[HalloWierdo]

Anyone have any suggestions on securing a Ship's mast to the ground? I intend on having a "sail" on it and expect it to be a smidge over 10 feet tall using 3" PVC tubing . Just need some help brainstorming a cheap and safe way to keep it from falling over in my yard . Thanks in advance.

 

[pumpkinpie]

What about rebarb? Thank might give enough support, then u can just slide your pic over it. I'd drive it in the ground at least a couple feet

 

[Icepick]

I tried a 10 foot last year, and rushed it so it didn't work out to well. I had to shorten it to 5 feet. I now like it at 5, but have that mast attached to a flange that's screwed to a 2 foot by 4 foot sheet of plywood. If you want height, you'll also need to in life rigging, and stake it down well. Some tears in the sail will help as well if it's windy.

 

[jbaum]

Use a pvc sleeve burried in the ground that your mast can slide into. I have a 10 foot mast by my pond and it has been up all year. My pirate flag is now looking well worn. Your sails may have to have slits in it the keep the wind from flying it away. I use the same concept with my 20' Christmas tree.

 

[DaveintheGrave]

Only thing I can think of would be to dig a deep hole with a post hole digger and bury a long section of PVC pipe that is big enough in diameter for the 3" PVC to slide into.
Slide your 3" PVC into it and see how well that supports it. Might add some guy wires and turnbuckles for more stability.

 

[89Lt1]

i have a 9' tall cemetery sign in my yard each year. i screwed two 2X4 together to make a 4X4. then mounted that to a board. i did make two braces from another 2X4 to help stabilize it. then i put a very large rock on the board. no movement for the month it was out, worked great.

i would make sure the sail on the mast is tattered so that it isnt catching any wind to help pull the thing over.

 

[Eblore]

i have buried 5 PVC sleeves in the yard for 4x4s. This should make installation a breeze. This year I have 2-30 foot mast I will be putting up in the front yard. I plan on burying the ends about 3 feet and using guide ropes for support. Pirate ships used LOTS of ropes to keep the masts up. Google "tall ship" and check out how many ropes they had to use.

I am planning to have the sails rolled up so the ship looks at rest. This should take some of the strain off the mast in case the wind comes up (like 2 years ago when hurricane Sandy came threw the night before Halloween with 60 MPH winds).

Good Luck! I look forwards to seeing your final display.

 

[HalloWierdo]

Thanks guys for all the great ideas, I definitely will be trying them and seeing what works best

 

[HauntedPumpkin]

I use rebar hit into the ground to stand up my props which PumpkinPie also noted above. After a few initial attempts with various methods it seems to work best since it won't break or snap. Of course the bigger the prop the deeper you have to hit it into the ground so for a 10' prop you may have to go a few feet.......just know where any underground power or water lines are!

 

[Castart]

If you get any wind at all your going to need it buried in the ground and a good depth. That is really the key, otherwise you could must make a heavy stand and drop it on a post mounted that way.

 

[Frank n beans]

Just throwing this out there as part of the brain storming.
I built a pirate ship a few years ago and the mast was about 12 feet tall. I won't get into how many times I had to fix it. Anyway as I was taking it down after Halloween I thought that if I did it again I would use a portable basket ball stand like you see in some peoples drive ways. Just take off the board and net. the base should be heavy enough when filled with water or sand. Secure a 2x4 to it to make the desired height and 2x2 for the cross beam to help reduce weight.
Something else I learnt is that long vertical rips in the sail help with the wind issue and give it a great look.

 

[MonsterMike]

I did a test on mine last night. I'm planning on using 2 10' pvc 3" pipes with a couple of cross pipes to connect them and Im using a 2x4 6' long that we cut 3/4 inch off the width and cut the bottom to a point. Using a sledge hammer I drove it into the ground a foot. Also we cut 2 2x4x3 footers with a point on them and drove those into the ground 2' to screw them into the base of the 20 foot of pvc. I think this will hold it very well. {hoping} Will have some pictures soon, but first we have to paint and assemble everything first. Using screws to hold it all together instead of glue so we can disassemble everything for storage.