de-nagorg

· #9 · May 12, 2016

I too thought Sonotube, just did not mention it.

Concrete needs 30 days or more to fully cure, but can support weight in a few days, but I would still wait a week, before messing with it.

I have even used a HOMER'S BUCKET as a base for a mail box post.

buried and filled with sakrete, with anchor bolts installed, waited a week and bolted the metal post to it.

It still stands after 15 years, so a tube will work as well as it has.

ED

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